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Old 01-06-2008, 12:45 PM   #16
ChevLoRay
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Benton, AR "The Heart of Arkansas"
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Re: Overheating- all of a sudden

Quote:
Originally Posted by WinDancer View Post
The steam is coming from the radiator overflow.

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What about a stuck thermostat? Steam coming from the overflow tube says it's steaming inside the radiator, which says to me something like the thermostat being stuck. I've seen them stuck, engine is hot and radiator is not. If the fan thermostat is located to pick up the radiator temp before turning them on, and the radiator is cool enough to not trigger them, even though the engine is hot.....thermostat may be stuck. You do have a thermostat, right? Not having a thermostat will not let the coolant pass through the radiator slowly enough to cool the coolant. However, that being the case and the fact that your fans will not run automatically unless the coolant in the radiator is hot enough, still points to the thermostat. I've seen top hoses cool, bottom hoses hot in situations like this. The bottom hose on these radiators is on the same side as the side tank with the radiator cap. The steam, being a gas, would rise from that bottom hose, and pass out of the overflow tube. That act may be enough to keep from heating the radiator, yet not cool the engine.
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Last edited by ChevLoRay; 01-06-2008 at 12:47 PM.
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