Dropped below freezing....

**Chris@MBofMemphis** · 12-04-2006, 05:03 PM

need a little help

i replaced the water pump on my firebird the other day put a new thermostat and flushed my terrible looking fluid in prep for my the bad weather to approach. went outside this morning to warm her up a bit.. and 5 minutes later i look out my window and see antifreeze on the ground. went to cut off my motor and the thermo gauge was laying on 260. with the check gauges light was extermely nervous i cracked the head. buddy drove me to work and this evening about 6 i went for my first attempt to start the car up.. (after filling it up with water, only took 1/4 a gallon) and drove to the library about 5 miles. thermo gauge stayed on 210 the whole time then pulling in gauge went to about 240 then i went to cut it off.

i know this is extremely vague but does anyone have any ideas?

also problem two.. my heat only blows cold defrost. i think maybe like a selector switch. anyone had these problems?

thanks for any response

**autotrix** · 12-04-2006, 08:58 PM

Sounds as if you didnt bleed all of the air out of the cooling system.
If you are only blowing out of your defrost you might just have a small vavuum hose off or broken somewhere. (follow underhood diagram.)
Hope this helps!

**sunsetorangess** · 12-05-2006, 03:42 AM

The first step is figuring out where the leak is coming from. From the pump? heater core? rad cap or rad hose? If you have a loose hose or a bad seal on the pump the coolant will run out and wont do what its suppose too. Try too wipe down the motor and all the hoses then start it and see where its leaking from. A pressure tester would work great in this situation if you have one.
What process did you go through too flush it? Why did you replace the pump?
J

**third_shift|studios** · 12-05-2006, 05:32 AM

you did what i did...kinda. I had an idiot remove/replace my heads. He didn't tq the bolts correctly and the motor blew coolant all over the place-engine was up to 260 and i ended up warping the heads. Had to have them removed AGAIN and shaved. In retro spect, i should have had them replaced with aftermarket, bigger heads. I still have teeny tiny miniscule leak....it doens't drip, just has a moist edge

**bigrondownhiller** · 12-05-2006, 10:11 AM

sounds like you have air in the system. did you run the heat after the thermostat opened when you were filling your coolant? if not that is why you have no heat.