Mine sits about an inch below that little hole that runs to the AST. I remember it used to sit higher...almost Directly beneath the little hole. My heater hose went out on me and had to be replace and ever since refilling my coolant it has been sitting at that level an inch below the hole. For the past two days...no matter how much I try to get it to set right beneath the hole it won't. Instead it will shoot out the extra amount of coolant that I put in to try to get it to that hole lol. I ran it hard for 2 hrs. today and still sitting an inch below. Wazuuuuuuup wit dat??

 

mine is the same way. when i had the ast i would ckeck the fluid level very often and found that they were little on th low side. there was no leak or anything. when is got rid of the ast still the same???????? i can see the fluid but like you said, about inch down from that whole.????? i can't figure it out either??

 

I'm sure that I have to just fully purge the system. Ever since the heater hose leak I just filled it without paying much mind to it.

 

Mine does the same thing after AST elim, but more like 1-2" I refilled it like 5-7 times and it keeps doing the same damn thing. There is a wire that I guess is a coolant level sensor, and it always stays above that, but I don't like it that low. When I warm the car up with the cap off it comes up naturally, but def. low when cold. Glad to hear someone else has something similar.

Edit: Badass7, you got a big copy of that avatar??

 

Normal if u have an AST or without. If AST is full, it will settle just a bit below the overflow hole on the thermo housing/cap, and minus the heat-soak gurgling. Dunno about you AST-eliminators tho...

 

I have the same issue....one thing I've noticed is that when I shut the car off it will generaly heat soak and push a small amount of coolant into the overflow tank......Mine has never been good about pulling this amount back into the system and thus my overflow tank eventualy pushes coolant out onto the ground. I chec it regularly and replinish the amout back into the system (small amout about 3 to 4 oz.) I unhooked the ast from the overflow to check this theory and sure enough when it heat soaks it pushes the coolant out on to the ground when cold I still add the same amout. Any thoughts on why the system won't pull the coolant back from the overflow tank ??? I have new hose and a new tank. Just curious as it needs to draw coolant back once I go to the Evans coolant.

 

It sounds like your pressure cap is shot or wrong. In the center of the cap is a vacuum breaker that allows the coolant to flow back into the system once it cools. If that vacuum breaker is no good as soon as the pressure equalizes across the valve coolant won't flow either way. So if it pushed some out it will not go back into the engine. When my engine is cool coolant sits maybe only 1/4" below the fill cap. I have the Pettit AST.

 

The Mazda cap does not pull coolant back well, poor check valve design. Get a Stant cap at Pep Boys. My level stays full, with 'mini-AST' at fill neck, as noted at s. cirian's upgrade site.

 

I have the Pettit AST with the stant cap and it's only about 8 months old. Could it be going bad this soon??

 

Yeah, actually the whole series of these pics. are on my gallery. Just click on where Revmag begins.

 

Anyone else?? I still can't get the coolant to sit right underneath that hole Everytime I add about half a cup of coolant...it shoots it back out and the level stays at 3/4" from that little hole. I have not tried to purge the system like Rob Robinnette describes with the heater and such. Any suggestions?? I know it's not normal bec. for over a year it stayed right beneath that little hole. Wadup with this man???

 

i couldn't get my coolant to top off in the filler neck either, and last week i noticed coolant dripping, i did a pressure test on the coolant system, and turns out coolant hose in my turbo area is leaking.

you guys should do a pressure test on ur coolant system, they can be rented from autozone for free, you pay $70 for the tester, use it as long as you want, then return it and they'll refund the $70. put about 20.6psi of pressure on it as shopmanual suggest, and see if the pressure will hold constant. if the tester dont' come with the right adapter for the filler neck(mine didn't), do it on the ast.

 

I had the same problem when I replaced my hoses. I thought Water Wetter was causing this. It was the first time I ever used that stuff. Then I replaced the pressure cap and after two weeks of topping it off every day, it finally would stay full and I have no problems now.

 

Do you have an aftermarket AST ? If so, how long were you running with the original cap before replacement?? I've had my Pettit AST since last summer. Do these caps usually go out ?? Well, I have been running my heater and topping the level off (twice) today and it seems to be holding so far. Two trips on the road with some high Interstate Reving and no coolant overflow. Hopefully I have successfully purged this biaaaaaaatch.

 

Where was the coolant dripping when you noticed a drip. I just ran a pressure test FINALLY last night and two leaks !!! First leak....hose from Filler neck to Pettit AST was letting pressure out "hissing". Cut the line and reattatched it fine. Pressured up again and saw pressure dropping only after 2 minutes. Looked around then at about 17-18 psi. I see a FAST drip of coolant and trace it to my Lower Radiator hose. So, I will be replacing the hose this weekend along with a new thermostat. Funny thing is....I can drive my car all day without it leaking from that lower rad. hose. I guess it has a pinhole leak that is letting off pressure (at lower pressure) and letting out coolant and pressure (at higher psi's).

 

yeah replace all those hoses, do another pressure test, you should be fine

i changed soem of the hoses, but i still couldn't get it to top off, I finally found out the problem was my ast cap, i got a wrong cap for it, I got a new cap that seems like it'll work, i'll check it again tomorrow morning again to see if it'll stay topped off.

good luck, bad *** we are lucky, it didn't happen while we were driving hehe

Randy

 

i think its normal for the coolant to sit right below that hole in the housing. as long as it stays at a consistent level i think it should be fine.

 

I agree that as long as the water level is above the hole, it's ok. Mine has been that way for over 3 years.

 

Did you read this post before replying??

 

oh sorry bout that, i guess u wrote that while i was typing the reply.

good ****, you found the problem, but please let us know if your coolant sits higher in the housing after you fix the leaks. i might need to run a pressure test myself if this is the case.

 

oh nevermind, i am just blind, you wrote that a whole 24 hours before me.

i am still curious as to where your coolant level sits after you fix the leaks though. thanks in advance, badass7.