Yep...my t-stat has that 1/16 hole drilled in. No help.Doug D said:Yep. I have had 3 2.5L's and the bleed screw was corroded shut and impossible to remove or loosen. The t-stat housing is the "high" point of the cooling system and any air has a tendency to get trapped in the housing.
As mentioned parking the vehicle on and incline or ramps should be enough to allow it to burp. So long as all the clamps are tight and no air can enter the system this should work.
One trick I've used is to drill a 1/16 hole in the flange (flat area) of the t-stat and install with the hole at the 12 o'clock position. This will allow any trapped air to exit to the radiator and burp out, but doesn't allow too much coolant to flow to affect the proper operation.
But wouldn't that spot leak as well? I've been over every inch of this engine and firewall....there are no leaks and the hoses and the radiator have been replaced. I guess a pressure test wouldn't hurt. Thanks.valiant67 said:I've said it before, but if you've got a bleed hole in the thermostat already and this keeps happening you are probably getting NEW air into the system. You've got to find and fix that.
I have had a leak that sucked air but never put a drop of coolant on the ground. it can happen.adsjds said:But wouldn't that spot leak as well? I've been over every inch of this engine and firewall....there are no leaks and the hoses and the radiator have been replaced. I guess a pressure test wouldn't hurt. Thanks.
Do you recall where your air ingestion was happening?valiant67 said:I have had a leak that sucked air but never put a drop of coolant on the ground. it can happen.
I re-used the factory tension clamps for all of the new hoses....do you think it would be better to replace them all with regular hose clamps?Bob Lincoln said:I had a very slightly loose hose clamp at the water pump-suction hose connection. I was losing a handful of coolant a day, but maybe only one day a week was there anything on the ground, and even then, only a few drops.
Well, I installed a mechanical water temp gauge and it looks like the factory gauge is totally inaccurate and inconsistent. At idle, the new gauge followed the temp up to 195 degree, and registered the thermostat opening. Let a sit a while longer and it reached up to 215 degrees, and then the fan turned on, bringing the temp back down to 190 degrees.dana44 said:OK, so the cap is new, but can you check it so ensure it is holding the necessary pressure?
It isn't so much the temperature the engine runs up to that warps the heads, but a matter of how much squish is done to the head gasket first, then the leaking afterwards, meaning the head gasket is made thinner from the heat expanding the head to the block and then cooling down, the head gasket being compressed and starting off pushing the cylinder exploded fuel/air out the gap, increasing it over a short period of time and causing an imbalance of temperature to make it warp (along with head bolts stretching due to the heat, basically becoming loose given the now compressed head gasket thickness.
Even though the temp gauge is working, it may simply be more sensitive than it should be. There are resistors to keep them from swinging too quickly, and at the same time I have seen small drop sized weights added to prevent the gauges from swinging too quickly. A second gauge can be picked up for less than $20 to make verification of the gauge swings too far, not the engine overheating.
chuzz said:Where did you get the thermostat? And PLEASE tell me it wasn't Autozone.
No, I bought a factory dodge t-stat from the dealer...and drilled the 1/16th hole. The heating and cooling cycle seem exactly as it should be at idle, but when I went for a test drive a couple hours later (from cold) the engine took forever to heat up, and didn't actually get up to temp until after about 10 miles of driving.dana44 said:Agree. That means the thermostat is opening properly, but not closing.^^^^^^ Please don't say Autozone. The 16th inch hole is not going to allow that much overcooling, given the temp did rise to 215 and open and extra cool properly at idle.
Nope, I'm careful about that...and this is about the 8th t-stat I've had in this thing. I know the drill by heart.Bob Lincoln said:I have to ask, just because - any chance you put the thermostat in backwards? Spring faces the engine.