NVetro

So here is my problem. I have a new 383 and it is runing great. I only get to drive it on the weekends sometimes ill go a weekend without driving it. It seems that whenever i go out to her and start it she will read low coolant, ill open the cap and she is actually low, so i'd add abit. I figure its becuase the motor is new and the coolant system is still abit air bound and all that. So the low coolant light will go off, car runs cool and awesome, never goes over 175ish or so. So i'll put her back in the garage after a weekend of driving her, ill come back the next weekend or weekend after and she'll read low coolant again and long behold she was really low again. Now 3 weekends ago i blead the system REAL good, had a decent flow coming out of the bleeder valve, very little air left in the system I think. So i thought i would come to her this weekend and everything would be fine, nope, low coolant AGAIN, and she was low. There is NO coolant in the oil after 2 oil changes. There is NO white smoke to signify a head gasket issue, and there are NO coolant spots or visible areas where coolant is leaking. I have a CSI eletric wp also btw. It appears she is loosing coolant just sitting in the garage not doing anything, haha... Any ideas guys? BTW also, i deleted the heater core and looped those lines.

Dtimekw

Wow, that is a head scratcher. I had the exact same problem except I found my water, it was in the crankcase (read my sig). The only thing I could think of is the did you bleed it the right way with the air bleed off valve? Just a thought. Sometimes the most obvious are the most often forgotten. Hope this helps. BTW, how do you like the 383? I can't wait till mine is done.

NVetro

i mean i think im bleading it the right way.... I only have one bleeder screw on the heater hose going to the tstat housing. I let her get to temp so the tstat would open, and opened the screw. and wait till I get a decently steady stream right?

Kevin97ss

Pull the dipstick and check for coolant in the oil. If its overfull and you know it shouldnt be....you just found that missing coolant.

Kevin

Dtimekw

Agreed with above. That is how I found my water, was about two inches above the full line. I have found that (with the engine OFF) you need to fill the radiator, open the bleed screw, the water will go down, fill the radiator back up and continue to do it like this until the water doesn't go down anymore. (I did it this way during my radiator flush). Remember to fill the resevoir to the proper level. Close the bleed screw put the rad cap on and start the engine, bring it to operating temp (keep a close eye on the temp gauge). Let the engine cool, recheck the level. . I have left the rad cap off before and watched the level drop as soon as the tstat opened and just kept filling it up as the level dropped (maybe 1/4 gallon), one more way to watch but be careful, that stuff is hot and doesn't taste good (don't ask). Post the results. We'll find out where this problem is.

NVetro

There is no coolant in the oil...maybe i just have alot of air in the system still becuase its a new motor? How long does it usually take to bleed the system completly of air when you have the bleeder open?

blown383

ttt for answers!

-B

NVetro

ok an update...so I stoped driving the car today at about 3:30pm EST. I opened the radiator cap after about 45min or so and the coolant level was 1" from the top, so it stayed there for the whole day of me driving after i added it this morning. I drove about 80 miles or so.....SOOOOO, the car has been sitting like 3 1/2 hours, I just went outside, opened the radiator cap and the coolant was like 3"-4" from the top, maybe even alittle more. So I added some water, saw a few bubbles come up. I saw it go down VERY VERY slowly, i stayed out there about 15min or so. So I added some more water, toped her off, and closed the cap....I BET YA if i go out there tomorrow morning she will be LOW again, MIND YOU, this is without the car or wp even on......do you think I have massive air pockets and thats why it keeps going down? Ideas?

Kevin97ss

Possible it could be air bound, but eventually it will fill if thats the case.

Bleeding the cooling system can be a finiky task but it sounds like your having too much trouble to be normal.

Does the overflow bottle lose coolant as well or does it keep filling up?

The headgaskets are for an LT1 and not a regular SBC right?

Is the loop from the heater core delete kinked?

Kevin

NVetro

I actually put pressure caps on the heater core ports on the water pump. I guess ill just have to let it go down and keep filling it until all the air is out. It's definitly not a head gasket, thats to extreme. I think i'm just have a hard time getting the air out.

SS RRR

have you been keeping track how much coolant/water you've put into the system? It holds roughly 15 quarts.

NVetro

Haven't been keeping track, i would say i have about 10 qts in it now if i had to guess. Car isn't overheating at all, running cool as it did with the original motor. Hell i drove it 80 miles today, ill just keep adding coolant, it goes down so slow though, wish i knew a way to get it down faster. It seems if i leave the cap off the coolant will come to the top and come out of the top, i thought once it gets to temp the tstat should open and all the coolant goes through that, am i wrong? I prob am.......

Dave1980

had the same deal after my cam swap, it got some air in the system from having the wp off for a while. I kept driving the car and filling it up. Just drive and keep some containers of water with you.

NVetro

Dave, did you just fill the coolant overflow, or did you take the radiator cap off and fill it there? When you take the cap off the radiator, dont you introduce air into the system all over again?

SS RRR

Absolutely not! The inlet for coolant in the engine is at the bottom of the radiator. All top side hoses are returns. You really should study up on this stuff. So the way you've been adding coolant is through the overflow tank?
Do yourself a favor. Take the radiator cap off and start the engine and let it run. Watch your coolant level. If it goes down past the point of seeing it through the radiator fill then add more coolant, but don't fill it all the way up. If you do it could overflow and cause a mess. If the coolant rises and starts to bubble over, stop the engine and let it settle down. As soon as it does, start the engine up and let it go again. Your goal is to have the engine at operating temperature, with the radiator full and you being able to see a steady stream of coolant from the steam pipe into the radiator.
Keep both bleeder screws open while you do this and close each one when you see a steady stream start to trickle out.