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I am having some cooling system trouble with my 1994 Dodge Spirit 4 cylinder. I changed the thermostat and gasket recently and I was told to bleed any trapped air out of the system by pointing the nose of the car slightly uphill and running the engine with the radiator cap off until the cooling fan kicks in. If I run the car with the rad cap off, the coolant in the radiator will start boiling before the radiator fan turns on. That's not right, is it? If I put the radiator cap on then let the engine run until the cooling fan turns on, I can feel water boiling in the upper radiator hose and at the radiator cap. Any idea what is causing that? The car doesn't overheat while driving normally and the coolant doesn't look dirty.
Second problem. It seems that my cooling system doesn't make or hold any pressure. I can drive the car for a length of time, shut if off and right away open the radiator cap (which at this point is only lukewarm to the touch) and there's no obvious pressure release. I have tried 2 different used radiator caps and 1 new one all with the same lack of pressurization. I don't notice any oil in the coolant, or coolant in the oil or any crusty white buildup on the spark plugs, so I don't think the headgasket is bad, is it? Any ideas what's causing this to happen?
Second problem. It seems that my cooling system doesn't make or hold any pressure. I can drive the car for a length of time, shut if off and right away open the radiator cap (which at this point is only lukewarm to the touch) and there's no obvious pressure release. I have tried 2 different used radiator caps and 1 new one all with the same lack of pressurization. I don't notice any oil in the coolant, or coolant in the oil or any crusty white buildup on the spark plugs, so I don't think the headgasket is bad, is it? Any ideas what's causing this to happen?