I uaed the RA teflon coolant seal in my last rebuild , all was going well until a water hose came loose and I lost coolant without knowing , I dont exactly know how long it ran like that , but I know it could'nt be more than 30 minutes after wich we immediately topped up the water . Now something strange is happening , It keeps taking water , as soon as I start it up it spits out a lot of water through the radiator overflow then stops , there isn't anything else like gas coming through the overflow either , the radiator it self doesn't get hot after the car runs , I can actually place my hand on it for more than 10 minutes and it takes very long to heat up , the water temperature climbs slowly to about 80 deg , then it begins to fall back to about 74 deg where it stays until it begins to climb rapidly to 100+ . Some are saying that a water seal has failed , whilst others say that there is air trapped in the system , anyone know for sure

 

go ahead and burp the system just in case there is some air in there, but hearing your complaint reminds me that i was chasing what i thought was a coolant leak a few years ago only to find out that it was a compromised coolant seal. i happened to be changing exhaust gaskets while doing my clutch a couple years ago when while turning the engine by hand to get at the clutch bolts i heard what i thought to be Victoria Falls - yes, antifreeze pouring out the exhaust ports onto the garage floor.

the car only tried to overheat when the coolant levels dropped enough to suck the reservoir dry. so i ended up having to add coolant about every 3 to 4 weeks. no excess pressure in the radiator. no varying temps. none of the usual signs of seal failure. bottomline, you may want to check your exhaust ports.

 

if the radiator doesn't get hot, first thing to check is the thermostat and water pump.

 

Just what myself and the radiator repair guy I thaught , so I went ahead and removed the thermostat , plugged the reirculation hole and it does the same thing . I'm going to get a vacuum check done on it tomorrow.

 

no thermostat--radiator doesn't get hot...coolant isn't circulating. in addition to the possible blown coolant seals and warped housings, you might also have a bunk water pump.

 

So your low coolant warning buzzer isn't working during this entire time?

 

pressure test the cooling system to 13-14psi. Then run the engine for a while, check the plugs in the morning, if they are wet with coolant then you have your answer.

 

The day before the water pump worked fine ,things dont stop working just like that , I don't believe in co-incidences ......anyway I decided to do my own test ,if its compressionthats leaking into the cooling system then it should burn right ? . I removed the cap on the motor (I eliminated my air sep. tank a while ago) , started it up , put a cigarette lighter over the hole, and sure enough it caught fire ! , there was a small blue flame coming out of the thermostat housing.
After this I went back to the rad. repair guy and asked for a pressure check , he filled it back up and plugged the hole with his finger and told me to start the motor , he held it there for about 30 secs. and removed it , there was a jet of water about 3 ft tall spraying out of the hole.
I didn't bother to have him use the pump and all that , I went back home and began to work on it , .......by 2pm in the afternoon it was on the garage floor waiting for my motor guy to come and get it ! , he said that he would only be able to take it on Thursday evening , I should have it back by Friday , and I'll have it running by Saturday for the latest !