New Radiator install troubles - Question:

[deviantek]

Hey all,

Just got done jamming in the radiator I ordered off of ebay for my Evo 1. It was alot thicker then the stock one and the mounting holes didnt exactly match up with the stock fan. With that said, I managed to finally cram it in (and i mean i literally pounded it in at times )

I want to flush all the old fluid out and clean the engine a bit, but for some reason it won't pull any fluid into the engine now... >< I'm not sure what the problem is. The bottom hose is properly connected and I have the top hose disconnected so that I can drain the old stuff. I've filled the radiator with distilled water.

Any ideas as to the problem?

Thanks,

 

[DIESTI]

what do u mean wont pull any water?? if you want to flush your motor take your thurmostat out and just fill it up with water and drive it for like a week then empty it and do it again a few times then when your happy with the water being clear put a new thurmostat in and fill with coolant. when you fill it back up fill the radiator back up and start the car without the radatior cap on till it warms up and the water level drops then continue to fill till full.

 

[BMGTZ]

I spent a few years in the radiator industry.........did the radiator supplied to you have plastic bungs in the outlets....maybe still in there on the bottom outlet blocking flow. oh the other place thay end up is jammed in the water pump....but easy to remove.

just a thought

bmgtz

 

[deviantek]

Ok, so i double checked all the connections. I have the radiator filled with distilled water and all connections are solid and non-leaking with the exception of the outlet hose at the top which I have disconnected (in order to flush/drain).

A little water was coming out when I first fired up the engine, but then after a few seconds I get nothing. The water level in the radiator doesnt seem to be going down either. What in the world could the problem be?

FYI: I have the AC removed from the car if that matters at all. I'll be perfectly honest and say that I really don't even know where the thermostat is located.

Thanks in advance for the continued help (my apologies for my lack of knowledge, learning as I go here)

- deviantek

 

[Liberoz]

The bottom hose is properly connected and I have the top hose disconnected so that I can drain the old stuff. I've filled the radiator with distilled water.

Ive always dropped the bottom hose and let it drain, then connect bottom hose up and fill rad wait till thermostat kicks in and fill to the top.
A couple of squirts around the block let it cool down and repeat until water being dropped is clean, then drop water and fill with coolant wait till thermostat kicks in and fill to the top. and your done.

 

[deviantek]

Ive always dropped the bottom hose and let it drain, then connect bottom hose up and fill rad wait till thermostat kicks in and fill to the top.
A couple of squirts around the block let it cool down and repeat until water being dropped is clean, then drop water and fill with coolant wait till thermostat kicks in and fill to the top. and your done.

Well initially I did disconnect the bottom hose and try to drain most of the existing fluids, once it looked like nothing else was coming out I hooked it back up to the radiator.

Maybe I have a faulty thermostat? I wouldn't think so as I've been driving it around on the stock radiator setup since I just recently bought it.

I'm really perplexed as to why it isn't just simply flushing like I want it to.

 

[Liberoz]

Another method is to remove bottom rad hose and get a hose and stick it in the radiator top tank clasp your hands around to make a better seal and turn the tap on this will push fresh water through your engine you will also have water coming out of the bottom rad hose but the pressure forces it through the engine as well.

 

[deviantek]

Another method is to remove bottom rad hose and get a hose and stick it in the radiator top tank clasp your hands around to make a better seal and turn the tap on this will push fresh water through your engine you will also have water coming out of the bottom rad hose but the pressure forces it through the engine as well.

Hrmm, wouldn't it be even better to just stick the water hose over the top radiator outlet/hosing? I.e. right where the thermostat is? I would think that sticking the tap hose in the radiator tank itself would cause all the water to go straight out the bottom and leave no pressure for water to get pushed through at the top hose.

On that same note, I've been using distilled water to try and flush it out. Isn't using tap water generally a bad idea? or will just temporary tap water be OK for flushing?

Thanks,

 

[Liberoz]

Regular tap water will be OK for a few days its coming out any ways when you drain it and put coolant in

as I said earlier there is enough pressure in the hose to flush the engine out believe me water doesn't go through the radiator fins that quickly :lol: remove the top hose off and put tap hose in there is a better idea thou
6 of 0ne Vs half a dozen

 

[deviantek]

Regular tap water will be OK for a few days its coming out any ways when you drain it and put coolant in

as I said earlier there is enough pressure in the hose to flush the engine out believe me water doesn't go through the radiator fins that quickly :lol: remove the top hose off and put tap hose in there is a better idea thou
6 of 0ne Vs half a dozen

Ok, I'll try that then! Thanks.

However it still doesn't solve the problem of why I'm not getting enough pressure to move water through the radiator and up the lower hose into my engine... I'm a bit worried something more sinister is at play.

Any ideas of some mistake I may have made along the way when installing?

Thanks,

 

[mattrat]

you forgot your water pump pulley

 

[deviantek]

you forgot your water pump pulley

hah, possibly. Where exactly is that located? Doesn't seem like something I would have disconnected or taken out, but it's always possible it wasnt working in the first place (though I don't know how I'd drive 500 miles and not have any engine problems without it working). :shock:

 

[Muzz66]

if your trying to push water through the top hose into the motor from a hose the water is cold and closing the thermostat.remove the thermostat and do a back flush i.e the reverse that the coolant would normally flow.helps dislodge any flaking and crap.

 

[Richard]

How much water are you expecting to fit in the system?
I don't understand your problem, if you are filling from the top it all fills up together motor and radiator, make sure you have the heater on while you are filling as well so the heater core fills up to. You should be abe to fill it up cold no problems, the thermostat wont stop you from filling the cooling system.

 

[Muzz66]

How much water are you expecting to fit in the system?
I don't understand your problem, if you are filling from the top it all fills up together motor and radiator, make sure you have the heater on while you are filling as well so the heater core fills up to. You should be abe to fill it up cold no problems, the thermostat wont stop you from filling the cooling system.

He is trying to flush the system not fill it which should have been done before fitting the new radiator to avoid getting crap stuck in the new radiator. :wink:

 

[deviantek]

Ok, so here's my status as of now:

I have everything in place with all hoses connected & cleaned. I turned on the car and everything seemed fine... The water started to move as it heated up, but didn't move when it was cold.

I watched the temp gauge in the cluster slowly go up and before I turned off the engine it was almost halfway between Cold & Hot, probably after about 10minutes or so.

For some reason, the radiator FAN was not automatically turning on. Is there a certain temp which the gauge needs to reach for it to go on, or should it be on right from the start? The radiator was extremely hot to the touch and steem was coming off of it. I had primarily filled it with distilled water, but it had a little leftover radiator fluid still in the system.

Any ideas as to why my FAN may not be working and why the radiator would be so hot as to be steaming after 10minutes of idle?

Thanks,

 

[Richard]

It can take a fair while for the fan to come on, I would think if you leave it running for longer it will come on, don't forget you have just put a bigger better radiator in so the water will be naturally cooled better even just sitting there.
If you have a funnel in the radiator top hole to fill with, jacking up the front of the car can help as it makes the fill point higher,
The fan will not be on from the start.
Once the fans have came on and gone off again about three times it is quite safe to say the system hasnt any air pockets left.
The steam could be from water you have spilled over the radiator when filling it.
Distilled water is prefered but not really neccisary, a good quality coolant is best, get a concentrate and mix it with your distilled water to the instructions on the pack, DO NOT MIX different types or brands of coolant, I have seen it turn to like jelly, the same is true if you mix it WAY to strong, it can even eat out your heater core.

 

[deviantek]

Roger that. I'll leave it on a bit longer and see what comes from it. I just got really worried when I saw the radiator heat up like that and no fan go on. I was used to the fan going on really fast with my previous subaru impreza.

There's no chance of engine heat damage so long as I keep an eye on the temp gauge and it doesn't get too close to the top of the heat gauge correct? I figure it's better to be safe then sorry and err on the of caution. Let me know what you think.

Thanks again,

 

[mattrat]

i got the same problem as you, except for the steam my rad gets very hot yet the thermo's dont come on..
let us know how it goes and if they end up turning on..
Matt

 

[deviantek]

i got the same problem as you, except for the steam my rad gets very hot yet the thermo's dont come on..
let us know how it goes and if they end up turning on..
Matt

Matt, how hot did your let your temp gauge reach to before you decided to turn off the car? I want to let it heat up and wait for the fan's to turn on, but want to know how hot is too how and when to turn it off.