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Topic
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Backstory:
Ok, same car that I had previous thread about head-gasket failure.
At the very least the mechanic I recommended this friend to with this car did not flush much of **** from the head-gasket failure if he indeed did replace the head-gasket, which I’m really doubting at this point.I had it today, heat wasn’t working, so I told her I’d look at it. The heater core is clogged I assume from all the garbage from the head-gasket failure, of course I have no garage for shop air, and it’s about 19 degrees out so my garden hose is frozen. Verified issue by checking past the heater valve with heat on, it switches correctly and is hot past it, bottom hose is cold; so it’s not cycling through the heater core.
I tried just draining, and refilling with water, running it and draining it a couple times, but while it’s not completely super-chocolate milk colored anti-freeze/coolant anymore, it’s still very close. Oil level however seems more than fine, with no coolant in it, and it does not overheat. Also checked the ATF fluid, fine as well (just in case the radiator itself had an issue).
Issue:
However, trying to completely burp the system I had to give up as it was small bubbling long after doing the burping process. I could find no visible leaks.I’ve not gotten a test kit yet, but this seems like it’s likely that combustion gases (at the least) are still making it in, no? I will of course verify with a testing kit, and a pressure test kit should the former be negative, but I thought this was a sure sign of exhaust gases or a leak if this process didn’t stop. The cooling system has got at least some pressure behind it. Don’t ask me how I know, as I know the method should not be spoken of/written as it’s unsafe, but I didn’t want to wait each time. 😉
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Yep, seen it. Not the real issue. If I thought this was a fluke, and she just needed some help, I’d have made it happen…
This had $900 in repairs, of which one should have been to flush this garbage to start with. Who does a head-gasket repair, timing belt, and water pump change and leaves all the garbage to cycle through?
I’m just concerned with the bubbles from bleeding it out; wondering if this guy actually did anything at all. I should have removed the timing cover to look closely at the pump and belt.
take the timing cover off to look and see if the belt
and water pump are new.You should also be able to inspect
where the head meets the block.If it was replaced dirt and
gunk will be disturbed. I know its freezing outside. If you
have a garage.take the thermostat out.put the housing back.
take off the upper radiator hose.hook up your garden hose to
the bottom of your hot water heater or somewhere to get hot water.
start the car and flush the entire system until clear.replace the
t-stat.Reinstall upper rad hose.refill the coolant and bleed system.
Have you pulled the heat valve?This was returned back long before the original post, as the car is working overall and is needed. All I really wanted to know was if the small bubbling that simply wouldn’t completely stop was likely exhaust gas related or not since this seemed about as fishy a repair job as I’ve ever seen.
Heater valve as stated seemed fine, as past it it was hot and stayed that way. I did state the rest in the original post. This will be going back to the guy I was referred to Tuesday(and she used for the repairs), and I will be joining her to speak with him when she goes, as I feel kind of bad for her since I recommended going this route. I kind of got the feeling this ride she’s been taken for likely wouldn’t have occurred if I’d have taken the car to him myself from the start.
Water/coolant boils when it reaches it’s boiling point. At that time you will see tiny bubbles traveling through the system. This is normal. When you put the radiator cap on this bubbling goes away because it’s under pressure. It’s not always possible to flush out all the junk in the system so don’t be too hard on them. It sounds to me like the system was never bled properly however.
Yeah, I talked to the guy that did it briefly to look him in the eye about this, seemed to be on the up and up overall. That said, even with the rather catastrophic head-gasket failure she had I could have gotten it better flushed out myself in my driveway. The bubbles were infrequent enough that it was probably just boil-over as you state. I’ll update later if the test kit I got reveals anything once it’s completely flushed, likely the flush done after I gave her a ride home still wasn’t enough to get everything.
I’m thinking that either the head gasket repair failed or there is a pinhole leak in the cooling system somewhere else. As you say a good place to start would be to look again for combustion gasses in the cooling system and do a pressure test on the cooling system to look for pinhole leaks. With all the hoses that have to be removed and replaced, it wouldn’t be uncommon to have a hose connection that isn’t perfect after being put back on. I have seen very tiny leaks that behave more like a negative air leak, where air leaks into the system when the engine cools, resulting in a bubbling reservoir every morning as the system clears itself of air bubbles that were drawn in the night before. I would also not discount the possibility of a problem unrelated to the gasket repair, perhaps a cooling system leak that was only indirectly caused by the cycle of overheating and excessive system pressure.
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