[lakecat]

I pulled into garage yesterday after 2.5 hr trip to Columbus. When I shut off engine and got out, I could hear bumbling and hissing noises coming from under hood. I could hear liquid hitting flooring of garage under the truck. I got down on floor to look and saw antifreeze running everywhere. I lift hood and see it was coming from overflow tube of antifreeze container.

I get back in truck and start it...wanting to see temp...and it was at 210. I shut off motor and can hear the same noises and again....antifreeze sputtering on floor. I saw the fan was running but forgot I had air conditioning on low. So let it cool overnight.


This morning went and bought antifreeze.....it took the whole gallon to fill it. I ran the motor for about a half hour and temp never went above 200....and fan never kicked on. No leaks anywhere.


Where I am puzzled is how did a gallon of antifreeze get dumped if my temp wasn't above 210?

 

[Mike in AZ]

Where I am puzzled is how did a gallon of antifreeze get dumped if my temp wasn't above 210?

You were probably just reading the temperature of the metal on the cylinder head, since there was no fluid in the head.

my 2 cents....

Mike

 

[yellow bear]

is it possible that the cap was not screwed down all the way? it is a real biyach to remove and replace securely. I agree with Mike that the coolant sensor will only read coolant. it will Not read "air temp". when the coolant level reaches the bottom of the sensor, it will default, giving a "normal" reading. same as the Old Days, you had to be watching the gauge at the time it went from Norm to OMG before returning to normal as the coolant ran out of the system and onto the street. that O ring on the cap makes it a PITA to make sure it is both loose to remove and down enough to engage the threads to tighten it down properly. you probably dodged a bullet this time, hope so....

 

[lakecat]

Okay....I can understand that. The engine seems to be fine and...the coolant lid was on tight when I removed it. Raining today so will wait to take it for a little test ride. Puzzled as to what would cause it to blow out. Thanks for the replies.....and will be replacing fan soon also.

 

[tennesseecozydog]

Okay....I can understand that. The engine seems to be fine and...the coolant lid was on tight when I removed it. Raining today so will wait to take it for a little test ride. Puzzled as to what would cause it to blow out. Thanks for the replies.....and will be replacing fan soon also.

This happened to me ONE time lakecat (Coolant all over the garage floor, temp gauge normal)... I THOUGHT my cap was on tight too BUT, it WASN'T. Took it off, put in a gallon of coolant and made sure the cap was on tight ...NO MORE PROBLEMS. That CAP is deceiving, you think it's tight but it's NOT.

tennesseecozydog :ssr

 

[Autoprof]

Totally agree with all others. Liquid transfer heat better than air and your temperature gauge is not effective without coolant.
I believe the noise you were hearing was the antifreeze boiling. The cap may have been tight but not holding pressure. The boiling of 50/50 antifreeze is about 225-230. Each pound of pressure raises that boiling point over 2.5 degrees. So a 15 pound cap raises the boiling point almost 40 degrees. A shop with proper adapters should be able to pressure test your cap.
Many things can cause overheating, cap is easy to test.

 

[SWT RYD]

I was having problems with losing coolant, after you get coolant and it runs normal check the overflow tube for any moisture at the end. if there is any thing there replace the cap. The O Ring is probably bad.

 

[Auggie Doggie]

I had similar problems and after shutting it down I noticed in a short time the top radiator hose would collapse. Read somewhere here that it was a bad cap. Took cap off and went to Chevrolet and they matched it up with another vehicle same numbers etc. as they did not have or list one for an SSR. Same number. Added fluid up to line and put on new cap. That has been two years now. No problems since. Cap was about $12 if I remember. Cheap fix.

 

[lakecat]

Thanks guys....I will look into this. It does sit a lot with only 18k on it.

 

[SSReplay]

Replace Cap! :thumbs :blur: :ssr

 

[Mike in AZ]

Replace Cap! :thumbs :blur: :ssr

AC Delco RC98 is the correct cap. You will also find it has a GM part number on the box that corresponds to the call-out in the parts manual.

Easy to find.....

Mike

 

[xoxoxoBruce]

Does the dash say change the oil? It will if it overheated.

 

[carlbush]

This past winter my coolant overflow tank developed a crack in the plastic body and, after a 15-minute drive at 5 a.m., sprayed coolant all over the engine compartment. I did not notice until after I parked and saw the steam coming out of the engine bay. Attached pic shows location of crack. Bought a new overflow tank at Autozone for $38.

 

[lakecat]

Took your advice and ordered a new cap. The coolant tank is fine as I ran the engine for about thirty minutes with no leaks. Cap seemed fine too but for ten bucks...will stick a new one on.

Next step is to check fan.

 

[Lady in Red]

Need to bleed the air out of cooling system. Start engine & leave cap off over flow. Plus the engine is higher than top of radiator. The upper radiator hose need to be squeezed to get air out. Cooling of the SSR is not very good in traffic. Need to find a tuner for the changes to temperature when fans come on. I have the Diablo Preditor tuner. Not had a over heating problem since. Use the 87 octane tune. But if you find that you need more horse power? The Catalytic converters can not take the increase in power & over heat. The ABS unit circuitry solder melts. If you are not wanting to get a tuner? Run the A/C all the time with snow flake turned on. It will keep the electric cooling fans on all the time. At low speed till coolant temperature rises. The the fans run on high.