No Coolant Moving

[benjamin86]

Okay so I tore my 3.1 down, had my heads machined, bought a new waterpump and thermostat and took my sweet time reassembling it. I fire the car up today and its running great. I sit in the drivers seat and watch my temperature gauge start to climb back near the red. So then I kill the car get out and neither the inlet hose or the return hose is even warm. I can physically blow coolant through my radiator but my engine isn't moving any coolant through. No leaks either. It's like the coolant flow is being blocked up somewhere. I need a big pointer in the right direction folks. Thanks.

[SappySE107]

Did you bleed the system first? That is the first thing that comes to mind.

[benjamin86]

What do you mean by bleed the system? I just drained it beforehand, then refilled it when I was finished.

[robertisaar]

i think ben just called it

[60dgrzbelow0]

Benjamin...

Even though you have seemingly drained and re-filled the radiator to the brim, the cooling system in your 3.1L can become "air bound" and essentially the condition presents with an "air bubble" that blocks or impedes the flow of coolant through the engine block...ergo... it is necessary to allow the engine to come up to an operating temperature that allows the thermostat to open... and literally "Burp the Baby"... so to speak.

Somewhere on or adjacent to the water pump and/or thermostat is/are bleeder valve(s) that is/are unique to your engine. This (these) valve(s) must be opened and allowed to stay that way until the hot coolant manages to push the air pocket completely through the water jackets and out of the engine block. This should occur until only the hot fluid runs out of the bleeder valve and then the valve can be closed.

There is a rare chance that you bought the wrong pump as it concerns the direction of the coolant flow through the engine. This link will cover the implications in that eventuality... if the bleeding process fails to do the trick.

http://60degreev6.com/forum/f98/timing-cover-information-t44758

This is not a trivial matter because having dissimilar temperatures between cylinders can have disastrous consequences. One group of cylinders might fair well... while others...denied a stable means of temperature control... can overheat and cause pistons to seize, cylinders to crack and the engine heads (which also have the same demands for immediate cooling) to warp and even crack. So solving this problem needs very immediate attention.

[benjamin86]

I had no idea having air in the system would have such an affect. I figured leaving the radiator cap off would be enough to push it all through. Thank you very much for the thorough breakdown. Im going out to the garage to hopefully take care of this problem once and for all!

[geoffinbc]

Another help is to drill a 1/16" hole in the thermostat in order to let air to pass through into the rad where is can burp out. You only need a small hole. A bigger one is not better. It will also aid in letting air out while simply filling the system.

[benjamin86]

Shes runnin like a top now! Awesome. Thanks for the help this has deffinately been a learning experience.

[60dgrzbelow0]

Did you bleed the system first? That is the first thing that comes to mind.

Good Job... Captain Ben.

She's runnin like a top now! Awesome. Thanks for the help this has definitely been a learning experience.

Most of us here are not into "Schadenfreude"...

Instead, we aspire to help... and hope that all our suggestions work. Sometimes, they fall short... but when they succeed, it makes us all happy for the outcomes.



" So Shines a Good Deed... Upon a Weary World..."

[60dgrzbelow0]

Another help is to drill a 1/16" hole in the thermostat in order to let air to pass through into the rad where is can burp out. You only need a small hole. A bigger one is not better. It will also aid in letting air out while simply filling the system.

I did not know this... any pics showing where to drill? Thanks.

[95SleeperAcheiva]

Place hole at 12 o'clock position on a vertical mounted t-stat. Some jeep t-stats have them already and have a little jiggley piece of brass in there.

[60dgrzbelow0]

Excellent. Thanks!