Burping a '01?

[treynor]

Burping a \'01?

I recently installed a Fluidyne radiation in my '01 RT, and I've had funny cooling anomalies ever since -- the heater will stop working, then start again; the temp will rise to 230, then drop to 185 within 5 seconds. I'm assuming this is because there is air trapped in the sytem -- I've got two bleeder valves, and each time I check them they have some air to release. From inspection, it appears that the '01 cooling system works the same as in previous years, and that the burping approach used for previous years (open surge tank, squeeze radiator hose, etc.) should work on an '01. Can anyone confirm or refute?

Thanks!
Ben

<FONT COLOR="#ff0000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by treynor on May 26, 2001 at 19:23</font>

 

[phiebert]

Re: Burping a \'01?

I'm not a mechanic but it could be just your themostat. It seems like maybe it isn't opening soon enough and then your heat goes way up. Then it finally opens with that amount of heat and the temperature drops quickly again.

I am starting to notice a similar thing going on with my car but maybe just because its summer now and the outside temps are up. Does it do that just cruising down the freeway or does the temp jump up sitting in traffic (sitting is normal, jumping up when holding a decent steady speed sounds to me like the themostat is sticking closed).

Of course if you did replace your rad then air in there is a very likely problem too.

 

[treynor]

Re: Burping a \'01?

I'm pretty sure you're correct -- I reached the same conclusion this evening while driving around. I burped my car this afternoon (it did need it, but just a bit) but the temperature behavior remained exactly the same. This evening, in &lt;60 degree weather, while crusing on the freeway I watched the temp go slowly up to 230, quickly down to 170 (!), slowly up to 230, down to 170, over and over. It's got to be a sticky thermostat. I checked the radiator when I got home, and it was cool to the touch, although the temp gauge registered 220.

I'm going to put in a 180-degree thermostat and Roe Racing's fan kit, which should both cure this problem as well as help keep the car cool in traffic and on the dyno. This may also explain why I've had problems getting consistent dyno results recently -- too much heat in the engine during a pull because coolant wasn't flowing through the radiator.