HELP! Rad. won't take in enough coolant/water for refill.

[frederick w]

My 2000 Flair, 454, 22 qt. system. I drained cooling system. 12 qts. came out. Will only take 12 qts of water goin in.

My idea is to run engine, drain cooling system again and then add new coolant. Would like to get more than 12w qts. out.

The engine won't reach operating temp at an idle. Thermostat not opening to suck more water in? But if that was the case, wouldn't the engine be ever heating?

On freeway the operating temt was about 190 degrees(last May). Right now I can't get past 130 degrees on a twenty minute idle.

The MH is parked at a slant(nose down) along side house, because of the parking.

However, the engine itself is level with the imposed slant of the driveway.

PS: At this moment, I can't drive out/turn around, and drive nose in into the driveway or level it out on the street because of parking restrictions.

Thanks in advance.

[pkmesser]

Be careful here, if there is no coolant at the thermocouple, it may not register high temperature, when the engine is really getting hot.

If you did not do so, open the radiator cap and heater valve when draining, that may help.

[Clay L]

I don't know about the 454 but the 8.1L that succeeded it has two hex head plugs - one on each side of the engine - that when removed let another gallon or so drain out.

You can download a service manual HERE. There might be some info in it that would be helpful.

[dsbike]

First of all , you need to be fairly level. Can you use your jacks? Next the engine not getting to operating temp is not that unnormal. I rebuilt the engine in my Jeep Grand Cherokee last winter, I had the same problem. I reved the engine to about 1200rpm & held it there, it then got to temp & allowed the thermostat to open & the antifreeze to circulate. There is no harm in raising the rpms slightly. You may need to remove the lower radiator hose to allow more antifreeze to drain from the block. Did you have the radiator cap off when you drained the system?
Do you have Electric fan or fans? If so the fans will kick on when the temp sensor gets hot, this is also at apprx the same temp (usually a little higher) than the thermostat will open. Your temp sensor will be on the engine intake near the thermostat housing. The temp sensor will get hot with or without antifreeze in the system. I believe your temp reading of 130 is correct.

[frederick w]

DSBIKE
My jacks but would not raise MH high enoguh. My fan (rad) did not come on. I did pull lower hose.
What if I losen heater hose(top of manifold )to bleed off possible trapped air?
We have a strick covent. No MH on street. I may have to park there 5 in the morning to do some quick checking.
Backing out into the street is a nightmare as I have to dodge side of the roof,landscape island, and the
neighbors car.

Thanks for info.

[dsbike]

Frederick, I would raise the lower side as much as possible if level is not possible. I do not believe removing the top hose would have any effect. You may do as Clay suggested, but most of the antifreeze that isn't draining is between the cyclinders in the block not in the heads. This antifreeze is not going to come out under any normal means.
There are test strips that you can buy at autoparts stores that you can check your antifreeze. I would drain as much as possible by removing the lower hose & opening the drain plug. Refill with 50/50 antifreeze/water and after the antifreeze has circulated, I would test it with the test strips. You may find that it is still in good condition.

[Clay L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsbike SNIP You may do as Clay suggested, but most of the antifreeze that isn't draining is between the cyclinders in the block not in the heads. This antifreeze is not going to come out under any normal means. SNIP

The drain plugs on the 8.1L are down below the level of the spark plugs in the block so you get about a gallon more out as I recall.
Of course the 454 may be different from the 8.1L.

[frederick w]

Thanks guys.
I got MH on level ground and was able to get 4 ga.l of antifreeze in system.

Also backed over neighbors mail box. See my thread in gen. discussion.

[speed racer]

When you drain the cooling system you won't get all the coolant out unless you remove the block drain plugs. It is not uncomman to have trouble refilling the system due to the air pocket under the thermostat just take your time. There is normaly a small hole in the body of the thermostat to let the air out but I have seen some without this hole. In these cases I drill a 3/32" or 1/8" hole in the flat part of the thermostat and it makes it a lot easyer top refill and doesn't have any effect on the thermastat temp.Just remember the coolant goes in a lot faster than the air goes out.