Well, after my radiator mishap, I decided to do the champagne test. When the car is cold, I see little microbubbles coming to the surface, but over a period of 2 weeks, I haven't lost ANY coolant. Are the bubbles just air in the system, or could it be that my coolant seals are going out? The car does smoke (white) a little (about a minute or two) on start-up, but I do park it outside, so I figure it's condensation.

 

Could be either, but I'm betting air needs burped. Did you pull the TB coolant hose when filling? Also, if you're worried, you can try a coolant system pressure test.

 

could be either... i would get a coolant pressure test

 

Does it idle weird? the check engine light doesnt come on?

good: could be a little air in the system.

bad: when your last one got busted it could have gotten hot enough to cause a coolant seal to go. Maybe just a slight leak.

 

Air in the system that requires burping makes large bubbles. Tiny, fizzy champagne bubbles are bad coolant seals It could only be a very slight leak, watch it closely and if it seems to stay I would block seal it. Works great for small leaks caught early.

 

No, it doesn't idle funny nor does the CEL come on.

 

What does the cel have to do with it?

 

"What does the cel have to do with it?"

Indeed.

Loss of coolant due to O-ring failure occurs if the O-ring break is large enough that during cool down, air is drawn into the cooling system from the combustion chamber as opposed to coolant from the overflow tank. Is it possible there are small combusiton leaks past the O-rings on a cold engine, that then seal up when it warms up?

Walien, I would get the coolant checked for unburned hydrocarbons. First, I would confirm I had bubbles during warm operation, then I'd put an HC sniffer over the bubbling filler neck and look for the presence of HC's. Pretty much the only way to be sure...

 

The check engine light has nothing to do with anything here...

 

napa sells the block tester. a tube set up that is suposed to change colors in the presence of compustion by-products.

 

Does napa carry that part that tests to see if there are combustion byproducts?

 

I did the test once, right after refilling the system, and the thing bubbled like crazy (lots and lots of small bubbles, exactly as a car with a 'bad seal' according to this test). It turned out after a day or so that the bubbling went away. I havent lost a drop of coolant in over 15k miles (ie nothing was wrong with it at all)..even had a sniffer put on it and a pressure test. What I would take from this is to not jump the gun and start worrying...the test means nothing until all the air is out of the system (and there could potentially be lots of tiny bubbles from the new water used, not just big ones from pockets in the system)...dont worry too much, the test doesnt mean much immediately after refilling the system.

 

Did you ever find out if they sell such tests?

A blown coolant seal would make your car idle weird? How weird?

 

Just so you guys are updated, my FD eventually needed to have the motor rebuilt. It did last very long (~2 years) time before it offically crapped out. Even then, it was still driveable, only it spit out coolant sometimes, while also consuming some.

As far as the test strips, I had only heard of them. I never found any at my local parts stores.

When the coolant seal was blown, it acted weird. Initially, it would take an extra crank or two to start up. Then it would be REALLY rough for about 15-20 seconds. It was almost as if you removed the MAP sensor. After that period of time, you would not even be able to tell it had a blown seal.

 

How long did the car do this before you decided to rebuild? At what point did you decide it wasn't driveable anymore?

-s-

 

Thanks WaLien. I'm not getting unusual smoke from the exhaust, but it seems like it's taking forever to burp the system. I know I should get the coolant system pressure checked, but right now it's hard to find time. No coolant is being spit out, starts up fine, idles a bit rough (but nothing like when the MAP sensor is disconnected) for a while and "hunts" under electrical load(ISC?).

Well I just checked the coolant level and it's not as low as it was the last time I had to add water, so I guess that's a good sign. Also the the rad hose is getting harder to squeeze. I'm just paranoid. My wife would KILL me if I had to tell her that I need to get the motor rebuilt so soon, lol. It was rebuilt only 15k ago...

 

It sounds like you're fine. Mine was bad to the point where you could turn the motor over by hand and have a little coolant gush out of the spark plug holes.

 

How do you block seal it ?

:-) neil

 

Check this:
http://www.fd3s.net/o-ring_fix.html

You'll also find alot of info if you search the forum.