My 1986 LX 5.0 was running perfectly...
But it had interior mounted mechanical gauges I wanted to replace.
I had electric gauges in my 86 GT... The TEMP gauge got it's signal from a sender that went into a threaded thermostat housing.
I have a high flow 165 thermostat that operated perfectly before the housing change.
I swapped the threaded housing, and applied a very light coat of red PERMATEX on both sides of the FEL-PRO gasket & let it set for two days.
When I removed the original housing, I naturally lost some coolant. I ALSO vacuumed some coolant out of the intake to ensure the "new" housing would have a dry surface to mate to.
Got my gauges hooked up, pulled the car out of the garage and parked it on a hill.
Then used the LISLE Spill-Free funnel to re-fill the coolant.
THAT'S when I had an accident. I dropped a quarter-sized rubber washer into the radiator. It vanished. I didn't panic because I assumed something would catch it inside the radiator without causing a problem with the flow.
VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE that this car came with a MEZIERE electric water pump & electronic fan (BOTH WORKED PERFECTLY BEFORE HOUSING SWAP)
The car starts, and overheats... I know the thermostat is opening because I'm getting plenty of heat.
I know the electronic water pump is flowing because I can see the coolant spilling back into the top of the radiator.
The car continues to over heat and fill the puke tank.
As soon as I kill the engine, the electronic water-pump sucks in the coolant that is in the NO-SPILL funnel...
But when I refill the funnel and run the car, it spills the coolant back out and overheats again.
I'm left with three questions...
1) Could the dropped washer possibly get lodged somewhere and restrict flow (even though I know the electronic water pump is pushing coolant back into the top of the radiator)?
2) If I can see coolant being pushed back into the top of the radiator the pump is operating correctly, right? In the proper flow direction.
3) Could air be stuck in this system that I can't burp... Even with the Lisle No-Spill funnel?
I am beginning to feel quite discouraged about this. I like to fix things myself. I have rebuilt cooling systems in two Grand Cherokees (4.0 & 5.9) and a Delorean. I like to think I know what I'm doing, but I feel totally stumped and hopeless on this one.
Can anybody please help me?
But it had interior mounted mechanical gauges I wanted to replace.
I had electric gauges in my 86 GT... The TEMP gauge got it's signal from a sender that went into a threaded thermostat housing.
I have a high flow 165 thermostat that operated perfectly before the housing change.
I swapped the threaded housing, and applied a very light coat of red PERMATEX on both sides of the FEL-PRO gasket & let it set for two days.
When I removed the original housing, I naturally lost some coolant. I ALSO vacuumed some coolant out of the intake to ensure the "new" housing would have a dry surface to mate to.
Got my gauges hooked up, pulled the car out of the garage and parked it on a hill.
Then used the LISLE Spill-Free funnel to re-fill the coolant.
THAT'S when I had an accident. I dropped a quarter-sized rubber washer into the radiator. It vanished. I didn't panic because I assumed something would catch it inside the radiator without causing a problem with the flow.
VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE that this car came with a MEZIERE electric water pump & electronic fan (BOTH WORKED PERFECTLY BEFORE HOUSING SWAP)
The car starts, and overheats... I know the thermostat is opening because I'm getting plenty of heat.
I know the electronic water pump is flowing because I can see the coolant spilling back into the top of the radiator.
The car continues to over heat and fill the puke tank.
As soon as I kill the engine, the electronic water-pump sucks in the coolant that is in the NO-SPILL funnel...
But when I refill the funnel and run the car, it spills the coolant back out and overheats again.
I'm left with three questions...
1) Could the dropped washer possibly get lodged somewhere and restrict flow (even though I know the electronic water pump is pushing coolant back into the top of the radiator)?
2) If I can see coolant being pushed back into the top of the radiator the pump is operating correctly, right? In the proper flow direction.
3) Could air be stuck in this system that I can't burp... Even with the Lisle No-Spill funnel?
I am beginning to feel quite discouraged about this. I like to fix things myself. I have rebuilt cooling systems in two Grand Cherokees (4.0 & 5.9) and a Delorean. I like to think I know what I'm doing, but I feel totally stumped and hopeless on this one.
Can anybody please help me?
