Ek9_Cuhzz

For a while i've been driving my car without a thermostat, so my motor would be warm and sometimes cold, depending on the weather. I bought a thermostat yesterday and installed it. My motor warmed up fine, but my radiator started smoking on top. I checked the radiator hose, the top one gets super hot, and the bottom one is really cold, so i'm assuming coolant isn't go through the bottom hose. What can cause this problem? Last month, I bought a new thermostat and it kept on doing it, so i took the thermostat off, and yesterday i bought a NEW one again, and still the same problem. Could it be that my radiator is clogged? It shouldn't be clogged since i've been driving without a thermostat for about a month and the motor warmed up fine. Anyone know what it could be? I'm thinkin the thermostat is staying shut, but what are the chances of 2 NEW thermostats doing the same thing?

itsnotfast

Its possible but there is probably an air pocket in the cooling system. Try another thermostat. Leave the car idling for like 20 minutes with the radiator cap off but make sure the rad stays full through this process.

Ek9_Cuhzz

i tried that yesterday with 2 thermostats, and still didn't work

itsnotfast

Hmm. Are you by any chance shopping at autozone? The car functions fine with no thermostat, correct? If that is true then it has to be the thermostat or an air pocket.

fv8s

bleed the cooling system

Ek9_Cuhzz

yes, my car functions fine without the thermostat. Its just sometimes when i drive my car on the freeway, it will overcool the motor so my temp will be cold and the same thing will happen on COLD days too.

Well when i FIRST bought the motor, it kept on smoking from my radiator, so I bought a NEW one from autozone, thinking my thermostat was bad to begin with. Same thing happened, so i just drove without a thermostat. I wanted to fix the problem, so I bought ANOTHER thermostat this time at Schucks, which was yesterday and it did the same thing.

itsnotfast

I would try another thermostat. I'm not sure what else it could be, you seem to have covered your bases.

Ek9_Cuhzz

thanks for the help! i'm gonna try to bleed my coolant right now and try a another thermostat, if that doesn't work, then i'm just gonna have to run my motor with no thermostat.

Ek9_Cuhzz

i just bled again and can't still figure out why my thermostat will not open. my top radiator hose gets really hot, and my bottom radiator hose is ice cold.

mayfly

for everytime you changed the thermostat have you once tried pulling the radiator and shooting water through it?

mayfly

also try changing the radiator cap. when they get old and worn out they dont lift and do not allow for maximum flow

Ek9_Cuhzz

i went through 2 radiators, and i did shoot water through it about a month ago. still same problem, i also tried 2 different radiator caps.

Ek9_Cuhzz

I doubled checked if my thermostat if it was good, and it turned out to be working perfectly fine. When i installed the thermostat back onto my car again, it still wouldn't open. I also realized my FAN doesn't turn on either. Does anyone know what it could be?