Bubbles in Coolant

[Beat95GST]

Gets worse and worse every time I pop the hood, . Here's a short video of the coolant after it's good and warm (AC was on). The head was JUST replaced before I bought it. I'm pretty sure this isn't normal to get that kind of volume bubbling, what do you guys think?

YouTube - Turbo Eclipse Woes

 

[boostedjay32]

Are you over heating?
Or loosing coolant?

 

[Beat95GST]

I can't drive enough to really test it, when I did the upper hose blew off since most of the plastic was gone on the radiator (new aluminum setup will be here Tuesday). That kind of qued me in on this problem. I still have to smog it before I can really take it out and test anything, we just got it coming up on 2 weeks ago and have been doing nothing but trying to fix it, not knowing what's wrong (was sold "running great! just didn't have money to pay back tags" my ass... Anyway...

 

[reddragonvr4]

can you pressure test it? it does not look bad but i would be testing it and see how much it holds over night. it does look like there is air geting in there some were.start with testing it then from there look at the hoses replace if needed.

 

[Grescht]

It's possible that your head gasket got messed up in the process or your head is warped letting exhaust get into your coolant. Something you may want to try before saying its the HG is to cut the heat all the way on. (full blast- full heat-no a/c) This will open up a valve in your heater core that can sometimes trap air causing your to have air in your cooling system. It's very possible that that's also your problem. Try leaving the cap off and letting it idle at full heat for like ten mins. feeding little amounts of coolant into it. every once and a while rev it up a little. put the cap on, take it for a spin, and repeat. This should bleed all the air out the lines unless you got a bad HG. Coolant doesn't look that bad so hopefully it's just air. And trust me, You may think you got all the air out, but you don't. keep doing it over and over. and air in your lines can make you blow hoses. GL!!

do a compression test. That will also help tell the condition of your problem.

 

[Beat95GST]

Not sure on a way to pressure test it, if I could get a test plug with a valve on the top I would be able to no problem. No way of telling if it's getting hot, factory gauge doesn't work. I've replaced the ECU sender, and the "temp switch", you can see those brand new in the video. New thermostat, I've just been using a laser temp thermometer.

Also - Do you guys hear the "chunk chunk chunk chunk" noise? It's very dull, never goes away or gets worse, doesn't sound like the typical crankwalk, not sure what it is really.

It's possible that your head gasket got messed up in the process or your head is warped letting exhaust get into your coolant. Something you may want to try before saying its the HG is to cut the heat all the way on. (full blast- full heat-no a/c) This will open up a valve in your heater core that can sometimes trap air causing your to have air in your cooling system. It's very possible that that's also your problem. Try leaving the cap off and letting it idle at full heat for like ten mins. feeding little amounts of coolant into it. every once and a while rev it up a little. put the cap on, take it for a spin, and repeat. This should bleed all the air out the lines unless you got a bad HG. Coolant doesn't look that bad so hopefully it's just air. And trust me, You may think you got all the air out, but you don't. keep doing it over and over. and air in your lines can make you blow hoses. GL!!

do a compression test. That will also help tell the condition of your problem.

Ya know, I have no idea why I have never turned the heater on, . I rev it up but it pushes water out, and then I can fill it, not really sure. You may be absolutely right on that air in the heater core deal though, that would be great. Bottom end still sounds sketch to me though, factory oil pressure gauge doesn't work either (gauges will be here tomorrow, boost, oil pressure, and water temp) since those don't work. =) Turbo is shot for sure I can tell ya that...

BTW - I did do a compression test, all the numbers were 168+ with the highest being 176 I think it was plugs all looked the same, really frustrating!

Also - Head was freshly surfaced at the machine shop I used to work in so I'm not 100% sure it'd be warped. Just caught my attention with smoke coming out the ass end under boost. Did check the side to side on the impeller and that poor turbo is done and then some, hitting the housing and everything so... Still waiting for the evo 3 to get here. =\

 

[JEFFREYCASTGSX]

Those bubbles are a characteristic of all cars. You need to go drive your car to see if actually have a problem.

 

[Beat95GST]

I just don't want to worry about trying to get this pos to pass smog (California) with multiple issues that would cause it to fail. I'm afraid to even attempt smog on this thing with those turbo seals as bad as they are, the poor thing blasts smoke out when you boost it up or even start to spool it. I changed the oil myself and it has stayed clean (no water in oil), and flushed the radiator myself (no oil in coolant from what I can see). Just these bubbles concerned me with the blown off hose which merely could have been caused by the increased pressure from the water pump from me revving it to almost 7 grand. Who knows. I'll keep whackin away at it I guess.

 

[vinnybean]

Recently I have seen two cars 1 being a dsm have a similar problem. The DSM had a shitty cap. The rubber was cracked and was allowing coolant to leak past the cap. Car being to overheat a little, but lost some coolant. When we refilled the coolant it looked just like that. Bubbles seemed like a HG problem, but once he changed the cap and drove it to allow all air to burp it was all set. You really need to let it warm up completely burp it the best you can and drive it to see if it overheats. You may want to get that gauge working or get an aftermarket gauge in there. Do the Fans work properly?

 

[Beat95GST]

I have a brand new cap with the pressure release deal on the top, it's a 13psi cap, seems to be working okay. I originally would get it good and hot, then pull the reservoir cap off and hold the drop light so I could see the coolant then pull the pressure release to get the bubbles in the overflow tank. Will be excited to get a working water temp gauge situated in that freakin thing.

 

[reddragonvr4]

i didnt here the chunk chunk. does it happen when just sitting there runing? try pushing the clutch in and see if it goes away.
you can rent the pressure tester from autozone.

 

[Beat95GST]

i didnt here the chunk chunk. does it happen when just sitting there runing? try pushing the clutch in and see if it goes away.
you can rent the pressure tester from autozone.

I'll see if I can stop by there tomorrow and rent one, need to return the comp tester anyway and spring compressor I used on my 67.

I'll push in the clutch and see if the clacking goes away, are you thinking throwout?

PS - I only hear the clacking noise from the front of the motor (by the pulleys but can't tell which one is doing it). It's just a dull kind of irritating clack, not like bang bang bang like a rod.

 

[reddragonvr4]

I'll see if I can stop by there tomorrow and rent one, need to return the comp tester anyway and spring compressor I used on my 67.mustang or camaro? i had a 68ss for a wile

I'll push in the clutch and see if the clacking goes away, are you thinking throwout?ya thats what i was thinking

PS - I only hear the clacking noise from the front of the motor (by the pulleys but can't tell which one is doing it). It's just a dull kind of irritating clack, not like bang bang bang like a rod.

check the lower timing belt cover it could be lose or check the pullies.what i mean by that is turn your car over by hand and try to see if you can hear where the sound is.thats if its not the throwout

 

[Beat95GST]

67 firebird, 408ci LS1 stroker, S480 turbo. >=)

The GST is actually mama's car (the wife). I wanted a turbo car, and and she hates evos and WRX's and only paid $1500 for this GST, so... that's what I did.

 

[reddragonvr4]

67 firebird, 408ci LS1 stroker, S480 turbo. >=)

The GST is actually mama's car (the wife). I wanted a turbo car, and and she hates evos and WRX's and only paid $1500 for this GST, so... that's what I did.

nice... mine wants a evo so i bought her a ford

 

[Beat95GST]

AH HAHHAAHAH that's funny. We just got rid of our 08 Altima 3.5SE we bought brand new, sold it with like 8k on it. She lost her job (position eliminitated) while on maternity leave (yeah, it's legal... can you believe that?) and couldn't swing the $640/month. Paid cash for this little hot rod. >=)

 

[reddragonvr4]

AH HAHHAAHAH that's funny. We just got rid of our 08 Altima 3.5SE we bought brand new, sold it with like 8k on it. She lost her job (position eliminitated) while on maternity leave (yeah, it's legal... can you believe that?) and couldn't swing the $640/month. Paid cash for this little hot rod. >=)

that sucks! how long was she there?

 

[tjbiker031]

Gets worse and worse every time I pop the hood, . Here's a short video of the coolant after it's good and warm (AC was on). The head was JUST replaced before I bought it. I'm pretty sure this isn't normal to get that kind of volume bubbling, what do you guys think?

I can tell you that you will keep getting air into your system with that cap off. The system is designed to be closed, with the cap ON and the system will burp its self through the reservoir over time. You just need to make sure the reservoir stays filled. Are you overheating or what?

 

[Beat95GST]

that sucks! how long was she there?

She was there 6 years as a manager, (best buy electronics). They restructured while she was gone and offered her a $7/hr paycut, I said F that so she's going to school to do dental assisting. It happens. =\

I can tell you that you will keep getting air into your system with that cap off. The system is designed to be closed, with the cap ON and the system will burp its self through the reservoir over time. You just need to make sure the reservoir stays filled. Are you overheating or what?

Makes sense, I don't think I'm overheating, but no way to really tell. Idling, no overheating, I'm using a laser temp gun to check temps since the gauge doesn't work (new set will be here today!). Just blew the upper hose off, but that could have been because of the flange being half way gone (plastic cracked off). I'll be getting the new radiator this week, replacing both hoses, and will go from there. Having a working temp gauge sure will be nice for once!

 

[reddragonvr4]

did you figer out the clank clank problem yet?

 

[Beat95GST]

I haven't figured that out yet, it was getting late last night and the wife was *&%*! at me for being out there making noise (cussing more or less, ). I honestly am not sure if I'll hear that noise if I turn it over by hand, it's a really weird noise. I mean these little DOHC 4 bangers make noise compared to the LS1's I'm used to, but this is kind of out of the ordinary.