I got my newly rebuilt motor running I was breaking it in with water without a t-stat. After about 10 minutes the bottom hose from the h20 pump came off I replaced it filled it back up with water both hoses got really hard the vent on the radiator popped and a lot of steam came out I took the cap off and there was hardley any water in the rad. Did it just steam away? what could be my problem did I just have an air lock otherwise it fired right up no problem and I didnt have any white smoke come from the headers they are still open.

 

cant anyone give me an idea if something is wrong or is just that the straight water steamed up. Does anyone know if I have an underlieing problem?

 

head gasket?. wouldn't have an air pocket because of no t-stat. hose clamp loose somewhere allowing steam to come out under pressure?

 

Did you check your oil to see if there was any water in it?

 

No water in the oil that I can see. New head gaskets heads just cleaned by a machine shop. Do you think it could be that all I used was water for the break in? and it steamed up?

 

yes if it got hot then yes, water boils at 212 degrees.. you need to add coolant to it to raise the boiling point or you get steam

 

I figured it was steam its like a steam locomotive with no place for the steam to go so it blew out the radiator cap. I was doing it this way cause I know that coolant can reak havak on bearings No water in the oil that I can see. Tomorrow I will put in some 50/50 and the 180 thermostat and see how things go

 

i think ya should be just fine.. sounds like ya just boiled some water is all.. let us know how ya make out

 

Thanks rs92 I will let you know tomorrow.

 

You most likely didnt lose any water. You probobly didnt have enough to start with. If you fill a dry engine from the radiator the engine and heads are still dry , This is why I always fill new engines first from the thermostat housing on the intake manifold , replace the t-stat and upper hose and then fill from the radiator.

 

Fill eng like evil t/a said. Install a thermostat and it should be OK.

Make sure radiator cap is good, or replace it.
The radiator cap allows system to pressurize to abt 15 psi.
Every lb of press raises the boiling temp 3 degs.

The water pump creates additional pressure inside the eng (if the thermostat is installed) cause the thermostat acts as a partial restriction. The additional pressure created by the water pump raises internal eng water press up as high as 40 psi over the radiator press.

Take the 40 psi and add the 15 psi the rad cap provides, you have 55 psi. 55psi X 3degs = 165 deg increase in boiling point.

212 + 165 = roughly a 377 deg boiling point inside the eng.

This is what keeps steam pockets from forming within the hotter parts of the eng.

 

Waters boiling point goes up roughly 3 degrees for every 1lb of system pressure. His car will not boil because of running water only. Coolant does very little as far as raising the boiling point, it functions primarily as a freeze preventer, a wetting agent, and to inhibit corrosion. A 15lb cap assuming the rest of the system is tight will raise the boiling point to roughly 260 degrees, with a 50/50 mix it goes up only another 5 deg or so.

 

Did you put on a new water pump ? - A serpintine belt water pump actuall has the impellers running the oposite direction compared to a V belt driven pump. installing one that was made wrong or is wrong application will result in little to no water flow.

 

yup yup u guys are completely right.. i was **** drunk n wasnt really thinkin too well... lol i'd go with evil on this 1 n guess that there wasnt enough water to begin with and once it flowed into the empty parts of the system it appeared that the level went down when it fact it had not

 

Just wanted to let you guys know all is good now with 50/50 in it and t-stat Thakns for the help guys.