doug13c
Member
So I have a 01' xlt with a 5.4l and a rebuilt 4r100 trans and it has over 250k on the clock and I have had this for about 6 months now but recently it had overheated while I was going down the freeway so I got it home and started doing the basic checks on it. it was full of coolant/water when I left and obviously had spit some out but for the most part it was still full so I went and checked the thermostat and I had found a bolt that was not seated down all of the way yet there were no signs of it leaking from there and the thermostat opens and closes as it should so I drained the coolant/water out to see if it was nasty and needed a flush had about half a second of brown stuff then clear water the rest of the time so I'm not even sure if it had antifreeze/coolant at all in the system and if it was straight water yet I never really bothered to check it at all in the winter time since I had good heat and it was not overheating. I did not have any coolant with me at the time so I replaced it with water for the time being until I could get coolant. I had at least flushed the rad out fairly well and I had to what I had believed to have burped the system out well too and it really hasn't overheated since yet today once I got done driving it (had been driving around the city for about 30 min at 25-40 mph) i had decided to check my coolant reservoir and I found that the water was quite literally boiling in the reservoir and it was puking some out naturally. I went back out and checked the fluid level once it had cooled down and it was still in between the lines. The only reason I ask is I don't want to put a bunch of money into putting coolant in the thing if it is sill going to overheat and need parts replaced that were apparently bad. Do keep in mind it has been 100+F outside temp both of these times it has gotten hot no idea of the actual coolant temperature tho needle was in the middle the second time. So what should i do diagnostic wise or am I just stupid and need to put actual coolant/antifreeze in the thing. I used to race cars and we were only allowed to use water in them, with my coolant temps commonly getting 190 to 200+ with no problems in 90F weather hence why I'm running water at the moment with the intent of putting coolant in it once it is fixed yet I could be confused/stupid upon the differences of running a racecar on straight water versus running this vehicle on straight water for a bit.
Side note: if it is even important it has the aux rear heating and cooling system with a single pass radiator. Also if you guys know of any good and easy ways to burp the coolant system out please let me know.
Side note: if it is even important it has the aux rear heating and cooling system with a single pass radiator. Also if you guys know of any good and easy ways to burp the coolant system out please let me know.