Van overheating after replacing thermostat and hose. No milky oil or fizzy radiator but.....
So, my van was overheating after approx. 7 - 10 min. of idling or driving 2 miles or so.
We found a split in a hose and replaced it and found the thermostat was stuck so we
replaced that too. It is still overheating and the heat doesn't work, but there is no
coolant loss anywhere. Oil is not milky, no fizzy air bubbles in the radiator BUT I
noticed that the little hose inside the coolant reservoir or overflow tank is blowing out
bubbles into the tank. (It looked like the water was boiling). Any ideas? Blown head
gasket? Bad water pump? Air in the lines somewhere? And how do you tell? Also,
there's a left and right head gasket, so how do you know which one is blown if that's
the case? Please help! We cannot afford to put it in the shop or to waste any money
on parts we don't need. Any advice appreciated!
10 Answers
Was it overheating before doing the recent work to it? If not sounds like the coolant level is low or you have air trapped in cooling system. Make sure you got all the air out of the cooling system. These things will cause the issues you are having.
It was overheating before. It ran hot and we found the split hose (steam going everywhere) and heat not working, so we changed out the hose (the hose ran up to the thermostat. It was still overheating, so we changed the thermostat (we boil tested it to make sure it was working properly). Still overheating, check engine light on with a little hesitation in the engine and the engine sounds a little weird. It also vibrates a little when I drove it down the road to see if it's still overheating. It's so confusing. It wasn't hesitating or vibrating or sounding funny until we put the thermostat in. I'm so confused right now...LOL! The reservoir tank is full and the rad appears to be full also.
Double check coolant level. Low coolant level will cause heater not to work.
With vehicle idling and warmed up check the large upper radiator hose. Is it collapsed or real spongy feeling? If so then you have low coolant level. If coolant level is full the hose will feel hard/firm when engine is warmed up.
So, I drove it down the road and back and now the coolant level has dropped in the reservoir. I but the hose you mentioned is firm. I don't see anywhere where it could be leaking....meaning I don't see any spray anywhere or pools or puddles anywhere. Checked the oil again and it's still clean....and nothing coming out of the tailpipe that's not supposed to.
Ok fill coolant resivoir to proper level. Is it still over heating? Is your heater now working? If not over heating and heater is now working you were just low on coolant before.
I filled coolant and drove it again this morning and it overheated once again and is still blowing cold air.
Did anyone ever figure this out? Im having this problem currently. Coolant is full, thermostat and radiator and hoses replaced