Cooling system prep?

[mjoekingz28]

Kind of wondering (or wandering hehe) about prefilling a water pump or coating any gaskets or mounting surfaces with concentrate or 50/50 mix upon installation, to avoid a dry start, help ready the gaskets, etc


We sometimes prefill our oil filters to avoid dry starts and lube the oil filter gasket with new (or old oil) before installation.

 

[eljefino]

Sometimes I like to backfill instead of filling through the radiator neck.

Remove the top hose from the top radiator nipple, put a funnel in it, and fill the engine from top-down. Filling through the radiator goes bottom-up.

This gets air bubbles out a different way, which sometimes helps, particularly if you fill the rad and still have 3/4 of a gallon to get back in what you took out.

The water pump "kinda" blocks water but not as badly as a tight thermostat. If you can get the pump full of water you run less risk of cavitation damage when you first start it.

I blew a water pump on a saturn by changing the antifreeze casually. I can't prove it for sure, but 48 hours later, it had a leak.

 

[Bluestream]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
I blew a water pump on a saturn by changing the antifreeze casually. I can't prove it for sure, but 48 hours later, it had a leak.
The new coolant can wash away the crud by the waterpump seal and cause a leak. Very common. I see it all the time.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Sometimes I like to backfill instead of filling through the radiator neck.

Remove the top hose from the top radiator nipple, put a funnel in it, and fill the engine from top-down. Filling through the radiator goes bottom-up.

This gets air bubbles out a different way, which sometimes helps, particularly if you fill the rad and still have 3/4 of a gallon to get back in what you took out.

The water pump "kinda" blocks water but not as badly as a tight thermostat. If you can get the pump full of water you run less risk of cavitation damage when you first start it.

I blew a water pump on a saturn by changing the antifreeze casually. I can't prove it for sure, but 48 hours later, it had a leak.


On some cars, if you don't prefill the radiator hose, they'll literally never burp.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Kind of wondering (or wandering hehe) about prefilling a water pump or coating any gaskets or mounting surfaces with concentrate or 50/50 mix upon installation, to avoid a dry start, help ready the gaskets, etc

Yeah, don't do that.