Pressure Testing Cooling Systems -EricTheCarGuy

Summary

In this video, Eric the Car Guy tackles a 1999 Honda Civic with an overheating issue, focusing on diagnosing and repairing cooling system leaks. He emphasizes the importance of checking for air in the cooling system and demonstrates how to pressure test the system to identify leaks. Eric uses a pressure tester and explains the process of adding pressure up to the radiator cap's rating. He identifies a leak in the radiator and suggests common areas to check for leaks, including hoses, heater core, and head gaskets. The video concludes with advice on verifying repairs and provides links to additional resources for automotive repair.

Takeaways

• 🔧 The video is part of a series on basic car diagnosis and repair, focusing on a 1999 Honda Civic with an overheating issue.
• 🌡️ The initial step in diagnosing an overheating problem is to check for air in the cooling system, as air can cause many overheating issues.
• 💡 Pressure testing is a method used to test the integrity of a sealed cooling system, which needs to hold pressure to cool efficiently.
• 🛠️ The pressure tester tool is used to add pressure to the cooling system, and different adapters are available for various types of radiator caps and expansion tanks.
• 🚫 It's crucial not to exceed the pressure rating specified on the radiator cap to avoid damaging the cooling system.
• 🧐 The video demonstrates how to use a pressure tester on a vehicle, highlighting the importance of topping off the radiator before testing.
• 💧 The presence of leaks can be identified by observing if the system can hold pressure, with a steady pressure indicating no leaks.
• 🔍 If a leak is suspected, areas to check include hoses, heater hoses, connections at the firewall, the heater core, and gaskets.
• 🔗 The video provides links in the description for additional resources, including videos on bleeding cooling systems, checking for overheats, and head gasket issues.
• 🌐 Eric the Car Guy's website, ericthecarguy.com, offers more information on automotive repairs and can be found on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Q & A

What is the first step to diagnose an overheating problem in a car?

The first step to diagnose an overheating problem is to check for air in the cooling system.

Why is it important to check for air in the cooling system?

Many overheating problems are caused by air getting into the cooling system, which can prevent it from cooling efficiently and cause coolant to boil at a lower temperature.

What is pressure testing and why is it done?

Pressure testing is a process done to test the integrity of a sealed cooling system. It ensures the system can hold pressure, which is necessary for efficient cooling and preventing leaks.

What tool is used for pressure testing a cooling system?

A pressure tester is used for testing the cooling system. It can have different configurations and adapters to fit various types of radiator caps and expansion tanks.

How do you determine the correct pressure to add during pressure testing?

The correct pressure to add during pressure testing is indicated by the radiator cap's pressure rating. It's important not to exceed this pressure to avoid damaging the system.

What should you do before starting the pressure test on a car's cooling system?

Before starting the pressure test, top off the radiator with coolant or water to ensure accurate results and prevent the system from taking too long to build up pressure.

How can you tell if a cooling system is holding pressure during a test?

If the pressure tester's needle remains steady and the system holds the pressure for about 5 minutes, it likely indicates that there are no leaks in the system.

What are some signs of a faulty heater core?

Signs of a faulty heater core include an icky film on the inside of the windshield when the defroster is on, a maple syrup or coolant smell, and wet, greasy-feeling floorboards on the passenger side.

What should you do if the cooling system holds pressure after a leak is found and repaired?

After repairing a leak, recheck the system for any signs of overheating and perform another pressure test to ensure the repair was successful and the system maintains its integrity.

What other components should be checked if the cooling system cannot hold pressure after a radiator replacement?

If the cooling system cannot hold pressure after a radiator replacement, check other components like hoses, connections at the firewall, the heater core, and gaskets where coolant passes, such as the intake manifold and throttle bodies.

Outlines

00:00

🔧 Basic Diagnosis of Overheating Issues

The video begins with Eric the Car Guy introducing a basic series on car repair and diagnosis. He highlights a 1999 Honda Civic with an overheating problem, characterized by coolant leakage. Eric emphasizes the initial step in diagnosing overheating issues: checking for air in the cooling system. He explains that air can cause many overheating problems and that pressure testing is crucial to identify leaks and maintain the cooling system's integrity. Eric also discusses the tools required for pressure testing, such as a pressure tester and various adapters for different radiator cap types, and mentions the importance of using the correct adapter for the vehicle's cooling system.

05:01

🚗 Pressure Testing the Cooling System

In this segment, Eric demonstrates how to pressure test a cooling system, starting with topping off the radiator with water to avoid wasting coolant. He attaches a pressure tester to the radiator cap and explains the importance of not exceeding the radiator cap's pressure rating to prevent system damage. Eric identifies a leak in the radiator due to a crack and discusses the common failure points in radiators, such as the seam between the plastic tank and the aluminum core. He advises replacing the radiator, rechecking the system for leaks, and verifying the repair to ensure the cooling system's integrity. Eric also provides tips for finding leaks in various parts of the cooling system, including hoses, heater cores, and potential head gasket issues.

10:01

🌐 Resources and Final Thoughts

Eric concludes the video by summarizing the importance of pressure testing for identifying leaks in the cooling system. He provides additional resources, including links to videos on bleeding cooling systems, checking for overheats, and head gasket failures, which can be found on his website. Eric encourages viewers to visit ericthecarguy.com for more automotive repair information and to connect with him on social media platforms. He ends the video with his signature sign-off, reminding viewers to stay safe, have fun, and 'stay dirty,' emphasizing the hands-on nature of car repair.

Keywords

💡Overheat

Overheating refers to a condition where an engine or system becomes excessively hot, often due to a failure in the cooling system. In the video, the 1999 Honda Civic presented with coolant leaking everywhere, indicating an overheating issue. The term is central to the video's theme as it sets the stage for the diagnostic process discussed.

💡Coolant

Coolant is a liquid used in internal combustion engines to regulate temperature by absorbing heat from the engine and transferring it to the radiator for cooling. The script mentions coolant 'everywhere underneath the hood,' highlighting a coolant leak as a symptom of the overheating problem.

💡Air in the cooling system

The presence of air in the cooling system can impede its ability to circulate coolant effectively, leading to overheating. The video emphasizes checking for air as the first step in diagnosing an overheating issue, as air can cause the coolant to boil at a lower temperature.

💡Pressure testing

Pressure testing is a diagnostic method used to verify the integrity of a sealed system, such as a car's cooling system, by applying pressure to detect leaks. The video details a step-by-step process for pressure testing, which is crucial for identifying leaks that could cause air to enter the system.

💡Radiator cap

A radiator cap is a component that regulates pressure within the cooling system. It is mentioned in the context of determining the appropriate pressure for testing, as the cap's rating indicates the maximum safe pressure for the system.

💡Expansion tank

An expansion tank, also known as a header tank, is a part of some cooling systems that allows for the expansion of coolant as it heats up. The video explains that if a vehicle has an expansion tank, pressure testing should be conducted at this location instead of the radiator.

💡Leak

A leak in the cooling system can lead to a loss of coolant and air entering the system, causing inefficiencies and potential overheating. The video script describes the discovery of a leak in the radiator as part of the diagnostic process, emphasizing the importance of finding and fixing leaks.

💡Thermostat

A thermostat is a component that controls the flow of coolant to the radiator, regulating engine temperature. The video suggests that if pressure testing reveals no leaks, other issues such as a sticking thermostat should be considered as potential causes of overheating.

💡Heater core

The heater core is a part of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system that transfers heat from the engine to the cabin for heating. The video mentions the heater core as a potential source of coolant leaks, which can be detected by unusual smells or wetness in the cabin.

💡Head gasket

A head gasket seals the combustion chamber in an engine, preventing coolant and oil from mixing. The video script suggests checking for head gasket failure as part of the diagnostic process for an overheating engine, as a blown head gasket can cause coolant to leak into the combustion chamber.

Highlights

Eric the Car Guy introduces a video on basics of car repair, specifically diagnosing an overheating issue in a 1999 Honda Civic.

The first step in diagnosing an overheat problem is to check for air in the cooling system.

Many overheating issues are caused by air in the cooling system, which can lead to inefficient cooling and boiling at lower temperatures.

Pressure testing is a method to test the integrity of a cooling system, which should be able to hold pressure to cool efficiently.

Different adapters are needed for various cooling system configurations, such as those with expansion tanks.

The radiator cap's pressure rating indicates the amount of pressure to add during pressure testing.

Topping off the radiator with water before testing can prevent inaccurate results due to compressed air inside the system.

A visible leak in the radiator was identified during the pressure test, indicating the source of the overheating issue.

Honda radiators with plastic tanks are prone to failure at the seam between the plastic tank and the aluminum core.

After replacing the radiator, it's important to recheck the system for leaks and ensure the repair's integrity.

If a cooling system holds pressure for 5 minutes, it is likely free of leaks.

Areas to check for leaks include hoses, heater hoses, connections at the firewall, and the heater core.

Heater core issues can be detected by a film on the windshield, a maple syrup smell, or wet, greasy floorboards.

Head gasket failures can also cause overheating and should be checked if other leaks are not found.

Pressure testing is a straightforward method to find leaks in a cooling system by pressurizing it and looking for drips.

Coolant leaks often leave stains, making it easier to locate the source of the leak.

Eric the Car Guy provides resources on his website for various car repair issues, including bleeding cooling systems and checking for head gaskets.

The video concludes with a reminder to stay safe, have fun, and 'stay dirty', which is Eric's signature sign-off.

Transcripts

greetings viewers Eric the Car Guy here

back again with another well I can't

necessarily call it a repair video let's

call this one another one in the basics

series I've uh been trying to develop a

series of videos that cover the basics

of diagnosis and repair and this would

be one of them behind me a 1999 Honda

Civic uh it came in with uh coolant

everywhere underneath the hood uh

apparently it was bubbling over

overheating stuff was spraying

everywhere it was kind of dramatic

probably a bunch of steam it got pretty

hot not a happy vehicle so what is the

first thing that we do whenever we

encounter an overheat problem like that

that's right check for air in the

cooling system yeah and I've written

about this in the articles on my website

uh step one normally is to uh check for

air in the cooling system many many many

many many many many overheat problems

are caused by air that gets into the

cooling system now once you have

determined that there's no more air in

the cooling system uh the next step is

to find out how that air got there and

that is the subject of today's video and

we are going to go through pressure

testing a cooling system pressure

testing is something that is done in

order to uh test the Integrity of the

cooling system it's a sealed system it

needs to be able to hold pressure so if

you have a cooling system that is unable

to hold pressure it is unable to cool

efficiently and its mixture will boil at

a much lower temperature uh also stuff's

going to leak out and if stuff leaks out

well that's when the air gets introduced

into the cooling system so today we are

going over the process of checking

pressure testing the cooling system and

looking for those leaks to try and

determine where they're coming from so

we can complete our repairs so why don't

we get started on this Civic and try to

figure out why it was spraying cooling

everywhere okay let's start with the

tools this is a pressure tester um they

come in different configurations mine

was made by Mac I'll put post the link

in the description for one for your very

own self they're not that

expensive uh but uh you may be able to

rent or borrow one from your local auto

part store you'll have to check with

them and find out if that's the case

these are special adapters um this comes

standard with just a regular full- siize

radiator cap attachment however many

cooling systems no longer use that type

of uh setup so they have different

adapters that you can use to deal with

those different types of systems now

some systems don't have a radiator cap

some systems have a separate tank which

is called an expansion tank that's off

to the side so it's a a plastic tank

that's located somewhere else in the

engine compartment if you've got a

system that uh has a has one of those

plastic containers that says something

like contents under pressure or it has

an actual radiator cap on it you most

likely have one of those expansion T

tank type systems and they do have

different adapters for those as well so

instead of doing your pressure testing

at the radiator you would be doing your

pressure testing at that expansion tank

most likely but in this case we just

have a regular old radiator um I believe

I'll have to look I believe this is the

attachment that we're going to need

there's a a deep one like this this

one's more shallow and it sort of goes

along with the radiator cap as you can

see the one on this Civic is rather

shallow so that's what we're going to

use we're going to use this to try to

add pressure to the system so let's go

over to the vehicle and uh get some

pressure on it and see if we can find

the source of a leak okay here we are at

the vehicle I'm going to remove the

radiator cap sort of set that aside

someplace I'm going to start by topping

off the radiator if I don't top off the

radiator and I try to compress the air

inside the cooling system it's going to

take forever and it's not going to be as

accurate so I know I said that first

thing to do is check for air in the

cooling system but I know this vehicle

uh I've worked on it in the past and as

far as air being in the cooling system

yes that's possible but I'm really

suspecting a leak someplace so I just

want to check for that leak so in order

to do that I have a completely cold

engine here and instead of topping it

off with coolant I'm just going to use

water I know that I'm going to be

servicing the cooling system anyway and

I don't really want to waste coolant so

I'll just fill it up with water that way

I'm not out any

antifreeze looks like it's already

leaking out so it should be an easy leak

to find also with this test if you do

this this test and it's able to hold

pressure you know you don't have any

leaks in the system and you need to look

elsewhere for the cause of your cooling

system

problem perhaps you've got a sticking

thermostat something of that nature

cooling fans that don't work I've done

an entire video on uh system overheats

and you can check that out I'll put a

link in the description for

you and that covers a lot of the other

possibilities but this this video

specifically deals with pressure testing

a cooling system as you can see I just

attached the adapter then I attach the

pressure tester to the adapter and now

I'll just pump it up I just realized I

forgot something vitally important here

and that is uh to tell you how to

determine how much pressure to add with

the tester in order to test the system

and quite simply just look at the

radiator cap itself whatever the

pressure rating is on the radiator cap

in this case it was uh 15 psi or 16 PSI

uh and that's that's the number that I

used uh if you exceed that pressure you

could cause damage to the system so the

way you determine is just check the

radiator cap and see what it's rated at

and as you add pressure to the system

try to match that pressure and if it can

hold that pressure you're good if it

can't hold that pressure well then you

have to look for the

problem and add

pressure which as you can see already

where our leak is I'll give you a

close-up of

that it's pretty easy to see that uh my

pressure is going right out that rather

large crack in the top of this radiator

now I don't want to necessarily assume

that that is the Beall end all I mean

actually Honda radiators and actually

radiators of this type with the plastic

tanks uh on top of an aluminum core are

are kind of prone to this type of

failure or the seam that seals the

plastic tank to the core often leaks so

it's not uncommon to see this but since

the top is plastic here if if you have a

severe overheat or something else that's

causing an overheat it could cause

damage to the radiator so I'll replace

the radiator I'll recheck the system

I'll recheck for the overheat and I'll

ressure test the system to make sure

that the system still has the Integrity

that it has and that the radiator was in

fact the only fault with the system so

you may not be out of the woods if you

find something like this so you want to

make sure that you verify your repair

when you're done okay we're back we have

replaced the uh falter radiator and also

fill the cooling system I haven't

started it or anything yet uh I don't

need to uh using these

methods sometimes on aftermarket

radiators though uh these things don't

always fit so great so be aware of that

try to work within that

limitation process is exactly the same

we're going to put 15 psi on the system

looks like that's up in this range right

here

there we go it went up really quickly

which is nice it's also holding pressure

which is also nice I think a good round

number is if it's able to hold pressure

for a good 5 minutes then you likely

don't have any any leaks in the system

but looking at this and how steady this

needle is and the fact that it's just

staying

there I would say that uh we fixed this

car

right well if you uh suspect you have a

leak in your cooling system pressure

testing is the way to go now as far as

finding the leak it was fairly easy on

this vehicle but on some vehicles that

may not be so easy so some areas to

check are obviously all the hoses heater

hoses uh connections at the firewall uh

also the heater core uh the way to check

that it's kind of difficult usually when

a heater core goes bad one of two things

happen

uh the when you turn on your defroster

the inside of your windshield will get

this icky film on it and you might smell

maple syrup or coolant type smell also

the the floorboards particularly on the

passenger side might be a little bit wet

and have sort of a greasy feel to it so

it doesn't necessarily feel like water

uh that one's kind of a tough one to

check sometimes it'll you'll see it leak

out the AC drain there's a a tube uh

that uh allows the condensation from the

a air conditioning to drain out that you

can sometimes see coolant coming out of

those are a little tougher to find uh as

far as head gaskets check that overheat

video I go over the process of checking

for a head gasket failure in that uh so

in other words if you're if you're

looking around and you can't find any

leaks heater core anything on the engine

uh gaskets are another good place look

where like the intake manifold meets

there's usually coolant that passes into

the intake manifold sometimes idle air

control valves and the hoses that go to

them sometimes throttle bodies they run

coolant through throttle bodies uh

there's lots of places that could leak

there's a lot of different Vehicles out

there uh even if you have an expansion

tank type system that I spoke about

earlier the process is still the same

you want to pressurize the system it's

usually with a tool similar to what I

had there if it holds pressure you're

good if it doesn't hold pressure look

for the drips uh it's it's that simple

uh but you want to top the system off

before you start the test if not it's

going to take forever to build up

pressure because the air inside the

system will compress as the liquid will

not uh coolant really nice as far as

find leaks because many times when it

leaks it leaves a nice stain so it lets

you know where where it was going every

once in a while you get some strange

leaks uh like external head gasket leaks

stuff like that uh but this this will

help you find it and determine if you

have that problem but once again uh if

you do find an overheat situation first

thing to check for is air in the cooling

system links in the description to

videos about uh bleeding cooling systems

out that kind of thing checking for

overheats head gaskets all the other

stuff that I spoke about including a

link to the tool or a similar tool to

what I used in the video that could help

you anyway I hope that information was

useful and helpful to you uh I am Eric

the Car Guy you can always find me at

Eric thear guy.com where you can also

find useful information on any of your

other repair issues that you may have uh

we have a welcome video there that tells

you about all the wonderful features we

have at ericthecarguy.com to help you

solve uh those Automotive issues that

you have we're here to serve if you wish

to connect with me socially I can be

found on go+ Facebook and Twitter and I

close each of my videos with be safe

have fun and of course stay dirty I'll

see you next time