can all this be because a bad water pump. it is not leaking from bottom. i have to get down to the bottom of this. should i just take car in the shop?

 

can the pump be causing this coolant problem by not pumping enough? or should i just take it to a shop???

 

let the car sit till the engine cools completly off. remove the radiator cap fill it up open your bleeders and get the air out (WITH ENGINE OFF STILL) close bleeders top off radiator again.
Now start the car with radiator cap OFF does coolant flow out of the radiator when you rev it up?
no need to replace things before you test em. ignore the coolant light it doesnt work for crap mine never turns off no matter how much i bleed the system.
you can also buy you a block tester from napa for around 35bux or so. it will tell you if the head gaskets are blown or not.

 

Ive done that a coule of times. first you will have to add a little more water. then after a while it will come out. I really dont think it is the block. i check oil, i check exhaust for water, i checked plugs. where else can it go. i believe it maybe the water pump. only because i dont get the pressure thru the bleeders like on my other lt1's. i only get a trickle unless it is very hot.

the thing that i dont understand is if i do hot cold cycles every time i take the cap off i need to ad coolant.

 

does your overflow tank keep filling up ?

 

You cannot open the bleed screw with the car running or you will be SUCKING IN MORE AIR. This sounds like the sputtering you are describing.

Make sure the crossover steam pipe that runs to the radiator (under the cap) is not crossed with the coolant overflow tank. This seams dumb But I have seen this happen and it can cause the all the coolant to be pushed out of the overflow tank.

If the water pump is bad you will discoloration on the underside of he pump.

 

Pardon? When cold, I open the bleeder screws and fill the system
till the coolant comes out the bleeders. Start and warm it up, fill,
close cap, wait for a minute or two, then open the bleeder screws,
one at a time.

With *MY* car, the coolant spews out the bleeder screws (well, after
any air that might be present) when the car is running and warmed up.
This is how I've always done it and it consistently spews coolant out
while running (if no air).

Anytime I've done something with the cooling system, and I take it
out for a test drive, I *always* bring the drivers required to open the
bleeder screws - if the temp gauge begins to climb above normal, I pull
over, leave it running, open the hood, purge the system of air through
the bleeder screws, and when I check the gauge, yes, the temps go
down (obviously because the system had air in it).

I have *never* ever seen the system suck air in.

 

I would say the spurting sound is air coming out with a bit of coolant. Also are you using Dex-cool orange or are you using the green stuff? Also when it over heats, are the fans on trying to cool down the coolant system?

I don't understand where all your coolant is disappearing from.

Is there coolant in your oil? Does the car blow lots of white smoke?

Edit: You said the oil and exhaust is fine. None on the ground?

 

after much trial and error in fixing my coolant system by replacing water pump, thermo, flushing radiator, and new upper/lower rad hoses i finally took it into a shop as i was just sick and tired of messing with the system...

turns out, i have blown head gaskets. expensive fix. you might wanna take it to get checked out professionally

 

to anwser a couple of these questions

yes the over flow fills up, does seem like it goes back into the radiator from over flow.

i use green stuff, previous owner use orange stuff..

there is no coolant in oil, no white smoke, no water or coolant coming out in morning.

hey chevymongoose, did your car just heat up right up? i ask because my car will not heat up if i just put coolant in in between trips. i drive it 40 miles to work 40 miles home. a couple days ago I drove around town, the temp went up just under red at every light. when i drove it will go down to half mark. I have it set up where my fan is on when car starts.

 

Temp goes up and down. Thats the problem I am having right now. Might be a little different but my fans don't come on when the engine gets hot. Have you tried turning on your ac to turn both fans on to cool the engine down?

If the coolant is disappearing then thats a different issue otherwise I would say check to see if your fans are on when your engine is starting to get on the hot side.

 

So the overflow tank accumulates coolant when hot and then is dissipating back into the radiator when cool?

 

over flow seem to stay towards the full side. almost like it is not going back into radiator

 

replace the overflow hose and the grommet in the overflow tank.

 

so today i check freeze plugs, drain plug, and around block. i still didn't see anything leaking.

i do have a question about the fans: at what point should the second fan turn on? i turn on the ac while under car for 30 minutes no second fan... could the second fan not turning on be causing my coolant to heat and burn off?