cooling problem

[muddywaters]

Hi, the coolant in my 88 seems to push into the res. tank and does not return into the system, any ideas as to what would cause that to occur. The system was flushed and a 160 degree stat. installed. Thanks

[JonM]

Try having the cap tested or just replace it...
Have you cleaned between the radiator and AC condenser?
What are your temp readings?

[muddywaters]

I replaced cap, coolant went into res., I cleaned, but did not completely remove rad. and after reading some replies on the topic, the rad. should be removed completely, I did find a ton of crap in rad. It looked like a half filled vaccum cleaner bag that needed emptying. The engine temp. never indicated that the car was running too hot. I vacced and hosed out the area, but could not eyeball thru the rad. and it's probably coated w/crap that needs to be removed. Why doesn't coolant return to rad. upon cool down? Is it supposed to? or is the res. just a catch bucket? Also the fans do work properly. Thanks

[Robertwav1]

The coolant is suppose to return to the rad as the rad cools down. Make sure the siphon hose that goes into the overflo doesn't have a hole or crack in it. Also make sure it's connected.

[muddywaters]

It turned out to be the new aftermarket rad. cap I installed. The auto parts store said I was the correct one for that vehicle, but the system did not work properly. I trashed the "new" aftermarket cap and picked up the GM RC-44 replacment , now the system works great. Thanks for the input, from now on it's AC/Delco all the way. Before this problem ocurred I removed the rad. and cleaned it, I could not believe the amount of CRAP these C4's vac. up, the gap between the rad. and cond. was just about full. Thanks again