About 2 weeks ago my radiator cracked and was spraying (literally) out anti-freeze. My engine started over heating (go figure), so i then bought a new raditor and put it in myself. I filled it up with 1 gallon of straight antfreeze the rest 50/50. I let it run, b4 i drove it, for about 10 minutes then checked the level and added 50/50 as needed. The level is good now and there are no leaks (at least when its parked). What could it be, please help. thanks.

 

it is advised to run the car till the fans come on without the radiator cap. that way the thermostat opens and allows the coolant to flow through the engine and hoses. then install the cap and bleed any air out through the thermostat housing.

 

is the car still overheating?

 

I'm assuming that you're still overheating.

First off did you drain the block as well while you were draining the engine coolant? 10 minutes probably wasn't enough to open the thermostat since if I remember correctly the thermostat opens at around 180-190 degrees approx. Then the fans go on at around 205. Did you also make sure that you bled all the air out of the lines using the valve on the thermostat housing? Lastly did you remember to fill the overflow tank? Follow the Helm's manuals instructions and run the car til the fans go on twice. This WILL require you to rev the engine for 5-10 min at 2-3k rpm. The fans won't go on if you stay at idle. Just remember it takes about 7.2L to completely flush the system.

Lastly, why are you filling with such a high % antifreeze? 100% for 1 gal + rest with 50/50 is approximately a 78% antifreeze solution. Just so that you know antifreeze has a much lower specific heat than water, the only reason why you put that in is to keep the water from freezing. If you live in a area where it gets to freezing stick to a 50/50 solution but if you live in an area where it never gets near there you can easily get away with a 30 antifreeze / 70 water solution.

The last thing I can think of is that you might of fried your water pump and/or your water pump seals with heavy overheating. While heating up your engine make sure that you watch the water level in the radiator (with the cap off). If it fluctuates your water pump is working.

 

but when my car starts to overheat, only when its really cold out, if i turn the heat on its starts to go back to normal.

 

Again, you're going to have to see if your thermostat is even opening... can't really help if you don't provide info.

 

Yeah because your heater uses coolant to heat a coil in the blower unit. That is where the energy to heat your interior comes from. The higher the interior temperature is set at the more coolant passes through the coil. If you're drawing heat out of the coolant stream and into the interior you will reduce your coolant temperatures.

Gabe

 

how do u find out if your thermostat is opening, honestly i dont even know where its at.

 

Open the radiator cap up and let it idle, like gude posted. As soon as your radiator fan kicks on, the coolent should go down. Thats when the thermostat opens up...

 

is it really necessary to bleed the coolant? what will happen if I dont bleed it?

 

It depends on what you're doing. Normally you don't need to change your coolant... just change it every 30k miles and you're fine. I'm sure that you can get away with changing it at 60k if you really want to. But considering a gallon of coolant is like $13, just do it.

Miller: Read what I posted above, if you can't do that we can't really help you.

 

i appreciate it guys im going out now to see if the thermostat is opening or not. please satnd by on this post though incase i need more help. once again i really appreciate it.