Holy crap!! I changed my coolant, now my whole electical system is messed up!

[TheV6Bird]

So I changed my coolant today. Couldn't find those drain plugs on the block, so I said screw that and just drained the radiator, took a garden hose and flushed it out. I also cleaned out the overflow tank (I followed the Haynes manual), which meant I had to take the battery out as well.

I also put a new thermostat in (whoever designed where the thermo housing is on the 3.4 needs to die an extremely slow death). I couldn't get to the driver side screw, so I actually took off the throttle body. I just put in a new stock replacement thermo.

Filled up the radiator and overflow tank with fluid (I wasn't sure of how much....I just put 1 gallon in) and drove around.

Now the problems: My car overheats big time now...on the highway, it stays at 190-220, with rapid fluctuation between that area (maybe I didn't put enough fluid in).

the BIG one: everytime I hit the brakes, the whole car dims. The radio shuts off or dims big time when I hit the high beams, and the needle falls deep in the yellow before bouncing back out with the AC on...WTF is going on???

**sigh** When I try to fix things, it seems like more things break :( :(

[cero]

about the overheating, have you checked the coolant levels again?

[TheV6Bird]

Originally posted by cero:
about the overheating, have you checked the coolant levels again?

I'm gonna check them tommorrow. Its too dark now, and frankly I need a break from that car or else I'll probebly end up taking a sledgehammer to it :mad:

[speedy-v6-camaro]

Sounds like there is something wrong with the battery connections....you said you removed it to drain the overflow....check the connections and clean them off really well.

Did you bleed the coolant system of air?

[TheV6Bird]

I'll recheck the battery ASAP tommorrow

Originally posted by speedy-v6-camaro:
Did you bleed the coolant system of air?

?????? Uh oh....I have no clue how to do that or what I am supposed to do there. I just filled up coolant and thought I was done with it.

[jmihalchik98]

sounds like u need to bleed the coolant system, and as far as electrical make sure all terminals are clean (on battery and cables) and tight.

[navyblue2000]

What you need to do, and you might have already done this...
you'll lose a few ounces of coolant, but no big deal. disconnect the thermostat, where it goes into the intake manifold. The hose that's on there, when you fill the radiator with coolant, when it starts to overflow, kind of "burp" the hose, get all the air out. put the thhermostat and housing back together, start the car up, wait for the thermostat to open (you should see coolant start moving down from the end tank...keep adding coolant as the car is running. keep it going until that is filled all the way up.
when that's done, put the radiator cap on and shut the car off. Let it cool down (at LEAST 15 minutes or more), check the radiator fluid level, then add to the overflow tank.

MOST OF ALL, make sure you use a 50/50 mix of coolant and DISTILLED water.

[silvachris1]

Yeah, I was about to sugguest the same thing. It sounds like you've got air in the system somewhere. I think that air pocket could be causing the fluccuation that you see. I think you prolly need some more coolant too. 1 Gallon doesn't seem like the right number.

Also, heat kills electrical things, maybe your alternator is on its way out. The way you described sounds just like what I was going through before I replaced my alt.

On a completely unrelated note (just out of curiousity), when your gauge dips and lights dim while you're breaking, does your oil pressure drop too?

[jmihalchik98]

u need to bleed otherwise u will get air pockets in your coolant system which can make hot spots.

[TheV6Bird]

Originally posted by navyblue2000:
What you need to do, and you might have already done this...
you'll lose a few ounces of coolant, but no big deal. disconnect the thermostat, where it goes into the intake manifold. The hose that's on there, when you fill the radiator with coolant, when it starts to overflow, kind of "burp" the hose, get all the air out. put the thhermostat and housing back together, start the car up, wait for the thermostat to open (you should see coolant start moving down from the end tank...keep adding coolant as the car is running. keep it going until that is filled all the way up.
when that's done, put the radiator cap on and shut the car off. Let it cool down (at LEAST 15 minutes or more), check the radiator fluid level, then add to the overflow tank.

MOST OF ALL, make sure you use a 50/50 mix of coolant and DISTILLED water.

I am using the premixed stuff that is already 50/50.

silvachris, I did not notice my oil pressure drop when the lights dimmed.

navyblue thanks for the help, but I am not really seeing how to do this in my head. I need to disconnect the thermo housing (the metal thing)? I don't get what burping it means. When the thermo opens and "the tank" drains, do you mean resevior?

Sorry but if you could be more specific thatd help a lot!

And about the alternator.....it better not! That alternator is only a year and a half old! And if I have to change that, I'll probebly end up breaking something else! :mad: :rolleyes:

[UsMuScL398]

DO this....let the engine cool off and then open the radiator cap....and pour water or coolant until its at the top then start the car (it wont spray at you i promise) and give it time to warm up and let the thermo open up and once it does the coolant will bubble at the cap and slowly move down....then pour more in until its toped off and put the cap on and your done....fill the resoviour (sp) and your full....i work at a shop and thats how we do it....ive done it plenty of times to my car (stupid water pump)

[95Batmobile]

Can't you just let the car run with the radiator cap off to "burp" it?
I've never heard of taking the thermostat housing off to burp it...

[UsMuScL398]

ya thats what i ment....

[chas]

it sounds like trouble with your battery. make sure the connections to it are clean and tight. it probably wont hurt to remove the connections again and give them a quick one over with some coarse sandpaper or metal brush.

[TheV6Bird]

OK, I seemed to have fixed the electrical issue...I cleaned the battery terminals and they seem OK. I'll drive around tonight to see how the headlights are.

The radiator: I filled it up to the top,, started , and watched for bubbles. They came out....but the level of coolant never went down (this is all w/ the cap off). The temp hit 210, and then fluid started to jump up and overflow, so I shut the car off (big mistake)...coolant shoot almost a foot up from the radiator like a geizer [img]graemlins/popcorn.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/twak.gif[/img]

So I took a break, let it cool, and filled up the radiator again with coolant to the top, started it, and waited for bubbles. This time, there were more bubbles and the coolant level dropped because the thermo must've opened so I filled up the whole radiator with fluid, waited a bit again, and put the cap on, then put the rest in the resovior. Drove the car around and the temp stays normal.

I guess I fixed it. But what temp do the fans turn on? Mine seem to turn on pretty late. And how do I know all the air is out? Should I repeat this whole thing again? What happens if I overfill?