hello guys! ok... so i have a hole in the topp part of my radiator... so i still had coolant (i'm sure of that) but waiting in line at the drive thru yesterday nite, my engine over heated... i got out of the car and could hear the transmission fluid boiling and it came out... but the engine wasn't running for that long (i would say 10 minutes driving and 10 minutes in line) so i'm wondering if the engine can be cool enough while the transmission can overheat??? and if so, what should i check??? i'm taking care of my radiator today (already out of the car, waiting for my roomate to give me a ride to the shop) my thermostat works (been changed 4 months ago, and i can feel the bottom hose getting hot, so my coolant is circulating). so can it only be that little hole on the top of my radiator???:16suspect thanks for your answer!!! PS: and nope, i don't have a water temperature gauge, so i don't know what temperature my engine is.
Quote/ "...and could hear the transmission fluid boiling and it came out." Say what? From *what* vicinity did you "hear" the fluid boiling, and from *where* did it come out?
when i poped the hood after seeing smoke coming out. i could hear something boiling. since the only thing i could see on the floor was transmission fluid, i presumed that was it. water level remained the same. so did the oil level. and i'm "almost" sure it came out by the same way you put it in, but i can't know for sure, it was at night, so i couldn't really see.
The boiling point of type "F" fluid is well above any temp that you might get while idling. It probably wasn't boiling. It can get frothed up with air and get pushed out the vent or dipstick tube. The reason for the air is usually overfilling. To be sure that it wasn't heat that caused your problem we need a bit more information about the circumstances. 1. fluid level 2. idle speed 3. converter stall speed 4. what kind of driving you were doing for ten minutes 5. is the transmission stock? if not what kind of mods?
1. fluid level was checked 2 weeks ago 2. idle speed choke was still on, so about 800 RPM to 900 RPM 3. converter stall speed i have no idea what that is and how to check that 4. what kind of driving you were doing for ten minutes nice and smooth, car was cold 5. is the transmission stock? if not what kind of mods? I'm pretty sure it's stock... how do I check that?
trans cooler have you installed a trans cooler ? it may have a stoped up factory cooler in the old radiator.
i didn't... how do i check if the previous owner did? how does it look like? radiator is being repaired right now. should get it back tomorrow.
cooler issue it will be a small (radior) looking pice on the front of the rad with the trans lines runing to it very noticable looking at the rad.
nope. just have the 2 big hoses going in and out of the engine and the 2 little lines going to the transmission at the bottom of the radiator.
Noun, With the choke on the car probably idles near 1200 rpm. That is just over half the converter stall speed (stock). With cool temperature (Netherlands, early spring (assumption)) I doubt your transmission overheated. When you get the radiator back in, check the fluid with the engine idling in park (warmed up). It should be half way between the ADD and FUL mark on the dipstick. Don't fill it past that mark and you should be fine in the future. You can install an auxillary cooler - transmission cooler - by cutting the line between the rear of the transmission and the radiator - near the radiator. Install the cooler in front of the radiator and run the hoses that come in the kit so the bottom hose from the cooler goes to the line in the radiator and the top hose goes to the line that goes back to the rear of the transmission. That way the oil from the transmission will go through the radiator cooler first and then through the auxillary cooler. It probably isn't necessary but it will make the transmission last longer.
Thanks for the answer. My level was at full when iddling on park and warmed up. so may be it was a little to much. how do I check if the coolant is circulating correctly in the trans? that's the second time this problem happen. Both time when iddling( never happens when driving, even for an hour). As far as my choke, I was talking when on gear. If on park or neutral, I'm about 1100rpm. When stuck in traffic or in the drive thru, is it better to put on park at 1000rpm or on drive at 800rpm (but which means you're on gear and your engine "work" a little more, no?). I don't have a fan shroud and it's one of my priority before the summer comes. Also, I didn't do the engine swap myself, I bought the car with the V8, but it was a I6 originaly. Is there a size difference between the rad? And if yes, what size should be mine? And NE stands for Nebraska, not Netherland. Thanks a lot for your help!
Here is a peticular situation that can happen. If the radiator bottom 1/4 is about plugged with sediment it restricts coolant flow such that when moving on the road there is enough cooling to prevent the motor from overheating. As soon as the car is put under high load such as climbing a hill or even stoppng, the temp rises enough to get into the boiling zone and even push out the overflow. Since the trans is cooled buy passing fluid through a coil in the radiator the fluid temp goes up with no other way to cool. In modern transmissions that have lockup converters there is little fluid shear to cause heating on the average except at times of starting off and going through the gears. Your transmission does not have a lockup feature so has a higher level of fluid shear in it's converter on a near constant basis to the tune of about 300 rpm even on what it considered it's lockup. If your problem goes away with a radiator flush and flow test to be sure it's not restricted then you have found the issue. Saw it a number of times in old cars and trucks that even had lockup converters such as the Ford Ranger and Bronco II.
thanks for the idea still waiting for my radiator i'll flush the engine since everything is about to be put back together. other question is: can I use already mixed 50/50 coolant to fill up the radiator? or should i do the mix myself (and if so, how much coolant fit in the rad and the engine?) nobody answered to my question about the size of the radiator on a V8. different than the I6? what size should it be (for stock)? thanks a lot guys!
