Coolant bubbling?

Tiny
CCALE04
  • MEMBER
  • 2004 CHEVROLET TAHOE
  • 5.3L
  • V8
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 240,000 MILES
I have been fighting a problem with my truck for weeks. I was driving and noticed it starting to get slightly over normal temperature instantly pulled over shut it off and it was bubbling the coolant out bad. Did a compression test and found that number 5 cylinder was at 60PSI, and all others were around 150, swapped heads around and low compression problems moved to number 4 on the other side conferring the problem was in the head. Take heads to a machine shop, they confirm, yup, crack in the head and show me the crack. I purchased a rebuilt set of heads from them, purchased all new gaskets, decide to replace water pump just cause being that it was still under warranty, tested thermostat by dropping in hot water on my stove, and blow through radiator and hoses to make sure nothing is clogged. I put the truck back together after cleaning very well now getting 148-152PSI on all 8 cylinders but still getting bubbles in the overflow tank and it’s over heating again just taking much longer to do so. Noticed though even once the truck rose close to 235 degrees upper and lower radiator hoses were cool to the touch and could stick finger in coolant and it was also cool to the touch. Is it possible that even though the thermostat tested good it’s not opening? If so, why am I still getting bubbles in the coolant, just that much air in the system still? Really lost on what to do next and sick of just tossing money at it. Any help would be really appreciated.
Saturday, September 17th, 2022 AT 4:00 AM

9 Replies

Tiny
MIKE H R
  • MECHANIC
  • 3,094 POSTS
A couple of things, when you put the thermostat in, the spring was in towards the block, check how much heat you get out of the heater core? With the hoses being cool I would try back flushing the heater core. If it is clogged the coolant will not circulate. While you are at it you might want to back flush the engine, (with it cool and thermostat out) back flushing will clean out any blockage.
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Saturday, September 17th, 2022 AT 11:29 AM
Tiny
CCALE04
  • MEMBER
  • 21 POSTS
The thermostat housing will only allow it to go one way and has a locating notch that lines up with a tab on the thermostat gasket. The heater core lines never got hot either. The only time I ever felt any heat in the lines was after we shut it off and let it sit for a few minutes. I will try flushing all the lines. Is there a specific tool that’s needed/will help clean them, or just hold a water hose on high up to the lines and let it run until the water is clear?
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Saturday, September 17th, 2022 AT 9:12 PM
Tiny
CCALE04
  • MEMBER
  • 21 POSTS
The thermostat housing will only allow it to go one way, and has a locating notch that lines up with a tab on the thermostat gasket. The heater core lines never got hot either the only time I ever felt any heat in the lines was after we shut it off and let it sit for a few min. I will try flushing all the lines. Is there a specific tool that’s needed/will help clean them, or just hold a water hose on high up to the lines and let it run til the water is clear?
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Saturday, September 17th, 2022 AT 9:12 PM
Tiny
MIKE H R
  • MECHANIC
  • 3,094 POSTS
A hose and a nozzle will do the trick, hold the nozzle in one of the hoses and let the water flush it out. Don't use too much pressure, just enough to clean the core out. Then reverse the water to the other hose. Do it someplace where the water will run off. After you get that done do the engine without any thermostat, that way if there is anything in there it will come out. I wonder if the guy you bought it from knew about the problem and just did not fix it thermostat. When everything cleaned out reattach any hoses you took off to clean out. Put the thermostat in and fill with coolant.
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Sunday, September 18th, 2022 AT 6:50 AM
Tiny
CCALE04
  • MEMBER
  • 21 POSTS
Question, I’ve owned this car for 10 years and have put around 180,000 of the miles on it. I replaced the water pump and thermostat. This last may cause the pump was leaking, but if the thermostat is bad it would not be the first time, I got parts from Oreilly's that only last a few months before going bad. Since the pump was still under warranty, I exchanged it to remove that from the list of possible problems.
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Sunday, September 18th, 2022 AT 7:01 AM
Tiny
CCALE04
  • MEMBER
  • 21 POSTS
Flushed all the lines, the block, and ran water through the radiator, checked all the lines to make sure none of them were collapsed, Got a new thermostat in it, filled it back up, no bubbles in the overflow tank, all the of the lines were hot, after about 20 min of idling the gauge on the dash was on the line right below 210 where it’s always ran since buying the truck, and it started pushing water out of the overflow. There were no bubbles or anything, water level just started rising til it pushed half the water out on the ground. Any clue what that could be? Like I said it never showed hot before I shut it off, I’m completely stumped at this point.
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Sunday, September 18th, 2022 AT 4:40 PM
Tiny
MIKE H R
  • MECHANIC
  • 3,094 POSTS
Did you flush out the heater core when you flushed the rest of the truck? Wondering if the radiator cap could be the problem. With the water coming out of the overflow and it not overheating if the radiator cap went bad the same thing would happen. Take the radiator cap off, fill the radiator with water. Do not put the radiator cap back on. Start the truck and let it run. Keep an eye on the level of water in the radiator (not too close in case it overheats). You should see the water drop when the truck reaches temperature, and the thermostat opens. When the water drops, let it run as long as it is not overheating for a few minutes. Shut it off and let it sit until it cools down. Then fill the radiator. Put the radiator cap back on, (you might want to get a new one). That might be that it is weak and letting the water into the reservoir and pushing it out.
Let me know how you make out,

Mike
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2022 AT 1:06 PM
Tiny
CCALE04
  • MEMBER
  • 21 POSTS
It’s back up and running normal now, it ended up being the fan clutch. When it overheated the first time it cracked the head, and the water level was going up after replacing the heads because it couldn’t cool, I guess. I didn’t notice that it was bad when I reinstalled the fan because it had normal resistance to it until I would spin it 3 or 4 extra spins, then it would lose all resistance and just start free spinning. Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it!
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2022 AT 3:32 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,896 POSTS
Hi,

Thank you for the update. We are glad to know you found the issue.

Please feel free to come back anytime in the future if you have questions. You are always welcome.

Take care,

Joe
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Thursday, September 22nd, 2022 AT 8:30 PM

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