I can't figure out why...........

[emmett]

You said you can see the coolent moving in the throte of the rad. I would guess you have a bad water pump could be bad impeller blades or loose impeller I would try a new water pump I've seen this before
Good Luck EMMETT

[WRMZ71]

I'm gonna get me a new pump tomorrow. I'll let you guys know what I find.

[oldsub86]

Has it always done this or is it something new? If it did not used to be like this, have you done anything different or changed anything that might have caused the problem.

For example if you just rebuilt the engine or something like that, you could have something together wrong. I honestly don't know if it applies to Chevy smallblocks but I know it is possible to put the headgaskets on backwards on the 3.0 Toyota V6 and if you do, it will block some of the coolant passage holes and the motor will run too hot. Is there any possiblity that you have an issue of that nature?

[too much stuff]

Don't forget to put a new rad. cap on. Make sure you get the correct pounds for your application. If you are blowing cold air out of the heater, there is not enough anti-freeze to cool the system. When it gets hot,does it blow anti-freeze out anywhere? Are you losing anti-freeze? If you get it too hot, the water pump may start leaking from underneath the pully. Good luck.

[WRMZ71]

So I got me a new pump thought everything was cool going together had the new pump painted put the silicone on, put the gasket on got 3 of the 4 bolts in and the last one don't go. I'm like what so I pull em all out and sure enough there she be busted bolt right up in there where vice grips ain't gonna do a trick. Looks like a night of drinking beer in front of the boob tube for me

[Tim Cline]

I agree - it is air in your system.

[jay6891]

I've always drilled a small hole in my thermostat to let the air purge out. Like 1/16", I have also noticed that some the higher dollar themostats already have this hole in it. After you get the broken bolt out of it, try the drill trick. Gair on teed not to trap air.

[fast71]

just my 2cents worth .I had a nova that was having the same problem . I replaced everything ,then finally I took a thermometer and stuck in the radiator just to see how hot it was . Well it wasnt reading what the guage was saying so I started looking for something else . Come to find out the tube coming from the sending unit was really close to my headers. I moved it from the heads to the intake and no more problems. Now I was runnning a mech. guage not and electric guage.

[Suicide-D]

even with an electric guage you have to use the sender that comes with the guage or you can get wrong readings. I'm not dismissing the air bubble thing but the whole time I spent reading this post, I kept thinking Guage.... maybe I'm Psychic... no no I'm psychotic, yeah that's it...I had a similar situation but mine was heating up rapidly and not cooling down.

[beautimus]

ok, just for giggles and grins heres my guess. and the logic (faulty or not) that goes with it.
heres how i would trouble shoot it.
since, you would know if you have a major coolant leak we will assume that there is none.
1 let the truck set over night so its completely cold and the radiator is depressureized.
wash all the bugs and dirt from the fins and check to see if the fins are loose from the tubes of the radiator. the little fins are actually soldered to the tubes at the factory. if they separate,
the radiator is not gonna cool worth a crap, and needs to be recored or replaced. if it looks ok keep going.

2. pull the radiator cap off (engine off and cold)
fill the radiator with water (at this point i am gonna assume i gotta tear something apart, and no need to waste expensive coolant.) turn the heater on , i want to circulate weater through the heater core to get any air out of it too.

3. start the engine and let it idle, add water as needed. the coolant level should drop but not start to circulate untill the engine warms up enough to open the thermostat. if the water starts to circulate through the radiator (moving fast side to side)
immediately upon start up then the thermostat is stuck open.

3. let the truck come up to operating temp, (cap still off)
when the thermostat opens the water will begin to circulate
through the radiator, water level should drop a bit, add water just a bit at a time (don't add a lot of cold water at one time to a warm engine, bad stuff could happen)
watch the coolant for small bubbles that don't stop coming. some bubbles is normal but a lott of bubbles that keep coming constantly coming to the cap area is bad. could be a cracked head or a head gasket going south letting compression gasses enter the water jacket.( check for coolant smell in the exhaust to verify.)
4 put the cap on and let it run for a few more minutes,
the radiator should begin to pressurize. squeeze the radiator hose to see if its pumped up. if it just pushes stuff out around the cap, replace the cap. the radiator has to pressurize in order to raise the boiling point of the coolant above 220 degrees.

5. if you don't know the history of this radiator, somebody could have put bars leaks in it, it will stop a leak, but it also lowers the efficiency of the cooling system, go get a couple of cans of radiator flush and flush the radiator with the heater on, clean out the heater core too, it will work better.
if it still overheats, i would start looking at
the belts and hoses and make sure there in good shape.
thats my guesses,
tony

[70-Chevy]

Im from Virginia Beach VA and ive had all those same problems with all the new equpiment. Fans, radiators and all, but during the summer months she would still get real hot. I just stopped running a thermostat all together during the summer months and never had another problem.

[WRMZ71]

I can't even get to that point anymore. I busted a bolt for the water pump off in the head so i borrowed a bolt extractor set from a buddy. Drilled right into the bolt and was trying to back it out and the darn extractor broke. I can't find a drill bit anywhere that will drill through that damn extractor My arms are wore all out from pushing on that drill. Anybody in Eastern NC HELP

[Jerdog]

I've had the same problem drilling hardened steel on some other projects. But I was lucky enough to be able to use a titanium drill bit that I got from Home Depot to finally drill through it.
Did the screw extractor you used have four sides or did it look similar to an auger? I've never had any luck with anything else other than the four sided style of screw extractor. Good luck getting that screw extractor / bolt out.

[Eyegore]

WRMZ71, I read your post and I feel your pain. I went through all then same things your talking about with my sons truck, even the broken bolt. My suggestion that worked for me, was to use a dremel if it is handy, one with the little grinding bit, clean as much of the bolt out as you can and then use a larger extractor to remove the rest of the bolt. Now for the overheating, my sons truck was doing the same, I changed everything, including the engine. The first motor got so overheated we lost a head gasket so I decided to replace the whole thing. Still overheated. So I finally took it to a radiator shop, the radiator was 30% restricted, sure it appeared to be flowing properly, but the higher rpms reduced the amount of coolant going through the engine. Had it cleaned out, no more overheating. Now I know you said that this was a new 4 row radiator, but it doesn't take much to block one up. So you might want to consider taking it to a radiator shop, instead of throwing good money at trying to resolve it yourself, it took them a half an hour to diagnose what was wrong and paying the $75 was well worth it, espically after breaking off the bolt.


Hope you resolve the problem soon.

Tom

[COBALT]

uh....when all else fails pull the head and take it to a machine shop....I know it sucks.

[WRMZ71]

I've looked all over and can't find a diamond cut drill bit. I hit up all the local hardware stores and even went to Lowe's and nobodies got one and nobody knows where to get one. The bolt is not busted in the head its busted in the block itself. The upper right one to be exact. I was half tempted to try and putting just 3 bolts in and praying for the silicone to seal it off but I can't do that cause then I wouldn't have anywhere for the alt mount bracket thing. I'm waiting on my buddy to get his mig welder back and i'm going to attempt to weld a bolt onto the end of it Either that or I'm gonna wait till friday when the MAC tools guy comes around the shop and see if he's got any. Everybody I've talked to that I told my problem there eyes just roll back in there head and I'm like oh yeaaaaa...... I'm in some Deep SH*T!!!

[too much stuff]

Sometimes you can take a nut that is a hair smaller then the broken bolt, hold it over the end, and wire feed it to the broken bolt. What have you got to lose at this point?

[rodnok1]

make sure you soak the area with PB blaster or something equal, so the bolt might wanna back out. As for the drill bit, have you tried a pilot point bit, start with a small bit and work your way up, keep some light weight oil on the bit so it's doesn't wear out, go slow steady and you should be able to drill the extractor out, it's not going to be easy. Other option, if you used a small extractor can you drill a hole next to it? when you do get it drilled out, might need to use some heat on area to get it to come out without breaking another, it could be worse, it could be a motor mount bolt, or a bellhousing bolt.

[emmett]

I did this a couple of times; If you have access to an acceteline torch with a small welding tip heat the broken extractor cherry red then let cool on it's own don't cool with anything this will remove the temper, then try to drill out the broken extractor then get a good square extractor craftsman has them I have had very good luck with these.
Good Luck EMMETT

[Tim Cline]

I had this happen to me before -- Like you i tried the drill and screw extractor (mine broke just like yours). I welded a stud to
the small piece sticking out of the block - installed my new water pump and before I got the nut to proper tightness it broke.
As a last resort I got the cutting torch (small tip) out and put the heat to it. As the bolt melted it was blown free of the hole and out of the engine leaving threads untouched. It seems this works because the cast iron (block) takes longer to heat than the bolt steel. I have done this two times over the years with excellent results both times. You do need to take care with your aim and point the flame directly at the bolt (not the block).
Good luck

[polevault1977]

Broke EZ outs are a pain in the arss. Heat from a torch is a good thing here. Can change the temper esp on the bolt. I work in a machine shop and someone is always bringing a problem like this in. We usually have the luxuary of being able to put the part in a mill vise. I realize you don't have this option. I usually can mill through the ez out with a smaller carbide endmill. You can buy a carbide tipped drill and try to drill it out. They are fairly expensive though. They are super easy to break if you are not use to using them. Might give it a try though. Remember, slow rpm and very light pressure.

One other trick to getting broken bolts out of blind holes. Always drill the hole for the EZ out all the way through the bolt. Not just deep enough for the EZ out. Not exactly sure of all the dynamics, but it works better ever time. Old machinist showed me this one.

Danny

Oh yeah always start with a left hand drill bit if you got one!

[WRMZ71]

PUlling my truck on base tonight to use the torch at the autohobby shop. God I hOPE THIS WORKS!!!!!! I gotta start building me my custom center console cause I had just finished putting in my bucket seats when this hole ordeal happened.

[Jeepster376]

Boy I hope it stays cool after this ordeal.

[classicchevy70]

I run almost the same engine you do with the stock 6 cylinder radiator and a 190 degree thermostat with two puller fans and mine stays in the 200 to 210 range no matter what.

[WRMZ71]

YOu're telling me JEEPSTER!!!!