Hey Fellas, So I checked everything else, seems fine. Then I went autozone and bought a brand new water pump that will fit my 350. Here comes the dumb part...wait for it.... Now i'm trying to replace my water pump but I start thinking I need to bleed my radiator...right? How do I go about this? I've never done it. I have two dogs who I love very much and am well aware of the dangers that lurk with antifreeze so what do I do. Is it normal to make a huge mess? I'm also waiting for some books on this stuff but in the meantime you guys have been really helpful. Thanks, Fu
You are correct to be concerned about our 4 legged friends. AntiFreeze is like candy to them and will kill them dead !!! There is a pet-cock ant the bottom of the radiator. Place a large WIDE receptical under the pet cock and then open it up. It is a little messy, and you don't need to drain the entire radiator to change the water pump. After you drain enough off, close the pet cock and use a hose to throughly wash off any coolant from the frame and the ground where some will have spilled. DO this immediatly after you drain it. Then dispose of the old coolant in a safe manner. Dennis
Thanks D I started looking around this morning and found the valve at the bottom. So Now I have successfully installed my new water pump. New radiator, new pump, hoses are good everything seems in order... I let it idle in the driveway for about thirty minutes while drinking a couple o' beers, the guage rose slowly to about 200 dgrees and seemed to level off. I was happy. Then I took it for a test drive to get gas and then to the drivethrough window of a taco bell, the temp began to shoot up again as I sat idle. It got up to about 250 then I began to move and it dropped a little. Question is, I'm worried, I will be ordering a fan shroud from the host this week but will it really make that big of a difference in the temp? what else could it be? Thanks Fu
The shroud will make a big difference. Think of it this way...on a cold day, stand in your house in front of a window..open the window and try to breath in the outside air...notice your breathing in alittle cold and a little inside air. If you had a "shroud" to allow you to breath in just the outside air it will be much colder. A fan blade will just circulate the air in your engine compartment so its not pulling all the air thru the radiator. I know its kinda a silly analogy but... hope that helped..Ed
What's a cold day? I've heard people speak of them before... Just kidding man... we had one down here this year, it was weird! Yeah I hope it does the trick, ordering it soon, is it easy to mount? Fu
If you hit 250 that was about 25 degrees hotter than you EVER want to get ! If that went on for longer than 10 minutes you can almost predict a head gasket failure, or worse. Did you replace the thermostat? Make sure you have good water flow. Check your dip stick and look for water beads. If you see any evidence of coolant in the oil, consider yourself ready for a tear-down. 250 degrees is WAY TOO HOT !
After you changed out your radiator and water pump and added new coolant did you let it get hot enough for the thermostat to open? If you didn't then you are probably low on fluid. Pete
