Can air being in the coolant system really have enough of an effect that the car wont maintain operating temp? Cause since my vmount install, I cant get the car to not overheat.

I ordered a Lisle No Spill Funnel as other suggested. Just before the vmount my overflow tank was barfing coolant and overheating, so first thing I assumed was the thermostat. The thermostat did look worn so I replaced it and it ran fine for awhile and then it did it again a few nights later. So I got new lines to and from the ast, replaced the ast and all of the caps and swapped an smaller aluminum radiator with my larger koyo. Now it doesnt overflow but it is overheating still. I noticed some water on the underside of my water pump housing, does instant overheat sound like a water pump fail? or bad coolant seal? or just air in the system?

Im using some trust air filters as my k&n's didnt fit the new setup, I doubt that could do it, they look clean. Also it made more sense to me to via some pictures I found about the vmount install to reverse the radiator lines so the cold side is on the bottom (used to be top now that the radiator sits angled upside-down). Any potential problems that could cause?

And Im using 90/10 water/coolant. Also would having non distilled water cause that great of a difference in heat? Or should I stop beign so cheap and just get the waterless coolant?

Im obviously hoping that its just the air, and my Lisle Funnel should be in today. Hopefully this will fix it. Ill keep everyone posted. Thoughts?

 

is it over heating at idle or while driving? how far did you let it go before shutting down? post pictures of your set up....

if it overheats while driving, it could just be a ducting issue. as long as you have your vmount set up like this,

then ducting should be good then your problem lies elsewhere...

 

Your water pump has something called a weep hole. It leaks water/coolant when the pump is failing/fails. Air in the system can also cause overheating. Your thermostat requires a certain temperature for it to open up. Coolant/water mixtures can achieve this temperature but and air pocket cannot. Therefore air behind your thermostat will cause it to stay closed. Did you buy an OEM or an aftermarket thermostat? Ensure your jiggle pin is at the 12 o clock position. That pin is designed to let air pockets behind the thermostat out.

Cooling systems are easy as long as you understand how the work.

Hope this helps.
Matt

 

I just backed it out of the garage and let it idle. I saw it move past the middle and shut it off.

 

Didn't know about the jiggle pin, ill check that today. It's an oem thermostat from Mazda. Does the weep hole dripping mean its just not working fast enough, or not at all? How often do water pumps fail?

 

Water pumps do not fail all too often. But on a piston motor its usually changed with the timing belt (Honda's at least) @ 75-100k ish. If its dripping any amount out of the weep hole, I would replace it. I glanced through the Cooling FSM to see if there were leakage limits but I would imagine it implies that any leakage should be repaired/replaced accordingly. A failed water pump will not circulate coolant as required. Therefore, your thermostat could open but not circulate the cooled water/coolant mixture into the engine from the radiator

 

Most likely you have air in the system, after getting the car warm just let it cool off and you will probably notice that the coolant level keeps dropping.

 

A trick I use to bleed coolant systems without any funnels is to pull the coolant line off the back of the throttle body, fill the coolant system and cap it, then start squeezing/pumping one of the rad hoses. I remove the cap and repeat until I see coolant come out of that hose in the back. Then plug the hose back in the throttlebody and repeat the cycle until coolant stops going down. Start the car up with the cap off, top off if necessary, and then wait for coolant to start climbing and then I cap it. Works better then the lisle funnel.

thewird

 

How many miles on your motor? Sounds like symptoms of bad coolant seals to me.

 

I do have the add coolant light on. So sounds like a combination of air and maybe bad water pump. Also I checked and it was a Murray thermostat, not a Mazda one. Are they bad?

Pics of my setup, Ast is as high as I could get it, as suggested from numerous posts I've read. Put the stock bumper on which you can see doesn't fit with the cold side out pipe of the radiator, but its a temporary fix till I get my aftermarket bumper either feed or gtc replica. But as I said before I just let it idle so that shouldn't be the problem.

 

There is no ducting on this v-mount setup, it is not what you want to do.

 

Ive seen that tip on other threads since the idle overheat incident the other day, but I was waiting on the funnel to try it.

I havent heard anything on using distilled water vs tap or waterless, anything that might cause, or are we still up to air and bad water pump?

 

I was planning on getting it running and then making ducting once I got the new front bumper.

 

Ditch the AST as well, its useless.

thewird

 

Would it cause an overheat?

 

No, its just a waste of space.

thewird

 

Omg. How thick is that intercooler?

 

So ...


Its a little over 4inches thick, 600 X 255.6 X 103

 

 

You should get a water temp gauge. Did you do the mod for your stock water temp gauge? I was told that once it starts moving its already too late. But with the mod it makes it just as good as a water temp gauge without the numbers.

 

I will look that up. Thanks!

 

iv never ever used any special equipment to burp or bleed my coolant..

as thewird said, the trick is to remove the coolant hose on the back of the throttle body and add water / pump the radiator hose with your hand untill water comes out of the throttle body hose.

Also make sure you have your heater turned on full (if you have one)while you are running the car to get it up to temp. (then obviously when its up to temp thermostat opens and you can add more coolant)

 

....My impression as well.

 

Btw, incase anyone was interested, I followed thwird's tip about removing the throttlebody hose, filling coolant and burping it via squeezing the radiator hose. Replaced the throttlebody hose, then let it idle till the thermostat opened up with the lisle funnel in the whole time filled 1/3 with water. Shut it off, removed the funnel by squeezing the radiator hose, plugging the funnel and lifting it out. Filled it back to the top, capped the coolant and let it idle for another 10 minutes.

Fans never even came on during idle. Also operating temp before was right at the halfway mark. And now its just below middle. Fans were on after I drove it hard.

The grin on my face when I shut it off, so good.

 

The stock gauge will never move until your engine is overheating which is bad. Don't use it as an accurate source for temperature.

thewird