edit - READ THIS:Alright everything is back together but apparently there is air in the cooling system or something, because it doesn't seem to be circulating at all. Top radiator hose gets hot, bottom stays cold, no heat, and temperature needle doesn't rise at all. On top of that, the radiator fans are turning on full blast while idling.

I had this problem before and had the mechanic deal with it, he said that it was caused by air in the cooling system. Well this time I would like to fix this on my own if possible, but I'm not exactly sure where to start. Is there a procedure for getting the air out and getting the coolant to flow normally?

I opened the air bleed screw on top of the engine while it was running, didn't seem to do much though.





[IGNORE THIS]I'm gonna make this as short as possible, last week I found my car to be quickly dripping coolant from the water pump/pulley area after the car had been running for a few minutes. So my dad and I replaced the water pump, and changed some belts while it was all apart.

So it was good for about a day in which I drove about 85 miles, but today the belts started squealing like crazy when I started my car, even more when I turned, and even more when I accelerated from a stop. And sure enough in a few minutes the temperature needle starts rising. So a quick look under the car reveals what seems to be the same damn coolant leak! I saw the drip coming from the underdrive pulley area, so probably somewhere above that...

What else is in that area besides the water pump that would cause leaking after the car has been running? I checked the small U-shaped radiator hose up top and it's definitely not that.

I'm gonna take another look at it tomorrow but I figure I would ask you guys first for suggestions. Any ideas?[IGNORE THIS]

 

isnt the thermostat right around there on a vg?
your info says pepto bismol pink gxe? how'd that happen?

 

how long did you wait before you drove the car after replacing the pump?

 

Could be a bad seal around the water pump...did you use a gasket or permatex? other than that, take a look at the thermostat...

And just to state the obvious, inspect all hoses, clamps, coolant temp sensor, etc.

 

And how the h&ll do you have a pink Max???

 

If the belts are squealing, you may have overtighten the drive belts and messed up the waterpump bearing, or if the waterpump was a remanufactured one, it could be bad..........

Thats why I NEVER buy a reman water pump...I only want to do that job ONCE.......

 

Never mind the leak, we all want to know why the car is pepto!

 

it's really Mary Kay

 

 

Replacement pump was new, thermostat is less than a year old, how it was sealed, i have no idea, my dad mentioned permatex, but then again he might've done both gasket and permatex...

He also took a look at the car while I was at school today and said that one of the pulleys was frozen or something... So I dunno what's up with that.

And you guys are taking the pepto bismol thing waaay too seriously.

 

Could be the water pump pulley....if it was overtighten, it will wear out the pump bearing and seal...then leak....

Is your car really PINK??

 

check all the hoses around the water pump, if there coolant everywhere already then wash it off first so you can tell where its coming from.


also If your still interested in looking at the car, Ill be out that way today (where the car is) Ill pm you my cell number, if you wanna stop by give me a call.

 

Try the u shaped hose on the thermostat housing.

 

This is turning into some project... As my dad is putting everything back together, he goes to attach the upper radiator hose to the top of the radiator. But what is this? There's nothing to attach it to. Turns out the whole entire "nipple" of the radiator snapped right off and was inside of the upper radiator hose.

How the hell does that happen?

 

It happens...My upper radiator inlet is the same way...Just make sure the hose is pushed on good and tighten the clamp down (not too much, don't want to crush it!)

 

Bump - Please read first post (the edited section on top)

 

Jack it up in the front as high as you can get.[about 3ft.] and run the car about 15 minutes with cap off while you constantly top it off with fluid..

The fans coming on my be due to the lack of coolant around the coolant temp sensor...Or the sensor itself may be bad...

 

I drove it for a few minz and the temp needle remained on cold, didn't rise AT ALL. Heat did come on eventually though. or at least warm air.

I'll try your suggestion... Don't think I can jack it up 3 feet w/normal jackstands though.

Should I loosen the air bleed screw during this process?

 

Park it on a hill.
the main thing is to get the radiator filler neck higher than any other point under the hood AND the heater core

 

I've read that jacking the front end is the best thing to do, but I didn't find that necessary.

My car had been overheating after I changed the tstat and water pump. Finally I ran the car parked leveled with the bleed screw loose and radiator cap off and topped off the coolant level. Warms up quickly now and doesn't overheat.

 

that's because it's a VE

 

Alright, is it really neccessary to jack it up 3 feet, because we tried jacking it up as high as we could with a single jack, which isn't anywhere near 3 feet, but it's all we could do at the moment. And apparently it didn't fix my problem from what my dad tells me.

Thanks for the help so far.

 

i've successfully bled my vg without jacking it up. keep plenty of coolant in the overflow tank and drive it around, loosen the bleed nut on idle afterwards.