[mudrat]

94 intrepid SE 3.5 the car overheated awhile back and after sitting for awhile with cap off i hear a pop noise like a hose came uncollapsed. i fill it up with fresh coolant and drive home with no issues. i decide to replace all hoses including the back heater hoses as i also had a rack and pinion bushing to replace. pulled the thermostat and left it out(done this with most of my cars that have over 100k).i drove the car for about 3 months with no problems. today i go to the beach and on the way home overheats. i try the same thing as before to wait and see if maybe a hose collapsed ... nothing. fill it up and drive...overheats again. this time i decide to put the radiator cap only on one click and drive home with no issues besides a little bit of water and steam coming from the cap.i am stumped as what it can be as there is nothing to stop the flow???

[DrDodge]

take it too a shop and have it "block tested" im suspecting you may have a head or gasket problem, or its full of air

[mudrat]

no leaks or mixing that i can see???you would think if its full of air it would of overheated along time ago when i did the hoses??should i vent the system???

[mudrat]

i tried bleeding the system and for awhile it was coolant and air and after it reached running temp it was only steam??? and yes i continually added coolant back in the reservior...

[ladioffaith]

If you "continually add fluid" then there is a leak somewhere. If it's anything like mine, it's the water pump. If so, it will be leaking dead center in the middle.

But get that test done, because if so, the combo of the head gasket AND the water pump may make it not worth fixing.

The good news is that if it is the water pump, and the timing belt breaks (the water pump can make the timing belt too soft and breakable) it is a 1st Generation and therefore not an "interference engine."

[GTXKen]

I agree, if you just keep adding fluid it has to be going somewhere. Try bleeding it again, do it by the book. Pressure test the cooling system.

[mudrat]

ok, just to make things clear as i was saying i "continually added fluid when it overheated" that was because it was puking it out the overflow not leaking.i have checked for leaks.none. i checked the oil. no milk. i check the tail pipe for excess water coming out.none. there is no thermostat to stop the flow of water. so riddle me this... i hooked a hose to drain plug on the thermostat housing and ran it to a jug of water. topped off the system, turned the plug so it would start draining and release air.started the car and ran it at around 2000 rpm, putting more water in the reservior as needed.the hose continually ran coolant and air bubbles, and sometimes just a small shot of steam before turning back to coolant and air bubbles. then after the car got up to normal heat when the fans start kicking off and on there is only steam coming out of the hose hooked to the drain plug on the thermostat housing, and thats when the water in the reservior started to back up and bubbling out. could it be a clogged heater core make it do this as i took off the bottom and top hoseson the radiator and water runs right through it so it aint clogged, and when i was trying to drain off the air there was plenty of water running through as when i revved up the engine the water would come out faster so i am guessing it aint the water pump.all hoses are also new????

[MrBigE]

Pardon me if this has already been considered, but has the overflow tank cap been checked? Does the system hold pressure?

Only time coolant should run out of the tank should be an overfill condition or coolant is escaping past the rubber seal on the tank cap, IIRC. System is designed to operate up to about a max of about 15 lbs of pressure or so.

My previous 96 LHS had an occasional overheat condition - overflow tank cap wasn't sealing properly.

[mudrat]

would that stop the flow as i had the cap off while trying to bleed the system?

[cinnabar]

Mine was dong similar and ended up replacing the over flow cap with a new one and it stopped.

[mnitetrain]

Has the water pump EVER been changed??

Being it is a 94 maybe you gots your money's worth out of it??