Coolant reservoir

[droppinbottom]

I just finished installing my fmic and I thought I had the coolant reservoir mounted in a good location, but when I got home from work today I noticed a wet spot in the garage floor. It appears that the coolant reservoir is full and coolant is coming out of the overflow tube. The radiator is low and doesnt seem to want to pull coolant back out of the reservoir. My question is since the bottom of the reservoir is lower than the bottom of the radiator will that have a effect on the ability to push/pull fluid out of the reservoir? Also I was looking at a smaller reservoir earlier at the parts store today but I was wondering what the sensor is in the bottom of the stock reservoir? Is it just a low coolant warning sensor? Thanks for the input


DB

 

[EclipseTrbo420A]

It is possible that your FMIC is hindering air flow not allowing you car to be cooled how it should be....a possible fix would be to run a cooler thermostat.

As for the location of the bottle I dont think the height matters...the overflow is if the coolant system sees to much pressure ( running hotttt ) it's a place to relieve pressure wiit out losing the fluid. It also pulls fluis back into the system from there.

As for the plug I'm not sure what it does ( level maybe like you suggested ? )....2G's ( mine dont have them). Goodluck.

 

[Black94DSM]

I believe you need to locate the overflow lower than the t-stat housing.

 

[EclipseTrbo420A]

I believe you need to locate the overflow lower than the t-stat housing.

He said its lower than normal which is what your saying. You know what little plugs for ?

 

[toybreaker]

plug on coolant reservoir on 1g is for low coolant lite on instrument panel

 

[laserwitpsi]

You might want to check out the cap on top of the thermostat housing. I had the same problem with my car heating up and there was plenty of coolant. The cap was bad and it kept letting the coolant overflow into the coolant reservoir spilling onto the ground. This only happened after the car was hot and driven for a while. The caps are only a few dollars from the auto parts store so it is worth a try.

 

[toybreaker]

Eclipse trbo420a brings up an interesting point. One reason fmic's aren't factory installed is that cooling air to radiator is restricted and pre-heated with an fmic.

If your cooling system was up to the task before the fmic install, I'd look for things that may have been changed during the install. There's a plastic duct that seals the bumper area. It makes the air go thru the radiator, instead of spilling to the sides or down. Did this duct make it back on the car? It's very important to manage airflow thru the heat exchangers in the system...No thru flow=no heat rejection.

It's also possible that there's some obstruction to airflow in between the a/c condenser and radiator. I've seen all manner of dirt, animal hair and etc. collect on the front face of the radiator and restrict airflow. Hold a strong light behind the radiator and look from the front to see if it's clear. Bent radiator fins can also reduce efficiency somewhat.

Laserwitpsi also makes a good point. Radiator cap rubber sealing rings can deteriorate, and springs can get tired. Either of which can bypass coolant at a lower pressure than the cap was rated at.

A thermostat issue is also possible. I didn't see dsm link or some such ecu trickery in your vehicle profile, so I would recommend against a colder t-stat. Someone else may have more experience with this, but my experience with colder t-stats hasn't been very positive unless the ecu knows and expects a cooler operating temperature. You will make a little more power running colder, but there's a lot of other factors in play that make that a step in the wrong direction from a driveability/fuel mileage standpoint. If you think a t-stat will help, I strongly recommend going with a factory part, you'll have a lot less issues in the long run.

Good luck!!!