get in it yesterday to go get a hair cut.

On the way home I notice the LOW COOLANT light on, llok at the temp guage and it is about 170, normal seeing as I have the 160 t-stat and both fans on. When I go around turns the temp climbs up to the 1/2 mark 210 I think then it falls right back down. I figure OK, I am low.

I get home, let it cool and pop the top on the radiator, sure enough it is low. I add some coolant to the overflow tank and start it up, the temp climbs up again and does not suck in the new coolant.

I know it is low and I have to get it filled back up and probably have to bleed the system.

Also I notice a sweet smell when I have the air on.

 

Do you smell it when the heat is on....maybe the heater core?

 

I have not tried the heat, it is 95*+ right now.

 

Yeah...no kidding, the rain we got this afternoon cooled it off a little bit (in Birmingham). I was thinking that "a sweet smell when I have the air on" may be caused by a leaking heater core. For diagnosis purposes only I would check this possibility by running the heat.

 

B'ham here too. I did this Sunday. I have not had a chance to fill it yet and give it a shot.

I would have thought if I ahd a heater core problem I would have coolant either on the pass floorboard or on the ground though.

 

To refill the radiator by putting the replacement coolant in the overflow tank, you're doing it the hard way. When you started the engine up, the coolant in the radiator expanded and got hot. No way it can "suck in the new coolant" under those conditions. However, when you shut it off, and the radiator cools down, it will pull the coolant back into the radiator.

But you could have just put the coolant directly into the radiator, put the cap on, start the engine, get it to full operating temp, and then run through the air bleed procedure.

One possibility.... the overflow hose from the radiator fill neck to the coolant reservoir has a crack in it, and while it will let coolant flow out of the radiator into the reservoir as it gets hot and expands, it doesn't let the vacuum that develops in the radiator as it cools pull the coolant out of the reservoir and back up the overflow hose. Might be worth a check.

 

I got it running today.

Filled up the radiator and brought it up to temp (with the cap off)and it sucked in quite a bit of fluid. Topped it off and fired it up, sucked in some more and then it started bublling out of the radiator. I shut her down, put on the cap and fired it up again. The temp rose to 1/2 way (usually gets to about 165-170), I figured I had air pockets. Man did I!!! I opened both air bleed screws and let it run. It had to run anout 3-4 minutes to get a nice steady stream from them.

I have started it up three times since that, the first one I had to bleed it again, but the other two, no temp surge. Just took it out for a spin and all is well.

I guess time will tell.