Cooling Problem need help!

[Spirit42]

The coolant temperature will go all the way up to hot then the thermostat will open and it will go down to just above cold and then it will just dance around all over the place. Sometimes the radiator is ice cold, sometimes it's hot. Some times the upper rad hose is hot and the lower is cold and vise versa. I've replaced the thermostat 3 times and no help. I don't get it. Plus when i turn the heat on, it's never very warm unless the the temp gauge is pegged at hot. Oh and it won't pull water from the bottle when it gets low. I would think water pump but it works sometimes and sometimes and doesn't any time I pull the radiator cap off, it's recirculating.

[wyochimneysweep]

Blown head gasket

[ILIKESHELBYS]

This sounds more like you need to bleed the cooling system problem. On top of the waterbox, there is a hex/Allen wrench plug, it is above and just behind the thermostat. If there is air in the system it will cause the temp gauge to be irratic and the heater will not work very well. If the plug has never been removed, it will take a torch to get that area hot enough to remove it. otherwise, many of us drill a 1/16 or 1/8" hole in the top of the thermostat and install it with the hole at the top allowing coolant to ease by during the fill process. You have to add the coolant then wait a minute or two as the coolant trickles through the small hole to fill the head w/coolant and to displace the air trapped in the water box and other areas of the head. Another trick is to park the car on a very steep hill or jack the front of the car up as far as possible then do your fill. That technique helps a lot but may still leave some air trapped...just not as much, another technique to use, and Ive done it several times is to actually pour in about a gallon of antifreeze first, then pour in boiling hot water. The hot water will cause the themostat to open and you can then get the head to fill with the mixture.

If you have any oil in the water or water in the oil that is typically a sign of a blown head gasket. It can often be confirmed with a compression test, one cyl at least will be very low on compression and when the engine is running you might even see the bubbling in the radiator neck. Hearing bubbling in the recovery bottle is NOT a solid indication of a blown head gasket. White smoke out the tailpipe that smells somewhat like butterscotch is often a good indication that coolant is reaching the combustion chamber...i.e.: blown head gasket.

Let us know what you try and discover/results.

[NAJ]

[Spirit42]

i had already bled the system what seemed like 5 million times and it was still doing it. everytime i kept getting air and it's a brand new engine so no trouble with the head gasket. I finally let it cool overnight. Went out the next day, ran it up on ramps, opened the rad cap and the thermostat plug, let it run for a bit over a half an hour. it took that long the heat all the way till the thermostat opened and it let out a giant gulp of air. Hoping it all got out. drove it around a bit and everything seemed fine. I should have tried that before posting haha. It was just frustrating that even after bleeding it literally 6 times and not working haha.

[ILIKESHELBYS]

Glad to hear that you seem to have found your problem. Good deal.

[Spirit42]

Problem is back again. There seems to be a never ending supply of air in the system. Whenever the lower rad hose is ice cold i can open the rad cap and there is no flow to in the rad at all. Then it will all magically start working whenever it wants to. I don't understand. I know i said about it being a new engine with the headgasket but i guess it could have been installed wrong. could air be being pulled through there even though i'm not burning coolant and it isn't mixing with the oil or vice-versa. it also isn't coming out the exhaust.

[wyochimneysweep]

Headgasket

[onerippinturbo2]

head gasket, cracked head or a simple coolant leak can cause what your describing, coolant leaks out and is replaced by air. i would pressure test the cooling system , pull the spark plugs out and see if the cooling system loses pressure, then look around to find the source of the leak. pulling out the spark plug allows you to look into the cylinders(somewhat) to see if any coolant is gathering there as well.

[NAJ]

Cylinder Leakdown Test will verify a head/headgasket issue.