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changed radiators and thermostats. the pickup gets hot after idiling for 30 min. I took the cap off and the water would rise to the top and suck back in. did this about 20 times. I put the cap back on and it overflowed.
is it the thermostat opening and closing over and over?
come on anyone? it's blown 7 radiators. changed water pump. several thermostats, and finally went to a bigger radiator. what else could it be?
Blown 7 radiators? You have a compression leak. Get a block tester from autozone. If it fails, pull the heads and check the block (cylinders), the head gaskets, and the heads.
yeah I just assumed that it was cheap autozone radiators. thanks nathan I knew you'd know the answer
what do I do if it doesnt fail? something tells me that you already know that it is going to fail......if it does i'm not messin with it. I'll throw it away like you advised me and start lookin for a 6.0
Dang....then the parts come into serious question as does the installer. :spit:
Bet there's an issue.
lol funny. told you. you know its goin to fail before i test lol. i just wondered if I can trust these cheap thermostats. I never trust anything from autozone or oriellys like that.
i'm goin the more optimistic route and trying a a/c delco part then when i'm wrong........go to auto zone get a block tester and when it fails....pull the heads off because I have a compression leak......theres no middle finger smiley lol
Air pockets are easy to get on the engines with the tstat mounted so low but "blowing out" multiple radiators is scary to me.
yeah but you know. I went to the bigger radiator availble for the '85 thats for the diesel/ 454. its doin better then it was. it was blowing em after idling for 30 min. when I was 17 I took it to a mechanic. he told me it was leaking oil. duhhhh. and?
Changed thermostat, waterpump, flushed radiator and still having problems.
My dad did compression test while I was at work and said it was good.
I hooked up the temp guage, drove the truck for about thirty minutes and the radiator boiled over after I shut the truck off. The temp a little under 210 mark all day long idleing and driving. I need to replace the clutch fan it comes on but I know I shouldnt be able to easily move it by hand. Dont think its the problem but we shall see......
should move by hand when cold, should be very hard to move when hot. Could very well be the problem. Who lets their vehicle idle for that long anyway?
it only idled about 10-15minutes. pickup was hot and I could move the blade half a turn by hand
you should be able to turn it but it should put up some resistance. Just because its warm doesnt mean it would lock up like it were a direct drive.
Compression test in this case would not tell you much. Try a block test and if it fails then a leak down test.
The truck was extremely hot when I checked. not much resistence from movement on the clutch fan. I walked over to my dads and his was cooled off and I couldn't move it nearly as much.
Which should give it greater resistance hot or cool? lol now i'm confused
I can do a block test next. but i'm an idiot that doesnt know what that is....
Buy a block tester at Vato Zone. They should know what it is. There are directions on the box to read and follow. You can do it. You're not an idiot.
Oh well if its that easy, I thought maybe it was a procedure like brain surgery :hyper2:
I'm just tryin to get this old thing runnin so I can take it from Graham, TX to my house in Wichita Falls 60miles, I wanna lower it and body work before I do a 6.0 swap.
The block tester will tell you if there is combustion gases in the cooling system. If so, go to a leak down tester (not nearly as cheap or common yet available) that will tell you from whence the leakage is occurring...
Thanks I'll get to work on it.
You better. :naughty:
Anyone else have this much crap with a build? I love this old truck despite the looks but it's raises my blood pressure and makes me mad everytime I mess with it. I think it'll be a relief to do some mods instead of fixin broke crap
http://i836.photobucket.com/albums/z...egroup1129.jpg
Hope to have better luck with the 5/7 drop and body work! and a ton of shiner bock
Needs paint 1st so there will be a body later. I like 80's SWB trucks. :thumb:
hope to get my swb done and my dads thats under that car port. and theres a toy in the shop '66 chevy II. that'll be the best project of em all
Hope to have Jon shave everything on my '85 but door handles and locks this winter....... he says its too hot right now
do the 5/7 drop on it and leave it rusted out, call it a rat rod. :laugh:
lol it'll probably stay primered for a very long time. I asked a local body shop for a qoute to spray it black after I primered it and they said $12k. Still looking for a painter that has a brain
$12K.........for one truck or four?Quote:
Originally Posted by lowchevytrucks8503
My last paint job on my '89 K5 Blazer cost me $3K and I didn't do any of the work. Even got my grille and mirrors painted black to match. The painter hated me for making him do the grille, he said the sanding prep was a huge PITA :) I had him paint and install a lighted visor too.
That was a 2-stage glossy black base and clear. The paint that was on it before that was 1-stage urethane.
If you do dual exhaust, have it exit the back like everyone else. DON'T do what I did and have it exit the side in front of the rear tires. At highway speeds, the exhaust blows straight into the rear wheel wells. My pretty new paint job didn't even last 2 months before I had bubbles on the fender lips :cry: It only got worse from there.
lol I ran headers with dual flows dumped at the rear axle. I'll probably have headers put on and reconnect to the same setup when I do the 6.0 swap.
Worked on the overheating problem in my truck this evening and I believe its fixed....I changed the clutch fan. I could spin the old one by hand off the truck I put one on that I could barely move while cold......IS this right?
I also took the cap off and noticed the radiator cap was hard to get on and off. The neck of the radiator was oval instead of round. I got a punch and hammer and got it back ALMOST perfectly round again. This time I didn't have any problems with it boiling over, I'll keep trying it this week to make sure the problem is gone
Gotta have a good seal at the cap to maintain the pressure required to raise the boiling point of the coolant.
Well it seems to be better for now.
What about the clutch fan........am i right or wrong?
I have been told I shouldn't be able to spin it like that so I changed it out.
It still seems to be doing fine for now. I've been driving it now so hope problem is solved.
This is very correct. Pressurizing water greatly increases the amount of energy (heat) it can absorb before flashing to steam. The more energy (heat) it carries to the radiator, the more it can dissipate.Quote:
Originally Posted by GasGuzzler
The principles of heat transfer were drilled into my head in the Navy heh.
Another way to raise the boiling temp of water is to add salt.......good for cooking, but a big no-no for engines. So pressurization it is.
I'm guessing both your fixes were steps in the right direction. The oval filler neck was definitely NOT good! It seems to be running now, so I would think you got it.
I'm gonna resurrect my Blazer some year, I might be asking you for help then!
My Avy is nice, but I still love that old Blazer. It was a good truck for me for several years, and I love the look as well. When I bring it back to life, my plan is to make it a trail truck. Lift with around a 40" tire, 6.0L/4L80E. Not sure what I'll do for axles, but the stockers will have to go. I read somewhere here that the T-case in my '89 is actually perfect for the 6.0L/80E swap, so I got lucky there.
But this thread is about your truck. Sorry for derailing it, and hope your problems are fixed :)