Who Came up with this STUPID idea GM radiator?

Hey all you aint gonna beleive this one. I have a 91 s-10 blazer 4.3 auto. Last nite at the boat ramp, while putting the boat in the water, my radiator popped a leak and coolant started GUSHING out of it. I pulled the truck off the ramp, opened the hood and found the leak. It was the plastic drain valve. It popped out of its hole like a cork gun. I have never heard of such a thing. Gotta love the Engineers at GM for this high quality idea.

I found the replacement at autozone for 3 bucks, got the truck home and this morning flushed out the coolent system and changed the t-stat.Has anyone else had this problem ? If so how do I prevent it from happening again. Thanks Steve

Reply to
seeray
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They are all designed pretty muchthe same way accross all auto makers. Shit happens. Shit breaks. Nothing to prevent shit from happening!

Doc

Reply to
"Doc"

Yeah but the part that peeves me is this. Isnt the radiator cap supposed to go POP before the radiator?

Reply to
seeray

I had the crappy PLASTIC SIDE TANK on the radiator support side crack about an inch and start a slow leak (where I couldn't see it until I pulled it out). Another STUPID idea IMO!! I think it was the original, therefore lasted about 10 years...

'94 Z71

Ladude

They are all designed pretty muchthe same way accross all auto makers. Shit happens. Shit breaks. Nothing to prevent shit from happening!

Doc

Reply to
LaDude

everyone is using plastic for what they can nowadays, cheaper to make means more profit for them and the price of the vehicle is supposed to be more affordable, note supposed to, lol

Reply to
twins0203

Ten years for a rad seems pretty good to me.

For the record I'm not a huge fan of plastic on a rad either, but how bad can it be if it lasts that long?

Reply to
SBlackfoot

No, the radiator cap is supposed to relieve pressure in the radiator when the system pressure exceeds the caps rating. This is usually due to over heating, ya know heat expands. You just had a part failure, that being the drain.

Brian

Reply to
el Diablo

You're lucky. My father-in-law was changing his fluid and was unscrewing the plastic petcock in order to drain it and he unscrewed it too far breaking it. There's no replacement for it other than a new radiator. This was on a Dodge Ram. I suppose he could have just put a compression plug in there but he replaced the whole radiator.

Reply to
Rich

Replacement petcocks for Chryslers are available at NAPA or anywhere that stocks the Motormite (Dorman) line of "Help" products.

Reply to
Neil Nelson

huh. Well, his autoparts store wasn't able to come up with anything so he took it back to the dealer and they replaced and charged him for a new radiator telling him there was no replacement part available.

Reply to
Rich

I don't think that I could accept that answer. Would you have? Hell I would have used epoxy and closed it off first.

Brian

Reply to
el Diablo

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probably a P/N 61134 (most common on ChryCo products)

Reply to
Neil Nelson

This is usually due to the engine warming up from a cold start. Every time you arm up the motor, the cooling system exceeds the cap rating. That's why you see the level rise in the coolant overflow tank.

The cap also vents when the motor overheats. Hopefully that never happens to this group's well maintained fleet. :-)

-RC

R.Clarke spam snipped-for-privacy@BlocKmindspring.com RTP, NC, USA

Reply to
R Clarke

Brief comments. 50/50 ethelyne glycol/water mix has a boiling point somewhere in the 225-235 degree F range (sea level). Actually this is about 60/40 with prestone et al since so much is added to the antifreeze deluting the ethelyne glycol. Each pound on the cap adds about 1 degree F so with a 15 pound cap the boil over point is about 250 to 260 degrees. This was originally done for emissions purposes. When you shut down the engine there will be some hot spots so you may get some boiling which forces the cap open and the boiing pushes vapor into the overflow tank. Air in the system will aggravate this problem plus reduce cooling efficiency so the overflow system allows coolant rather than air to be drawn into the system as the engine and radiator cool down.

If the boil back increases over time then the cooling system may be do for a cleaning and possibly the coolant replaced. If you have a leak and use just water to refill the percentage of "antifreeze" is the coolant mixture will be reduced, lowering the boiling point and increasing the boil over. This is in addition to the partial lose of pressure which would also lower the boiling point. There is also the possiblility that wear in the ignition parts, fuel system, or elsewhere in the engine or transmission is reducing efficiency and resulting in the engine producing more heat and therefore putting a higher demand on the cooling system.

This has nothing to do with cheap plastic parts although at least they don't usually rust or corrode so you can't get them open.

R Clarke wrote:

Reply to
Mike Powers

Very stupid b**ch has a Honda Accord towed to my house one night (she used to live next door) Open the hood to see rust residue blown everywhere and an exploded top tank....

Turned out her water pump leaked nearly all the water out (no anti-freeze), the steam pressure built up until.....POOF

I ask..."Have you notice anything leaking recently?" "Well.....there is this big stain on the driveway. Do you think it's from the car? " D'Oh!

Another time she started her car while in gear, nearly breaking both my legs as she bounced it into the rear bumper of my Blazer (I won't work on her shit no mo)

Reply to
ken

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