Pressure Testing Cooling Systems -EricTheCarGuy
Summary
TLDRIn 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
🔧 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.
🚗 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.
🌐 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.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Overheat
💡Coolant
💡Air in the cooling system
💡Pressure testing
💡Radiator cap
💡Expansion tank
💡Leak
💡Thermostat
💡Heater core
💡Head gasket
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
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