95 Intrepid coolant issue
 

I have a 95 Intrepid that runs and sounds great. It does not overheat during drive time or while sitting idle. Every time i shut the car off it has a small drizzle that runs out of my coolant tank overflow tube. This happens for about 2 to 3 minutes then it quits draining. Any ideas as to what would cause this to drain every time i shut it off ?

RE: 95 Intrepid coolant issue
 

It is probably a bad cap. Many people neglect the radiator cap as part of the cooling system, however it is what regulates the proper PSI charge for the system. The PSI is important as higher PSI can hold more heat. You can check the system pressure as well as the cap pressure with a test set that many parts stores will let you borrow.

RE: 95 Intrepid coolant issue
 

I actually stopped and bought a cap on the way home from work before i read this reply. Installed new cap drove home and did not overflow. Going to watch it for a few days and see how it holds up. This is pretty much the last of my issues to correct the worst was changinging out the transmission which unfortunately every bolt including the torque converter was loc tighted.
Anyways thanks for replying to my problem!

RE: 95 Intrepid coolant issue
 

Ohh i do have one other thing thats puzzling me but i have not dleved into as of yet. I installed an after market stereo in the car and if im sitting with the engine off and turn the radio about 3/4th the way up it cuts to power to the stereo. With the engine idling it does not drop power at any volume level. Seems to me it's pulling to much voltage for some reason to be dropping all power but if anyone has had this issue before it might save me a bit of time troubleshooting the electrical end of things.

RE: 95 Intrepid coolant issue
 

Glad to her the cap seems to be working, as for the stero...what kind of system? I mean are you pushing an amp, how many wats, # of speakers, modle of radio etc?

RE: 95 Intrepid coolant issue
 

Well unfortunately i made it to work this morning and my coolant was flowing out of the tube again with the new cap installed. Anymore ideas? I'm hoping its not a compression problem,even though i have another motor for the car i dread having to change it.
Was planning to change out the thermostat and try flushing the system as well.

RE: 95 Intrepid coolant issue
 

Test the system presure with a tester from Auto Zone (or another store thst lests you use their tools for free) and see how high it's going when it leaks. If your presure is going high, it could be blow by, but there is usually evidence of water in your oil (milky brown like cho milk). If the presure is under the cap ratting when it leaks, you may have gotten a defective cap. The same tester can test the presure release of a cap. See if it's with in spec. As for a thermo or flush, you said there was no evident overheat...if there was, it may be your coolant sensor has been bad for some time, and now with an overheat, you are basicly seeing two malfunctions (one masks the other). One last thing, test your coolant with a cheep hydrometer to see what your mix is.

RE: 95 Intrepid coolant issue
 

BTW, just how full do you keep your overflow tank?

RE: 95 Intrepid coolant issue
 

Coolant level is kept around the cold level in the tank when the vehicle is cooled off. When i purchased this car it was a fixer upper and the coolant level was very low. I added to the tank to bring it up to speed unfortunately im used to working on later model vehicles and did not realize that there is a bleeder valve on the thermostat housing. I have noticed in the evenings on the way home with my ac running that i dont seem to have the overflow issue but in the mornings when i run my heater on defrost the clear the dew off the windows it will overflow once shut off.
I'm leaning towards the possibility that i have an air pocket in the heating loop because it only seems to spew after the heater is run now,also it does not produce the heat it should while the heater is running.
On a side note the radio issue was due to a faulty ground terminal on the battery.

RE: 95 Intrepid coolant issue
 

That makes sense. I f there is enough air in the system, it could force out liquid as it expands when the air tem rises due to the thermal convection between liquid and air.