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I can hear my coolant "swooshing" around inside my engine?

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Nofear20

15+ Year Contributor
345
0
Aug 9, 2007
Yakima, Washington
2 days ago I put a bottle of Water Wetter in my coolant. Just a few minutes ago I went to start my car and I can actually hear coolant moving around inside my motor. It sounds like coolant rushing through pipes or something. I can only hear it from inside the car when its started, not from the the front of the car with the hood opened. Help!!!
 
How exactly do you KNOW that its for sure the heater core? Like I said my heat blows nice and warm.

Also today I drove the car around until it was around 205 to 210 degrees. I got out, popped the hood and I could squeeze down the upper radiator hose somewhat easily. I thought it used to be really hard to the point where I can't press it down at all. So i need a new radiator cap?
 
i had lots of complaints like this at the shop and couple of times. the sound usually comes from the heater core the reason why you can only hear when you are inside the car. pressure test the system check for loss of pressure or fluid, repair any leaks if any found. and replace the cap.

if you dont find any leaks or loss of pressure and you replaced the cap, your coolant system is fine.
quick question where you running the heater or the a/c when you where driving it?
 
I hate to say it, but I once had that rushing water sound and it turned out to be a bad heater core :toobad:
It was leaking into the heater box which has a drain for the A/C evap coil. So it was draining out the hole and I never saw any leaking. Till I realized my heat was weak...then I open the heater box and saw the green surprise in there.


I think we all agree then...you should check the heater core. Unfortunately they are made with plastic pipes and have a tendency to crack :(

The SOUND you hear is the AIR in your cooling system. The question is HOW did the air get there? Usually it is because you have a LEAK....once the Fluid leaks OUT...the AIR takes the coolants place. The only reason you would have AIR in the system would be if you recentlly drained all your coolant and re-filled it without burping all the air out.

OR YOU HAVE A LEAK/bad cap. The FIRST things I would check are the easy things that I said before....Check any and ALL hoses first...THEN if you dont find any leaking from hoses, I would check the heater core. I always check the cheap and EASY stuff First!
 
i have dealt with the same thing at work. we actually found that there was a air pocket in the heater core.
 
How exactly do you KNOW that its for sure the heater core? Like I said my heat blows nice and warm.

Also today I drove the car around until it was around 205 to 210 degrees. I got out, popped the hood and I could squeeze down the upper radiator hose somewhat easily. I thought it used to be really hard to the point where I can't press it down at all. So i need a new radiator cap?

Dude, it's not hard. A soft radiator hose means the system is not fully pressurized.

Open radiator cap, top off coolant if needed. If you have to top it off, chances are there's air in it (and you may have a leak). If it's full, then your heater core is probably bad.

My radiator cap went bad 2 weeks ago and the symptoms were that coolant would just rush to my overflow and out of it because the cap was not handling the pressure and was just letting the coolant flow past it.
 
How exactly do you KNOW that its for sure the heater core? Like I said my heat blows nice and warm.

No offense, but you're being pretty condescending, especially since your the one asking us for help. Just like everyone else has said, the only place to hear coolant moving around in the car is the heater core, and the only way to have air in the system to make the noise is to have a leak somewhere.
 
I'm not being condescending at all. Someone mentioned that the heater core may be bad if the heater is blowing weak. I mentioned that its blowing well. It looks to me like there may be a chance of the core being bad even if it is still blowing well. I'm just trying to figure out the signs that it could be the core so I don't waste my time with it if its not the problem.

Jeff99GS you seemed to put it in my "lack of knowledge" terms, thanks.
 
I'm not being condescending at all. Someone mentioned that the heater core may be bad if the heater is blowing weak. I mentioned that its blowing well. It looks to me like there may be a chance of the core being bad even if it is still blowing well. I'm just trying to figure out the signs that it could be the core so I don't waste my time with it if its not the problem.

Jeff99GS you seemed to put it in my "lack of knowledge" terms, thanks.

Your Welcome. Remember though, its NOT super cold outside yet...if it was the middle of January I bet your heat would NOT be that great.
 
My car makes that shooshing noise as well, I always thought it was the coolant but I never thought anything was wrong. In my 420a eclipse it made the same noise too. I am going to check the pressure in the upper radiator hose now, maybe a need a new cap :toobad:

Thanks to the OP for asking this question.
 
ive pullled my thermostat out cause it would overheat like that, but i think its just a sign that a headgasket is coming up
 
1. A DSM cooling system doesn't need to be burped. It will purge itself. Take off the filler cap, fill to the brim. While that's off, fill the expansion reservoir ("Overflow tank"). Top-up the thermostat housing again.
2. Get a new filler cap.
3. Never run a car from this century without a thermostat.
 
1. A DSM cooling system doesn't need to be burped. It will purge itself. Take off the filler cap, fill to the brim. While that's off, fill the expansion reservoir ("Overflow tank"). Top-up the thermostat housing again.
2. Get a new filler cap.
3. Never run a car from this century without a thermostat.

What, no comment on the "swooshing"? :sneaky:
 
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