Coolant change, vacuum filling

[ekstroemtj]

Because i feel very uncomfortable with my high coolant temp i give it a try and wanted to refill it with a vacuum system. The only way to prevent air pockets. 

First of all its a pain to come to this drain plug. Had to disconnect a lot which was in the way. 

First surprise: when i open the blue drain plug in the radiator only 5 liters came out, maybe even only 4. what did i wrong?

after i use the vacuum equipment to take out all air from the system. Cant do much wrong here. Refilling with coolant again. Finish!

same **** like before. When car running at low idle/ 500 rpm. temperature is going higher and higher. Climbing more to 100 grad celsius which is 200 / 210 fahrenheit.

 

what could be wrong?

[JFP in PA]

You did nothing wrong.  Draining the radiator leaves a lot of coolant in the engine, heater, etc., so the amount of coolant you got out is about average.

 

As you have eliminated the possibility for air pockets, the problem has to be mechanical (water pump, thermostat, blockage in the system, etc.).

[ekstroemtj]

Thank you JFP for speedy answer. 

I was thinking to get the air pockets out a lot more water has to come out. 

Water pump is new. 

Interesting thing is if car is idling at 500 stationary temp is climbing. As soon as i push the acellerator its going down to middle.

oh what a .....

every day some other kind of problem

 

[lewisweller]

Thomas, you know when my head Gasket fault was diagnosed I had over heating at idle!!!!!!!! Remove the expansion cap when completely cold and quickly sniff the water, if you smell petrol or anything similar to gas fumes then sorry your head Gasket is likely blown. 

 If you Press the throttle the temp comes down correct, I also had a new water pump but it didn't make any difference. Sure your serpentine belt is not slipping? Belt and tensioner in good condition? Should hear it slip on the pulley if this is the case.

The fan is not really going to cut in (unless AC is on) and thermostat fully open until the temp reaches about 87-90 degrees because the system at idle should maintain 80 degrees middle of gauge all the time (even in 40 degrees in dubai). Mine only goes above middle if I drive hard in low gears ie short burst of acceleration which increases engine heat production but not getting a lot of air flow past radiator as I'm stopping after the burst of acceleration for example. After the thermostat will open fully and the temp quickly drops to 80 in just a minute and holds without any issue indefinitely. 

If head Gasket blown you will loose Coolant most likely. I was loosing 1 litre every  100km. 

If an air locked, after you've been for a drive the water level will drop after cooling over night, the air bleeds and returns to the expansion tank, so when completely cold open the expansion cap and top off the Coolant. FYI with 4 zone AC the Coolant capacity is 21 litres, with 2 zone AC 18 litres IIRC. 

The danger with increasing temp which decreases when you rev above idle is localised overheating and then leading to head Gasket failure. Be careful don't let it climb near 100 degrees. 

 

[lewisweller]

Don't rule out a sticky/stuck thermostat or a faulty temp sensor (more unlikely). 

[ekstroemtj]

Good Morning. Looks like we have the worst cars here. Everything what can happen, is happening. I hope you are not right with the head gasket. Onother headache.

 

- smell of petrol i dont feel in the expansion tank

- loss of water i dont have

- waterpump new

- thermostat is old i guess

 

if the gasket is blown, the pressurized system should not hold vacuum. But during my test yesterday it did.

 

acctually a good investment this stuff. 60 euro at ebay

 

Sample video:

 

 

 

 

[lewisweller]

24 minutes ago, ekstroemtj said:

Good Morning. Looks like we have the worst cars here. Everything what can happen, is happening. I hope you are not right with the head gasket. Onother headache.

 

- smell of petrol i dont feel in the expansion tank

- loss of water i dont have

- waterpump new

- thermostat is old i guess

 

if the gasket is blown, the pressurized system should not hold vacuum. But during my test yesterday it did.

 

acctually a good investment this stuff. 60 euro at ebay

 

Sample video:

 

 

 

 

This is good news Thomas. When my head Gasket was blown the vacuum wouldn't pull hard down to this level. 

I think given your above info you have a sticky or stuck thermostat. 

You didn't confirm the belt isn't slipping on the water pump pulley at idle? 

[ekstroemtj]

I see the pulley turning and i dont feel noises from there. So i believe its working. The belt is new too

[lewisweller]

Can you describe the sequence of temperature rise and fall? 

Example the temp at idle rises to 100 and holds or fan cuts in and thermostat opens and temps fall to 80 again? Or only falls to 80 if you rev above idle for a little bit? 

[ekstroemtj]

During normal driving its in the middle. Which is 80 Celsius . When i stay somewhere in the traffic jam temp going direction 100 and i would say then the van is kicking in.  While ven working the temp stay and going very slowly back to the middle. When its hot outside even with the van working the temp is at 100.

this happens only when the car stay or running up some steep hills.

 

during normal driving i dont have any problems. 

 

All above describes the situation with AC off.

If i am running the AC the situation is not that bad but in a traffic jam i am hitting 100 sooner or later.

 

 

 

[ekstroemtj]

Sorry forgot:

 

the vans are able to bring the temp down to middle but you need to rev a little bit

[lewisweller]

Thermostat I would put my money on. 

[ekstroemtj]

Ok. Thank you for pointing this out. Sad point here is that the intake manifold was off because of different reasons so many times. Shop should have done is long time ago

[ekstroemtj]

Is there a general answer what keeps coolant temp more low:! Water or coolent fluid?

 

[JFP in PA]

Water is a better heat transfer medium that coolant or coolant/water mixtures; unfortunately it is also much more corrosive.

[ekstroemtj]

Thank you very much!

[lewisweller]

And Coolant mix doesn't freeze in the winter like water will! Assuming the right mix ofcourse. 

[JFP in PA]

26 minutes ago, lewisweller said:

And Coolant mix doesn't freeze in the winter like water will! Assuming the right mix ofcourse. 

 

True, but by far the biggest issue of running pure water is corrosion, not freezing.

[ekstroemtj]

I was asking just because i have a road trip 2000 km now. 3 people. Cant use the Z. Need the space in the cayenne. I was thinking to change for pure water if it would help to keep the temp down. Will see. Anyway a very uncomfortable feeling with the car now.

 

[clarksongli]

So you can run pure water with a corrosion inhibitor.  this is very typical at the track and what I personally use in my track car.

 

However the problem you describe doesn't sounds all that crazy.....how hot is it outside?  Remember idle is probably the worst scenario, Zero airflow over the radiator, lowest speed on the water pump.

 

Mine will climb past center and then drops when the fans kick on.  My alternate method is to keep the A/C on.....which keeps the small fan running once about 180F......it then remains constant.  I do have about 80k on my waterpump though.

 

Just another data point, but I'm thinking you could just be experiencing normal operation at idle.  Have you checked to see if your rad fans are even turning on?

[ekstroemtj]

Clarksongli thanky for jumping in. 

The vans are working well . There are to stages of speed i remember. If its getting hot its running high speed. They are new too :-)

about the temp. Its not that hot here in germany. 27 celcius. I am going to france and there its bit more. Worst is really i stay on the highway in a traffic jam with no moving. 

[lewisweller]

9 minutes ago, ekstroemtj said:

Clarksongli thanky for jumping in. 

The vans are working well . There are to stages of speed i remember. If its getting hot its running high speed. They are new too :-)

about the temp. Its not that hot here in germany. 27 celcius. I am going to france and there its bit more. Worst is really i stay on the highway in a traffic jam with no moving. 

Thomas Why not syphon some Coolant out and add a bottle and a half of redline water wetter? May help with your trip and when your back you can work on the permanent fix. 

https://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=74

[JFP in PA]

27 minutes ago, lewisweller said:

Thomas Why not syphon some Coolant out and add a bottle and a half of redline water wetter? May help with your trip and when your back you can work on the permanent fix. 

https://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=74

 

Unfortunately, most cooling system additives are band aide solutions in search of a problem, and do little (if anything) to solve cooling system issues long term.

[ekstroemtj]

Thank you guys. Unfortunately in germany i never saw redline products. 

[wizard]

http://www.motorsportoel.de/epages/64065133.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/64065133/Products/PR0021

 

Just ensure that it's compatible with what you have in your cooling system !