hey all, just did a crank job, new water pump, sending units, tstat,belt,hoses. The block was completely drained while on the stand. Now I'm running 20 degrees hot and it seems like I dont have good circulation. Worse, I now have a sloshing sound in the cab when i accelerate. Anyone know how to correct this?

Thanks in advance.

 

the sloshing sound is air in the heater core. the overheating is probably tied to air in the system also. the water pump can't pump air. let it cool down enough to remove rad cap, turn on heater to hottest setting, and let it sit and idle with the cap off for about 5 or 10 minutes. keep an eye on temp gauge and make sure it doesn't overheat. that should allow the air to escape. make sure the rad overflow hose is not stopped up and fill it to max. if all is ok after about 10 min, put the cap back on and take it for a spin. mine sloshed for about 2 days, and then it sucked a good bit of coolant out of the overflow tank for the next couple of days before its level stabilized. report back.

 

hey thanks. already let er run with cap on and off, upside down and inside out. Also removed pump and blew the system out in every hole while blocking otherholes., It won't overheat it just runs hotter than it used to. Steam maybe?. Drove 3 20 mile trips as well, and the heater works great. go figure. I'm baffled.
The system seems to not build pressure as well. lower hose never warms up much. Upper hose is hot and radiator is clean. I have to assume it has to do with the sloshing. But how in the hell to get it out?

 

ok. problem #1 is the sloshing. it indicates there is still air in the system, and that has to be removed. problem #2 is the hotter than normal temp. a few possibilities - new thermostat could be bad, and not opening up properly. also new temp sending unit could be bad, sending false signal.

is the sloshing still happening ? if so, try to remove the heater hose at the water pump pipe and squirt water into heater hose with garden hose nozzle. if you can't get heater hose off you can cut the hose and then splice in a connector. when no more water will squirt in, reattach hose and test again.

if that doesn't help i'd recommend replacing the thermostat. 180 or 195, your call. i'm using a 180. before install put the old one and the new one in a pot of water on the stove, hang a meat/cooking thermometer in there and test where it opens. should be before boil (212) also, drill a 1/8" hole in the thermostat plate to help let air out. it has to be pretty close to the spring, or its blocked by the flange. lay it in place to see what i'm talking about. make sure the temp sensor is pointed down, into the manifold. sometimes they get installed upside down

once all that is done, after 1-2-3 min of idling, top rad hose should remain cool. when temp gage rises to about normal, themostat should open, and top rad hose should get too hot to touch. temp gage should steady out. bottom rad hose will eventually warm up.

 

ok. already boil tested tstats. they are good. also have pin for purging air. already used a hose to blow the heater core and the block. See why I'm stumped. I have done many rebuilds and purged lots of air from cooling systems in all types of cars. not a newbie here but I'm gettin my butt kicked!!!!!!!!
Any other wild tricks you know of?

 

ok, as i understand it, engine temp is hotter than normal, top rad hose is very hot, bottom rad hose is cool or lukewarm. this tells me water is not circulating. i also understand you have pulled the new water pump back off and looked at it, verifying impeller is tight/not slipping.

any possibility the impeller is pressed on backwards or something goofy like that. if you've already pulled the water pump off once, you might try replacing it with another one. its takes patience but you can get the pump off with only removing shroud, fan, and pump itself.

you don't really want to hear this, and i don't really want to say it.. could head gasket be leaking, or head be cracked, allowing compression to leak over into the water jacket ?

 

Correct. And I double checked the pump. The old pump worked fine until I reinstalled it. The only reason I bought a new one was because I was out of ideas. impellers are on right and tight. I can change a pump out in less than an hour but I've had it off several times and blown a hose through the entire system trying to remove air. I'm sick of the pump.

The heads and gasket and cooling system were fine before the crank job. Other than being drained and rolled upside down I never touched the heads. Only the oil pan, timing cover(new chain and gears with the crank)and waterpump. It would have to be atotally freak thingto be the heads. I'm going to swap out the temperature sender with another new one just to be sure it's not tricking me and try to get the air out of the heater core.
If not, I'll have a 97 4x4 Ext cab Ram for sale! Too bad, it's my favorite truck ever. I even had a 2002 f-250 once and went back to the old dodges when the first newer ones were so ugly. They look better now but don't fit me like the older ones.

Thanks again for your input. If you come up with anything that might help like gremlins in the cooling system or whatever, I'd love to hear. : >{ )

 

I have a similar problem as you, except mine is running cold. I think my thermostat is sticking closed. My truck as a hell of a time warming up in weather below 45ยบ and I get lukewarm heat at best. I've been getting the sloshing sound behind the dash since I rebuilt my engine, and my system boils over only when I am towing my 18' trailer. I've been waiting for the weather to warm up so I can install a new t-stat. I originally wanted to install a hi-flo water pump, but my engine builder couldn't locate one. Should have gone to Napa on my own like I wanted[:@]