P38A New radiator

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Sonnycbr

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The story so far....broke plastic inlet to radiator from expansion tank. Fixed with plastic metal, lasted 3 months. Weekend away in car resulted in total loss of coolant when temporary fix came adrift. Ordered new radiator on Monday, arrived today, fitted this afternoon.
There were no leaks when I filled up the system although I didn't get anything like the amount that RAVE said it would take. I assume this is because I didn't remove the drain plug from the block. Took the car for a run and after about 1 mile the temp shot up into the red and stayed there, limped home. I topped the system up again and ran the engine at 2000 rpm for a few minutes with the top off the expansion tank, it boiled over.
I let the engine cool right down and topped up again, took car out and the temp gauge stayed at 12 o clock. I've just looked under the car and there's a pool of coolant which has came from the expansion tank overflow.
Any ideas where I'm going wrong? It's not the thermostat is it?
 
Sonnycbr said:
The story so far....broke plastic inlet to radiator from expansion tank. Fixed with plastic metal, lasted 3 months. Weekend away in car resulted in total loss of coolant when temporary fix came adrift. Ordered new radiator on Monday, arrived today, fitted this afternoon.
There were no leaks when I filled up the system although I didn't get anything like the amount that RAVE said it would take. I assume this is because I didn't remove the drain plug from the block. Took the car for a run and after about 1 mile the temp shot up into the red and stayed there, limped home. I topped the system up again and ran the engine at 2000 rpm for a few minutes with the top off the expansion tank, it boiled over.
I let the engine cool right down and topped up again, took car out and the temp gauge stayed at 12 o clock. I've just looked under the car and there's a pool of coolant which has came from the expansion tank overflow.
Any ideas where I'm going wrong? It's not the thermostat is it?
Click to expand...
Probably an airlock. Petrol or diesel? It can be difficult to get all the air out of the system, I always raise the front of the car, rapid squeezing and releasing of the hoses can help.
As for the coolant under the car, either a leak, have you tightened the drain plug in the new RAD? Air in the system, or you over filled it.
 
Thanks Datatek, its a petrol auto. The coolant under the car is definitely from the expansion tank so I think I overfilled it. I'm going to try the hose squeezing routine and I'll report back.
 
Datatek said:
Probably an airlock. Petrol or diesel? It can be difficult to get all the air out of the system, I always raise the front of the car, rapid squeezing and releasing of the hoses can help.
As for the coolant under the car, either a leak, have you tightened the drain plug in the new RAD? Air in the system, or you over filled it.
Click to expand...
Result!! I did as you suggested, took the car for a 4 mile blast and the temp gauge never moved from 12, came back and the coolant level is perfect, thanks again Data.
 
Just had similar overflow problems from expansion tank after changing the coolant (no overheating though). A new expansion tank cap sorted the problem.
 
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