96gp_Toronto Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Hello all, any comments or suggestions would be greatly appereciated. My 96 grand prix with 3100 engine blew the upper rad hose last november. I replaced it, and took the opportunity to flush and refill the system. About a month later the rad core blew and started leaking all over the place so I replaced the rad and decided I'd replace the thermostat and the lower rad hose as well. Well that worked for three months and now I have another blown rad, this time both coolant and transmission fluid are leaking out of it. Is there something I'm overlooking as I fear replacing the rad again will simply fix it for another couple of months before it blows again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990lumina Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Did you replace it with a NEW rad, a reman, or a junkyard unit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q-Ball Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 I just had bad luck with a rad. Fortunly it wasnt my car but a 06 Pursuit. After seeing that rad, I hate that car and love my 92 GP! But ya, what kind of rad did you put in? New, used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 simple cae of a bad radiator, whether or not it was used on new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJansen658 Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 I would say that is a lot of cooling system components to blow for it to be a coincidence. Usually when radiators repeatedly blow it is due to a cracked head or bad head gasket. The car can drive fine, oil and coolant not mixing, and it can still have a cracked head or bad gasket. Compression leaking into the cooling system, or exhaust pressure leaking into the cooling system causes rads and hoses to blow repeatedly. First thing I would do is perform a compression test, if that yields nothing, pull off the exhaust manifolds, and look into the exhaust ports on the heads to see if any of them are washed clean. Since there is never negative pressure in the exhaust ports, its hard to tell when exhaust pressure is entering the cooling system. With the new rad completely full and bled, at operating temp, watch the radiator with the cap off. If there are constant bubbles without the coolant level going down it is a good sign of compression entering the system. Another often overlooked item is the radiator cap itself, which believe it or not, regulates the entire cooling system pressure. A faulty cap won't open at the proper 16-18lbs of pressure, thus over-pressurizing the system. You can also rent a cooling system pressure tester from autozone, hook it up, and run the engine, you can use the tester to monitor the pressure as it runs, to see exactly how much pressure is being generated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96gp_Toronto Posted March 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 the rad was brand new when I replaced it. I have again replaced the rad with another new unit. RJansen I agree with you that it could be a blown head gasket. My line of thinking is that there have been too many incidents to call it a coincidence so I think I'll go check it out. Thanks for your input everybody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfangd Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 did you change the cap also. it is very possible And easy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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