Asylist

Sprung a leak last night in one of the oil cooler lines, and the upper radiator hose, leading to the temp going high. As soon as the "check gauges" light came on, I pulled off the road and let it cool down (literally less than a minute after the light came on, the engine was shut off).

Today, after I realized what a PITA it would be to replace the oil cooler lines in the apartment parking lot, I just bypassed the cooler (running a hose from the port on the bottom driver's side of the radiator to the barb on the water pump pointing towards the bottom driver's side), and replaced the upper radiator hose. While I was there, I also replaced the dead fan motor, so pretty much all the lines on the front of the engine were disconnected.

Got everything together, opened both bleeder screws a few turns, and filled the radiator. Didn't get any coolant from either screw. Started the engine, and got sputters of coolant from the steam pipe connection to the radiator (would flow for a second or so, then nothing for a few seconds, and repeats this way). Temp gauge never got higher than 3/4, Every 10 seconds or so, the radiator would overflow some, then suck back down The bleeders seemed to cycle flow in unison with the radiator. I'd let it run for about 10 minutes or so, shut it down, and find the radiator about a gallon low. I repeated this until I went through about 10 gallons of water, and gave up for the night.

Am I doing something wrong? According to shoebox's site, and everything I'm finding here on searching, I'm doing it with the correct procedure. Am I supposed to fill the radiator, and cap it, allowing pressure to build in the system?

Z28LT1_Just_Nasty

While the car is running, squeeze any and all lines within reach, "pumping" them as hard as you can. When it starts to overheat shut off, open bleeder screws, take cap off radiator and let the level go down, repeat. I can get all the air out of my system just using the bleeder screw on top of my wp without opening the other bleeder screw (which is stripped out and can't be removed)

Dave1980

No your not doing anything wrong. Are you getting coolant from your bleeders at all? I have had my car on a incline before to help get air out. If it keeps taking water and you have no leaks, keep adding. It is just a PITA to get the air out sometimes.

Like mentioned above I only use the upper bleeder to bleed. Opti is too close to the other.

Asylist

I'm getting squirts from the bleeders. The one on the water pump dribbles a bit, then nothing for a few seconds, then it dribbles, and so on. It's a similar situation with the upper bleeder connected to the crossover pipe line. It almost seems like it's sucking air more air in than it's bleeding out.

sbs

No car is going to simultaneously develop random leaks in an oil hose and a coolant hose. Except maybe road racing, and even then it would be long odds.

I'd be concerned to find out what happened here and what else is damaged before putting it back on the road.

Asylist

I just assumed it was overheating/running steam through 15 year old rubber hoses. It looked like one of the oil cooler lines had already been cut back once before I got the car (was cut at an angle, and was pulled tight). The lower radiator hose had already been replaced, the upper looked original. And they were both coolant hoses, one of them just went to factory engine oil cooler.

The engine is still running great, good oil pressure, so I don't think I did any major damage.

95ttoplt1

Maybe I'm not understanding here. Your tranny oil cooler line sprung a leak and you bypassed it by hooking the lower cooler line into the waterpump??

Just doesn't make sense to me.

Asylist

Just like I said in the reply just above yours....

I really don't know how I could have possibly made it any clearer than that, not to mention it says M6 in my sig.

SnakeOiler

When getting air out of the system, make sure the heat is on and turned up to max heat. This will allow coolant to flow through the entire system. The upper bleed hose is a heater hose.

Also, as mentioned, make sure the front end of the car sits higher than the rear, this will help the air bubble up to the radiator cap for escape.

If you are putting in straight water, yeah you are doing something wrong. Make sure it's a 50/50 mix, preferably with distilled water.

Dave1980

Yeah very true about running the heater. Also if your still sucking in air from the bleeder, it could mean that the system is not holding pressure properly. I found that when my heater core had a bad leak that it was sucking in air at the bleeder when trying to bleed the system.

The water thing is ok untill you finish fixing your problem, as long as it is distilled or RO water.

Asylist

Hmmm....pressure...could be my problem. I've been trying to do this with the radiator cap off the entire time, as I've done with all my other cars. Should I be doing with with the cap on, allowing the system to pressurize?

I don't see it leaking anywhere, and I'm not getting a wet floor/antifreeze smell inside the car.

seawolf06

Since no one else has said it, get rid of that oil cooler asap. It has been the cause of many motor problems, including trashing my bearings.

JeremyNYR

i'm sorry if i'm getting too far off the original topic, but can you explain what problems you had with the stock oil cooler? I'm about to install my LT1 and would rather deal with that before installing if it's more trouble than it's worth having.

Asylist

Everything I've been reading indicates that the 95+ coolers are the problem children, the 93/94 models are reliable. Still, I'm thinking of yanking it anyways, since I'm running Mobil 1 in the car anyways, and it would help clean up the engine bay a bit.

seawolf06

It clogs up easily and restricts oil flow.

Back to your original problem, the LT1's are a PITA to bleed. I'm having overheating problems myself. Yes, you should be bleeding it with the rad. cap on as well.