ieatbabies

yesterday after i pulled home i noticed steam coming from engine bay. i popped it open and saw i had a hose that had a pinhole leak. it was shooting a thin stream of coolant out which was hitting stuff thus causing the steam. today i located the hose with the pinhole leak again. looked up which hose it was, found out it was a heater core hose, the return line. spent some time browsing forums, looking at people with similar problems. one option i could have done was bypass heater core and just by a U hose and loop the line. i decided against it as it is getting a bit chillier here. it looked like i was going to have to by a new heater core unit, which is like $100. cash i have, but dont want to spend at the moment. i found a thread where the OP cut the hose, put a barb (union, whatever they call the connector pieces) and clamped it and reattached it. he said he had no problems following. i decided that was the route for me.
i undid battery, removed old clamp from heater hose, let coolant drain out the water pump. while i was doing that i figured id semi flush coolant. opened plug on bottom, let all coolant out then filled with water and let it out. since battery was out i took out reservoir and drained it. this is the point where i realized my dumbass was going to mix a bit of green stuff and orange stuff (green stuff was put in a month ago, unsure if was green or orange before, but had no problem). i drained what green i could, except what was in toward engine. i cut some 3/4 hose, cut the old hose past the pinhole and thought everything was looking grand. reattached everything, fired her up and watched it for a few minutes. everything looking good, no leak, no temp rise, nothing out of the ordinary. decided to take her for a quick drive and within 3 minutes temp shot up. luckily was close to house, pulled back, looked for leaks, opened radiator cap (wasnt too hot yet). everything seemed normal. now question is could the barb (having a smaller opening than the hose itself) be causing it to overheat? when it was just the hose, it had the leak, but was not overheating. im thinking i might just say screw the heater right now and buy a U hose and bypass heater core, just hoping it wont overheat again. i figure while im in there id change thermo as well. any feedback or comments MUCH appreciated, as this is my daily driver and im trying to get her back on the road, and not at a mechanic shop...

97z28k&N

Did you bleed the air out of the system after you added coolant?


Posted from Camaroz28.com App for Android

ieatbabies

wow i forget how dumb i am sometimes! no i totally spaced (even though ive bled my lt1 before). went out this morning and bled it, took it for a spirited drive around the streets, and now no more overheating! when it was overheating it did within 2 minutes of actual driving (plus random idle time) now i let it idle while bleeding and took it out for 10 minutes no issues. thanks for the simple reminder!!!!! after the threads i poured through for half an hour before asking youd think i wouldve done it right the first time...

97z28k&N

ah, good to hear!


Posted from Camaroz28.com App for Android