Why am I dropping coolant?
01-06-12, 06:54 PM
#26
Here are the vids I took from the last post http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adZ--lbohb0
and part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkEvs67b5uc
They are kinda long, but I hope this helps out
Also the T-stat I bought was a Stant Xactstat 48438 rated at 180F/82C
and part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkEvs67b5uc
They are kinda long, but I hope this helps out
Also the T-stat I bought was a Stant Xactstat 48438 rated at 180F/82C
01-07-12, 04:15 PM
#27
It's funny to watch your videos. This car turns the average Joe into a diagnostic expert in very short order 
Ecstacy and Agony is how I describe FD3S ownership.
Also, I hope that you're running that thing in a ventilated carport and not a garage. If in a garage, you could be headed for a shorter life than your car, so be careful
I think you're looking at the right things. If running the stock ECU, you can turn on the AC at any time and the fans will turn on. Did you know that? Also, I'm not a fan of those pressure caps with the red pressure relief lever. Most that I've ever tested (even brand new) would not hold pressure. Not sure why you bought a 16 lb cap. Just get a coolant tester with the adapter for testing caps, head to NAPA and start testing 13 lb caps until you find one where the pressure "cracks" between 12 and 13 psi, then holds that pressure for awhile. I did this a year or so ago when I was chasing a coolant problem similar to yours, and it ended up that my cap was BAD. Also, when I went to my local NAPA, I tested 5 caps that they had on shelf and 3 of the 5 NEW caps tested bad, so take the time to ensure that you have a good cap.
Finally, my stock temp gauge sits SIGNIFICANTLY lower on my sweep than yours, albiet I'm running a Apexi Power FC with fans set to come on at 86C. I'd recommend an aftermarket gauge sometime in your near future so you can see the "actual" operating temperature instead of the stock "weighted to the middle" one. It rarely moves higher than yours unless there is a major problem, then it sweeps up fast, but unfortunately that's usually too late to keep it from overtemping. IMO, aftermarket water temp gauge is a must!
Pics of my "non vented" Stant cap!
Ecstacy and Agony is how I describe FD3S ownership.Also, I hope that you're running that thing in a ventilated carport and not a garage. If in a garage, you could be headed for a shorter life than your car, so be careful
I think you're looking at the right things. If running the stock ECU, you can turn on the AC at any time and the fans will turn on. Did you know that? Also, I'm not a fan of those pressure caps with the red pressure relief lever. Most that I've ever tested (even brand new) would not hold pressure. Not sure why you bought a 16 lb cap. Just get a coolant tester with the adapter for testing caps, head to NAPA and start testing 13 lb caps until you find one where the pressure "cracks" between 12 and 13 psi, then holds that pressure for awhile. I did this a year or so ago when I was chasing a coolant problem similar to yours, and it ended up that my cap was BAD. Also, when I went to my local NAPA, I tested 5 caps that they had on shelf and 3 of the 5 NEW caps tested bad, so take the time to ensure that you have a good cap.
Finally, my stock temp gauge sits SIGNIFICANTLY lower on my sweep than yours, albiet I'm running a Apexi Power FC with fans set to come on at 86C. I'd recommend an aftermarket gauge sometime in your near future so you can see the "actual" operating temperature instead of the stock "weighted to the middle" one. It rarely moves higher than yours unless there is a major problem, then it sweeps up fast, but unfortunately that's usually too late to keep it from overtemping. IMO, aftermarket water temp gauge is a must!
Pics of my "non vented" Stant cap!
01-07-12, 09:42 PM
#28
It's funny to watch your videos. This car turns the average Joe into a diagnostic expert in very short order Ecstacy and Agony is how I describe FD3S ownership.
Also, I hope that you're running that thing in a ventilated carport and not a garage. If in a garage, you could be headed for a shorter life than your car, so be careful
I think you're looking at the right things. If running the stock ECU, you can turn on the AC at any time and the fans will turn on. Did you know that? Also, I'm not a fan of those pressure caps with the red pressure relief lever. Most that I've ever tested (even brand new) would not hold pressure. Not sure why you bought a 16 lb cap. Just get a coolant tester with the adapter for testing caps, head to NAPA and start testing 13 lb caps until you find one where the pressure "cracks" between 12 and 13 psi, then holds that pressure for awhile. I did this a year or so ago when I was chasing a coolant problem similar to yours, and it ended up that my cap was BAD. Also, when I went to my local NAPA, I tested 5 caps that they had on shelf and 3 of the 5 NEW caps tested bad, so take the time to ensure that you have a good cap.
Finally, my stock temp gauge sits SIGNIFICANTLY lower on my sweep than yours, albiet I'm running a Apexi Power FC with fans set to come on at 86C. I'd recommend an aftermarket gauge sometime in your near future so you can see the "actual" operating temperature instead of the stock "weighted to the middle" one. It rarely moves higher than yours unless there is a major problem, then it sweeps up fast, but unfortunately that's usually too late to keep it from overtemping. IMO, aftermarket water temp gauge is a must!
Pics of my "non vented" Stant cap!
Ecstacy and Agony is how I describe FD3S ownership.Also, I hope that you're running that thing in a ventilated carport and not a garage. If in a garage, you could be headed for a shorter life than your car, so be careful
I think you're looking at the right things. If running the stock ECU, you can turn on the AC at any time and the fans will turn on. Did you know that? Also, I'm not a fan of those pressure caps with the red pressure relief lever. Most that I've ever tested (even brand new) would not hold pressure. Not sure why you bought a 16 lb cap. Just get a coolant tester with the adapter for testing caps, head to NAPA and start testing 13 lb caps until you find one where the pressure "cracks" between 12 and 13 psi, then holds that pressure for awhile. I did this a year or so ago when I was chasing a coolant problem similar to yours, and it ended up that my cap was BAD. Also, when I went to my local NAPA, I tested 5 caps that they had on shelf and 3 of the 5 NEW caps tested bad, so take the time to ensure that you have a good cap.
Finally, my stock temp gauge sits SIGNIFICANTLY lower on my sweep than yours, albiet I'm running a Apexi Power FC with fans set to come on at 86C. I'd recommend an aftermarket gauge sometime in your near future so you can see the "actual" operating temperature instead of the stock "weighted to the middle" one. It rarely moves higher than yours unless there is a major problem, then it sweeps up fast, but unfortunately that's usually too late to keep it from overtemping. IMO, aftermarket water temp gauge is a must!
Pics of my "non vented" Stant cap!
Last edited by Jrexx6; 01-07-12 at 09:44 PM. Reason: forgot some
01-08-12, 10:32 AM
#29
That's right. Here in AZ, you can "rent" a coolant pressure testing kit for an $80 deposit from Autozone. Bring it back and they credit your card. Keep it, and eventually they charge your credit card. That's how I ended up with mine... I can take a PIC of my setup for cap testing if you'd like, just so we're comparing apples to apples. Let me know!
01-09-12, 01:49 AM
#31
just a quick comment. i didnt see anyone say this but...
i recently had coolant flowing out of my overflow pretty bad. so bad i had to fill the car with water every time i went to drive....EVERYTIME. anyway, i got the car on the lift and saw nothing. i decided to take out the overflow tank to see if it was cracked or something.
from my discovery, the overflow bottle is made of 2 separate pieces. the neck and the bottle. just so happens the previous owner broke the neck off the bottle and taped the two together. so when ever the overflow would overflow higher than where the neck was taped, it would leak out.
give yours a look if you havent already...
i recently had coolant flowing out of my overflow pretty bad. so bad i had to fill the car with water every time i went to drive....EVERYTIME. anyway, i got the car on the lift and saw nothing. i decided to take out the overflow tank to see if it was cracked or something.
from my discovery, the overflow bottle is made of 2 separate pieces. the neck and the bottle. just so happens the previous owner broke the neck off the bottle and taped the two together. so when ever the overflow would overflow higher than where the neck was taped, it would leak out.
give yours a look if you havent already...
01-09-12, 03:10 AM
#32
I also did take the overflow out of the car to inspect it, and it has no leaks.
01-09-12, 07:14 PM
#33
That's right. Here in AZ, you can "rent" a coolant pressure testing kit for an $80 deposit from Autozone. Bring it back and they credit your card. Keep it, and eventually they charge your credit card. That's how I ended up with mine... I can take a PIC of my setup for cap testing if you'd like, just so we're comparing apples to apples. Let me know!
01-10-12, 08:42 AM
#34
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Jrexx6 no one seemed to answer your question about using just water as the coolant ..remember water will boil at 212 degrees ..and your seven can get there in a heartbeat and you will never know it especially if your using the stock temp gauge.
I reccomend you add the boil over protection. if you do add the prestone this will start to smell sweet out your exhaust if it is the water seals. Once you confirm you are leaking you can do a rebuild or spend 50 bucks. I have had excellent results using "Blue Devil" on my FC and My Freinds FD. This will last a year or longer in many cases. I watch my AEM digital temp gauge like a hawk cause before I found Blue Devil I tried several other products that lasted only weeks at a time and the temp can spike to 245 in a just a few seconds! Blue Devil has been working very well for me and I added an extension to my low coolant sensor so I reduce the amount of false alarms. good luck
I reccomend you add the boil over protection. if you do add the prestone this will start to smell sweet out your exhaust if it is the water seals. Once you confirm you are leaking you can do a rebuild or spend 50 bucks. I have had excellent results using "Blue Devil" on my FC and My Freinds FD. This will last a year or longer in many cases. I watch my AEM digital temp gauge like a hawk cause before I found Blue Devil I tried several other products that lasted only weeks at a time and the temp can spike to 245 in a just a few seconds! Blue Devil has been working very well for me and I added an extension to my low coolant sensor so I reduce the amount of false alarms. good luck
01-10-12, 05:02 PM
#35
Jrexx6 no one seemed to answer your question about using just water as the coolant ..remember water will boil at 212 degrees ..and your seven can get there in a heartbeat and you will never know it especially if your using the stock temp gauge.
I reccomend you add the boil over protection. if you do add the prestone this will start to smell sweet out your exhaust if it is the water seals. Once you confirm you are leaking you can do a rebuild or spend 50 bucks. I have had excellent results using "Blue Devil" on my FC and My Freinds FD. This will last a year or longer in many cases. I watch my AEM digital temp gauge like a hawk cause before I found Blue Devil I tried several other products that lasted only weeks at a time and the temp can spike to 245 in a just a few seconds! Blue Devil has been working very well for me and I added an extension to my low coolant sensor so I reduce the amount of false alarms. good luck
I reccomend you add the boil over protection. if you do add the prestone this will start to smell sweet out your exhaust if it is the water seals. Once you confirm you are leaking you can do a rebuild or spend 50 bucks. I have had excellent results using "Blue Devil" on my FC and My Freinds FD. This will last a year or longer in many cases. I watch my AEM digital temp gauge like a hawk cause before I found Blue Devil I tried several other products that lasted only weeks at a time and the temp can spike to 245 in a just a few seconds! Blue Devil has been working very well for me and I added an extension to my low coolant sensor so I reduce the amount of false alarms. good luck
01-11-12, 07:24 AM
#38
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No Alumaseal is a powder not made to handle the high heat of compressed gas. My freind with the FD said the same thing ..but with a Seven there is no permanent fix ..your engine was just rebuilt and your having coolant problems. Several other forum members have commented they blow seals when they boost a cold engine. Do yourself a favor and research Blue Devil. It is a pure Liquid that reacts to heat and forms a permanent seal for most head gasket leaks. I thought it may help my rotary seal issue after several other products failed. it works in about 15 minutes how can that hurt? It stays in the coolant system and contiinues to work the whole year round before you change the coolant again.
01-12-12, 01:33 AM
#39
No Alumaseal is a powder not made to handle the high heat of compressed gas. My freind with the FD said the same thing ..but with a Seven there is no permanent fix ..your engine was just rebuilt and your having coolant problems. Several other forum members have commented they blow seals when they boost a cold engine. Do yourself a favor and research Blue Devil. It is a pure Liquid that reacts to heat and forms a permanent seal for most head gasket leaks. I thought it may help my rotary seal issue after several other products failed. it works in about 15 minutes how can that hurt? It stays in the coolant system and contiinues to work the whole year round before you change the coolant again.
01-12-12, 06:54 AM
#40
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Well My friend with the FD did not believe me ..in fact he laughed and said he would do a rebuild if that happened to him. 6 months later his sons FD blew the coolant o rings and he was calling me and asking what was the name of that stuff?? He went out and bought the 35 dollar version ( can mix with antifreeze) and He was shocked! its been 8 mos for him and no issues. My Fc has been going on two years. good Luck!
01-12-12, 07:29 AM
#41
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You shouldn't really be needing to use any blue devil/k-seal/alumaseal solution with a recently rebuilt engine though!
Try bleeding it through properly, there are guides around that tell you how to do it in a foolproof way (basically involves removing the throttle body coolant line and pouring until it comes out of there - whilst making sure the ast is full). You wouldnt believe the trouble I had getting the air out of mine just by topping it up from the filler.
Hopefully the pressure test will tell you more!
Try bleeding it through properly, there are guides around that tell you how to do it in a foolproof way (basically involves removing the throttle body coolant line and pouring until it comes out of there - whilst making sure the ast is full). You wouldnt believe the trouble I had getting the air out of mine just by topping it up from the filler.
Hopefully the pressure test will tell you more!
01-13-12, 12:19 PM
#42
Update
Ok I got my pressure tester and here were the results:
I tested my fill neck cap and It was holding less than 12lbs of pressure. I believe this is supposed to be unvented right?
My new AST cap was holding just over 12lbs
My old AST cap was still good lol and held around 13-15
The prestone cap I bought was a 16lb cap but it was venting from the top of the cap.
I pressure checked the system throught the fill neck and found a small leak revealing itself at about 12.5 lbs on the upper rad hose, just a loose clamp.
I wasn't able to get the pressure up to 20lbs throught the fill neck because the AST was letting the air into the overflow at around 13 or so.
I also tried throught the AST and got the same problem. Should I be blocking the passage from the AST to the overflow tank while doing the pressure test? It doesnt say anything in the shop manual about it, but I did read something on here about it the other day.
The good news is that this morning when I went to check on her again. The coolant level in the overflow got sucked back in to the engine. It was almost overflowing last night and now its about 2 inches from the bottom. So now we know that using the original caps and fixing that upper hose leak the system actually works.
Now I'm going to add coolant with the TB hose disconnected and see if she can be burped properly.
I tested my fill neck cap and It was holding less than 12lbs of pressure. I believe this is supposed to be unvented right?
My new AST cap was holding just over 12lbs
My old AST cap was still good lol and held around 13-15
The prestone cap I bought was a 16lb cap but it was venting from the top of the cap.
I pressure checked the system throught the fill neck and found a small leak revealing itself at about 12.5 lbs on the upper rad hose, just a loose clamp.
I wasn't able to get the pressure up to 20lbs throught the fill neck because the AST was letting the air into the overflow at around 13 or so.
I also tried throught the AST and got the same problem. Should I be blocking the passage from the AST to the overflow tank while doing the pressure test? It doesnt say anything in the shop manual about it, but I did read something on here about it the other day.
The good news is that this morning when I went to check on her again. The coolant level in the overflow got sucked back in to the engine. It was almost overflowing last night and now its about 2 inches from the bottom. So now we know that using the original caps and fixing that upper hose leak the system actually works.
Now I'm going to add coolant with the TB hose disconnected and see if she can be burped properly.
01-13-12, 01:58 PM
#43
Just put coolant in it and let it get warm, heater is blowing cold air. I'm beginning to think I may have a water pump problem or the Stant T-stat I just got sucks. The upper rad hose is cold. Anyone have any ideas as to why I may not be getting flow to the heater core? Air bubble?
01-13-12, 06:16 PM
#44
I put it the old T-stat and it works the car is heating up no problem. I hate the fact that everytime I do something to the coolant system I have to bleed it all over again. Putting the Overflow back in place and bringing it to Forcefed tomorrow so they can give it a once over.
01-14-12, 07:21 PM
#47
I drove it around today my coolant light keeps coming on when the thermostat opens. I'm thinking about just taking the dang thing out. I bought a digital temp reader to check how hot it is getting and it seems to be a lot less then what I was thinking.
I need a good temp gauge though so I can see the water temp continuously. Do you guys have any recommendations?
01-16-12, 09:04 PM
#49
The Conclusion...
Well folks I took her to Forcefed today and did the funnel test on it. I have a coolant breach folks.
Unfortunately I'm gonna have to tear her down again and put new seals in. The good thing is that while she's out I can do some other upgrades I wanted to do. I think I'll add in the gauges I wanted to and maybe even install a stand-alone. Thanks for all your help guys. I'll post up some info once I have her all taken apart so you can see where the failure was.
Unfortunately I'm gonna have to tear her down again and put new seals in. The good thing is that while she's out I can do some other upgrades I wanted to do. I think I'll add in the gauges I wanted to and maybe even install a stand-alone. Thanks for all your help guys. I'll post up some info once I have her all taken apart so you can see where the failure was.