coolant boil after engine swap

[blade970]

So, Just swapped my donor car engine into the shell, filled everything up, and it worked. YAY. Here's the problem. Couple laps around the block and it already started to overheat. Got out of the car and I could HEAR the coolant boiling in the coolant reservoir. So...Ideas?
I didn't "burp" the system...well..take that back, I tried, but coolant just keep spewing out. Is that what is supposed to happen. I have about 1 gallon of coolant in the system as of right now. Do I need more?
And this thing....

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Is broken....I plan on fixing it on friday, but could this be what is causing the overheating? What does this clip/sensor even do?

Please and thank you

And by the way, this is where I put the coolant in.....is it where I was suppsoed to? Or did I jack stuff up?

 

[And_44]

Well I had a similar issue with a VW I had. The coolant would boil in the resevior but that only happened because the system had to be under pressure. And when you increase the pressure on a fluid the boiling point raises. As the water goes to the 110 degree boiling point it needs to boil, if the system is air tight the pressure builds and the water can't boil. The more pressure you can handle the higher the temp of water can get without vaporizing. So what I'm getting at is that maybe you have a crack or hole somewhere in your cooling system that is not allowing your system to get pressurized.

As for that sensor I believe it sense's your temp. With it at the top of system at the fill port it may be sensing air and why the temp shoots up. When your trying to burp your system are you leaving the fill cap off and letting car idle to raise temp so your thermostat opens. When it opens your supposed to raise the idle so your water pump is pulling the water through your system. When you raise the idle and pull the coolant the water level at the fill port should drop as your pump is pulling the water from the bottom of radiator and the hot coolant is coming up from the thermostat housing.

After describing this to you I realized that you may have a crack or leak in your thermostat housing or your seal is bad. The water as it exit's your block is at it's hottest point so when it hits a point in system where it can't be under pressure it turns into vapor and is bypassed through the hose into your reseivor tank. Make sure your cap is on tight to your resevor as well, and the rubber hoses are crack free.

 

[bluestreak9999]

Do a compression check. A blown head gasket will cause your water to boil over. You can take off the radiator cap and start the engine from a cold start. If you see tiny little bubbles coming up from the water that is a good sign of a leaky head gasket.

 

[blade970]

Ok, I'm going to assume that the silver cap in the picture is the fill cap. And I did not burp the system yet, and there is only about 1 gallon of coolant in there.
Do I need to jack to car up when I burp it, or can I leave it level, and then my buddy said to run the heater while it is on and just keep adding fluid until it is full?
And would that sensor being broken have anything to do with the car reading that it is overheated?

 

[haswesley]

The sensor in the photo is for your air conditioning. Also, to burp the system, use a tall funnel that fits tightly in the thermostat housing (where the radiator cap is). Make sure to keep the funnel full as you are burping the system. You do not have to raise the vehicle. Just park on a level surface. You need to pinch and release the lower radiator hose many times to get trapped bubbles to rise into your funnel. I've done this many times. Hope this clarifies.

 

[blade970]

so is that silver cap the radiator cap then? (still lost here)

 

[bluestreak9999]

Yes that cap is where you pour in the coolant. And that sensor would not cause overheating.

 

[GDNF2ET]

Are your fans coming on ? If not, check the connector that plugs in the sensor in the radiator..

 

[jrohner]

Pressure test the cooling system. Often a leak will leak air in instead of coolant out, when you're sucking in air it pushes out coolant just like if a headgasket is shot.

 

[twalters09]

Are your fans coming on ? If not, check the connector that plugs in the sensor in the radiator..

also check your relay in the main fuse box under the hood, i had the same problem and it was my relay to the fans

 

[blade970]

Alright, burped the system and it took almost a whole extra gallon. But then I drove it around a few blocks and it was just fine. So, thanks guys.

 

[blade970]

Thread rez. Car ran fine from the point I burped it until yesterday. Even made it a while track day without overheating, then yesterday I was just sitting in the Taco John's drive thru and my overflow tank spit coolant allover the floor? Ideas? I could smell coolant before the temp gauge even hit the red zone?

 

[GDNF2ET]

Were your fans running when it overheated ? That fan connector could have developed a short and work intermediately..

 

[1gengsx]

Is the wire on that sensor in the picture broken?(hard to tell) If so thats the coolant temp sensor. fixing that if it is broken may fix your over heating problem.