az_lynx

Well.... I've been filling up my coolant every single time I start the car. I take the cap off and the coolant level drops down. So it's pressurized... but it's loosing coolant somwhere :-/ Caps are fine now... recently all coolant lines (except the 3 AST lines) have been replaced.

At this point I've determined that it's got to be 1 or more of a few things.

A) o-ring failure... pushing combustion gasses into the coolant system causing too much pressure and forcing the coolant into the overflow and out on the ground.

B) bad overflow line... pulling air back into the coolant system on shutdown instead of water from the overflow.

C) a bad coolant line somewhere (would have to be on the passanger side becuase thats where I can smell the sweet smell) and it ALL evaporating before it can be seen.

D) somthing that I don't even have a clue of, or a mix of the above.

Crazy thing is... I can't smell any coolant from my exhaust... Grrrr....

I guess the next (and maybe last) test is to pull the overflow out of the car, stick a clear hose on it, and see if it's pushing combustion gasses into the overflow :-/

I have a feeling that it might only be happening under acceleration tho so...... we'll see.

I GUESS it could be a bad coolant line near the turbos BUT... how is the air getting in the system when the overflow tank is full? That "almost" rules out that problem.

At this point I kinda worry.... it's not like it's loosing a little... I mean it's loosing quite a bit! If I drive the car for 20 min... turn the car off for 20 min and come back the add coolant lite is on. Wait for it to cool... take the cap off (depressurizing the system (I can hear it)) and have to add quite a bit.

If o-rings are the problem than it's only a matter of time...
Do I do another block weld just for the heck of it?
Do I not risk the block weld because some people beleive it does more harm than good?
Do I sell my brakesetup (or not sell it *shrug*) and buy a rebuild kit for $800 and a turbo rebuild kit for $300 and start my own rebuild just for the fun?

And the most pressing question of all.... Do I drive her to sevenstock? (I have full towing insurance :o )

Anyone have any other ideas?

Ahh.... the life of an FD.
Chris...

Nathan Kwok

You can check to see if combustion gases are getting into the coolant by starting the car with the filler neck cap off. If bubbles come out of it then that air has to be coming from the engine. If you don't see any bubbles I'd replace the AST lines. If one of these isn't sealing then you will not be able to suck the coolant back out of the overflow tank and it will just keep getting higher and higher. Just to be certain, is the overflow tank overflowing while driving? Try running a cup or two low on coolant in the AST and all the way to the low mark in the overflow and see what happens after a drive. There's no point in continuing to fill it up if its just spilling out the overflow.

az_lynx

I have one of those yellow funnel things you can put on your filler neck and burp w/... w/ that on once the thermostat opens I do see bubbles... not chapane bubble but big bubbles... my temp is about 180 at that point.

I have no white smoke at startup at all! I have maybe a little (and a very little at that) under "extream" accceleration. I have no stubling or roughness under acceleration at all. It's as smooth as the day I bought it. No rough time starting it up either... :-/

At this point I am going to put the funnel on my friends FD and compare it to mine... he said he was seeing bubbles also when his thermostat opened up and he has no coolant loss on his FD.

I'm also going to test the overflow line for leaks. I know the other 2 lines on the AST are not blocked or leaking... their not leaking cause I can see they aren't and they arn't blocked because I can fill the AST and watch it go down and I can pour in the neck and watch it go to the AST. I'll pull them and check them anyways tho.

I will also take the car for a drive when I get home and then check for wetness on the overflow to see if it's spitting out coolant.

tfhuth

Stock AST or aftrmarket AST??? Tom

az_lynx

Pettit AST

tfhuth

My car came with the Pettit and was doing the exact same thing as yours. There was a ding in the sealing area of the filler neck. It doesn't take much ( looked like a finger nail impression in clay ) I sanded it out and all has been well since. Might want to check it. Tom

az_lynx

I take it you mean in the AST's filler neck correct? Which level? The lower one where the spring part of the cap seals or the upper part where the top of the cap seals.

Just want to be sure... I will check that.... Thank you.

Kahren

iTrader: (13)

check the line goign frem the ast to teh averflow tank.

tfhuth

The very top portion, the largest diameter one. What happens is that when the car cools, there is a vacumm leak and the coolant can not be drawn back into the motor. It's worth a try Tom

paw140

If you're seeing bubbles in the coolant after the thermostat opens, its probably failed o-rings. There's no other place the bubbles can come from.

az_lynx

Makes perfect sense.... I just had a problem w/ my AST cap... the bottom spring part (the little silver washer thing was not holding itself up) was broke and it was just dumping coolant into the overflow.

I just got a new 13lbs cap and installed it and now I have this problem. I wonder if it is somthing like that..... I think I'll put a clear tube on that over flow and watch it also.

Thanks.... it may not be the prob.. but it brings a "little" hope on the situation

tfhuth

You're welcome. Any results to post yet? Tom

az_lynx

Unfortinatly I didn't have much time to work on it yesterday. Didn't have a chance to drive it either (to see if the overflow was overflowing) and today it's raining.... HA... what are the odds... rain in AZ *sigh*

I did take a min and put a vacuume pump on the overflow line on the AST and got stright water... no air. I have a feeling the overflow line is ok (I'll still take it out when I pull the intake and check it tho)

I looked really closely at my AST top and cap and they both seem fine... but I still wonder. That is a new cap I just put on there.. and thats when these problems started happening. Or at least to this extream.

Bottom line is... there is water in the overflow and air in the AST and neck. If its sealed it should be pulling the water from the overflow. I'm starting to think it might be that cap. I'm going to pull my AST... plug the bottom hole, put a vacuume pump on the side hole and submerge the overflow hole/line in water to see if it pulls water or air under vacuume.

I'm going to see if I can get to that after work.

tfhuth

Yes, should be pulling water FROM the overflow. Man, I really hope it's just a bad cap or seal somewhere. Sounds like a good test. When I was checking mine, I put a test line on the top of the AST outlet ( the one that goes to the overflow ) into a container. It was blowing water out but not drawing it back. That's how I spotted that ding in the AST neck. I was not blowing any white smoke on start up, but kept thinking about those damn water seals. I know what you're going through, good luck Tom
PS a bad line somewhere else will cause a vacuum leak and not let the car draw coolant back upon cool down.

az_lynx

A little bit of an update.... I have not gotten a chance to pull all water hoses and check them but I dove it in this morning to see if the overflow was overflowing... and YES... it is.

I checked several times on the drive but by the end of the drive the overflow (outside) was wet and completly full.

Now... IS IT POSSIBLE that when the water is expanding that it's pushing some into the overflow and that another hose is leaking (not the overflow one) and drawing in air... and it keeps pushing more to the overflow and drawing in air from the bad hose?

OR.... should I just bite the bullet and realize I now have a chance to learn how to rebuild a motor?

WHERE can I get a test to see if there are exhaust gasses in my coolent system? I heard there is a dye or somthing.... anyone know?

tfhuth

Hey Buddy,

You can go to someone that has an exhaust gas sniffer and have them check for exhaust gasses with the sniffer in the over flow.

My overflow was overflowing because my coolant was not being drawn back into the motor. I had to keep filling the system, and it kept pushing it into the overflow. Try the deal we talked about earlier with the test line on the AST. Good luck again, Tom

tfhuth

Sorry, and yes if there is another hole in another line it won't draw the coolant back into the motor. Tom