Radiator Hose Pressure?
 

I few weeks ago I did a system flush, replaced the Tstat with a failsafe, replaced the radiator cap. The heater works great. There is no air in the system as far as I can tell. The problem I'm having is that the hoses build no pressure. I can crush them after running the car for 15 min. I've not seen this on any other car before. Bad water pump or is this normal? I have no CEL & plan on testing the temp sensor.

Re: Radiator Hose Pressure?
 

you probably have air in the system. try squeezing the hose while the car is running and turn your heat on all the way. and keep doing it till the thermostat opens.

Re: Radiator Hose Pressure?
 

Or it could be a rad cap that will not hold pressure.

Re: Radiator Hose Pressure?
 

Just ran the car for 10 minutes with heat on high and the temp never moved from cold. The thermostat never opened either. It cool outside but the engine should still warm up in 10 minutes I'd think.

Re: Radiator Hose Pressure?
 

It has a new cap.

Re: Radiator Hose Pressure?
 

I've seen brand new caps that do not work. Does'nt hurt to double check it.

Re: Radiator Hose Pressure?
 

If the thermostat never opened, your engine would overheat. When you say you ran the car with the heat on high, hopefully you meant the heater was set to full hot with the fan OFF.

Start with OEM components. Maybe your Failsafe Thermostat is...failing.

Re: Radiator Hose Pressure?
 

Ha, yeah, I'm referring to the heater. That would be funny (in a way) if I meant the engine temp was on hi. ;) I did have the fan on hi though, per Haynes manual. This is the second T stat as well. I thought the first normal Tstat wasn't working properly so I put in a failsafe. I am also noticing that it takes around 8-10 min for the dash temp gauge to reach normal operating temp. Still no pressure.

Re: Radiator Hose Pressure?
 

I've tried running the engine with the cap off to see if any air worked it's way out. None that I've seen. The car seems to heat up, heater is great, holds a normal operating temp, all seems fine. The thing that concerns me is that there is never any pressure on the radiator hoses and the valve cover, distributor, etc is very hot to the touch. I don't think there is any air in the system. The coolant must be moving or the car would overheat. I'll try to pressure test the cap and go from there.

Re: Radiator Hose Pressure?
 

sorry to venture off on your thread but i need some help :/. my mom go into a fender bender and she needs a new radiator and she got one and im pretty confident on replacing it. but there shouldn't be any pressure in the upper or lower hose right? ( when she got into the accident coolant leaked onto the scene of it. and when the pressure cap is off it begins to leak near the lower hose. i should have no problem getting it out and installing the new one right?

Re: Radiator Hose Pressure?
 

8-10 mins seems about right for these cars to reach operating temp if its just idling. if the upper hose is getting hot and the car is not overheating then your coolant is circulating. I can squeeze my hoses its not like they should be rock hard, they aren't collapsing are they?

Edit: Have you done the bleeding method per the haynes manual by opening the bleeder screw until a steady stream of coolant flows out? (chapter 1-25)