[vegeta4ss]

lately I have been driving and when sitting at a traffic light will lose all my heat.

it comes back as soon as I start moving, but with morning traffic jams...i'm freezing my ass off some mornings.

I've already tried to quickly bleed the system while filling up with gas but wasn't able to run through the full routine....

Does this sound like an air pocket, or my thermostat? I've been needing to change my thermo out for a while now...


Also, does going back to pink coolant from the green stuff hurt my engine in any way?

 

[silver_celica]

it sounds like a air pocket in ur hose. I had the same thing happen to me a while ago all i had to do was massage the hoses that go to the heater core and push the air out. I havent had a problem since.

 

[tk1138]

You might need to add some coolant / water too if the level in the tank is low.
If you're going to switch from green to pink, you should probably flush the system. The pink is longer life, and should be compatible with the green (fine for a top off), but mixed (normal + long life) coolant wont last as long as the long life coolant on its own. Make sure you use distilled water if you need to mix the coolant with water (you probably don't if it's the pink SLLC coolant).

 

[Blue Bomber]

Thermostat.

 

[WHITEKNIGHT2000]

99% Your water pump is not circulating. When you are at idle and lose your heat, rev the engine upto about 3k rpm your heat should come back.

 

[slidr]

Thermostat.

If it were the thermostat being stuck open, then the heat would most likely not return right away when the car started moving.

 

[vegeta4ss]

99% Your water pump is not circulating. When you are at idle and lose your heat, rev the engine upto about 3k rpm your heat should come back.

thanks, I will try that today and see if I get that behavior. If I do, should I take it to mean that the water pump needs replacement?

Thermostat.

If it's not an air pocket, and not the water pump...this will be the next on the list.


Is there any "safe" coolant system flush out there? Switching back to pink coolant after using green for 3 years I am sure has produced some residue that I would like to knock out of there. The only thing that worries me is horror stories of using this stuff I have heard in the past. One called Permatex, or Permacool (something like that) we used to sell at my garage and I wouldn't ever let anyone get it b/c of its long running reputation. So if anyone knows anything else I could try, I would appreciate it.

 

[tk1138]

Is your coolant tank full? (You can look at the tank without removing the engine plastics by bending over the engine and looking under the plastic cover - a flashlight helps

 

[PaLng_CeLca]

sounds like you have air in your coolant system. You'll need to flush it out.
It will solve your problem.

 

[blinding-gts]

Sounds like an air pocket or low coolant issue. Then again, I had a similar issue with my winter beater and it turned out to be a dying water pump.

 

[Smaay]

you dont need to flush it, just bleed the system using Boosted's instructions...massage the hoses and open the small port on top of the overflow tank

 

[GSBoek]

As far as going from the green stuff to pink, you should do a complete coolant drain (including the block), refill with water, run for a couple of minutes (at least until thermostas opens), circulate through the heater system, drain again and then refill with the pink stuff and bleed. It's not a good idea to mix coolants.

 

[vegeta4ss]

As far as going from the green stuff to pink, you should do a complete coolant drain (including the block), refill with water, run for a couple of minutes (at least until thermostas opens), circulate through the heater system, drain again and then refill with the pink stuff and bleed. It's not a good idea to mix coolants.

Thanks, I'll do that to make sure to get all the old stuff out.

 

[vegeta4ss]

you dont need to flush it, just bleed the system using Boosted's instructions...massage the hoses and open the small port on top of the overflow tank

thanks Smaay, that's what I am fighting right now.

Other than a waterpump leaking, is there any other indications of a pending failure on mine?

Yesterday was riddled with air pockets popping up left and right. Oh and now i have absolutely ZERO heat, anytime.

I got more coolant added but my temp keeps fluctuating. Everytime I pull over and pull the bleeder plug coolant shoots almost as high as the bottom of my hood. I'm quite sure it is a nasty air pocket, I just hate working these damn things out of the system. Sometimes I wish that it wasn't a totally sealed system. Might be a little easier I think.

 

[Blue Bomber]

You can try removing the heater hoses going from the engine into the firewall and filling through there. Just make sure you don't drain out more coolant than you add.

 

[vegeta4ss]

so as it stands right now:

I've been bleeding the car for a couple hours and went on a short drive. It didn't overheat, but it did go to the tick above normal which still makes me think air is moving around in there. There was no heat still at this time.

Came back, added more coolant put car on jackstands and got it as far up as possible and bled a little more...the heat is back now.

I still need to go on a drive and see if that fixed it. If not I am looking for a new waterpump.(even though mine is not leaking out of that one hole)


About two-three weeks back my car started taking longer to warm up and the heat was not as hot as normal. Is it possible for one of these to build up over time and get gradually worse as the coolant level falls? Until it starts doing what mine did?

I pray that this is only an air pocket, I have to be back at work Weds and the celly is the only transportation I have. My morning commute is too busy to be pulling over and popping the bleeder plug.

 

[vegeta4ss]

i just took a short drive and everything appeared fine. Let's hope it stays that way.

 

[vegeta4ss]

Ok, so my car started doing this again today. When it was warming this morning it took forever to get the first or second tick on the temp gauge. At that time I noticed I only had really hot air when I was driving. When sitting at a traffic light I have cool air. Not freezing, but not warm. Something's definitely off. I have bled the system many times and continue to keep an eye on the coolant level. I dont think I'm doing anything wrong??

It is not overheating, yet.. but I need to find how to test my waterpump to see if that is indeed my issue.

 

[vegeta4ss]

ok so i'm pretty sure my thermostat is not opening...driver's side hose is boiling hot, passenger side is cold + sweaty. Driver's side hose feels like it has hardly any fluid, passenger side hose feels very full.

I've been bleeding it for about half an hour now and I still dont have any heat. What can I do to try and test my thermostat?

 

[vegeta4ss]

i think i'm going to put in this TRD thermo I have sitting around. I was going to wait but I'm pretty convinced my thermostat is crappy.