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  #1  
Old 04-30-2012, 07:13 PM
PPLATTO PPLATTO is offline
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Default Radiator won't fill - Please help!!

I have a 2002 Ranger, Manual, 2.3 Liter engine. Went to service radiator (replace coolant). Drained the radiator from drain plug. Drained Overflow tank by removing bottom hose. Put hose back. Refilled the overflow. Turned on engine, let it warm up (about 10 minutes) and ran the heater.

1. The heater blowed hot.
2. The overflow tank did NOT empty (did not fill the radiator).
3. The temp guage showed directly in the middle (warmed up, but did not overheat) and did not fluctuate.

Ran the truck around the block. Temp never went up. Heater continued to blow hot air. But the overflow never drained.

I now have a truck with no water in the radiator, and a full overflow. What to do next?

Last edited by PPLATTO; 04-30-2012 at 07:22 PM.
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  #2  
Old 04-30-2012, 07:20 PM
tomboy tomboy is offline
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Default Re: Radiator won't fill - Please help!!

Does your radiator have a cap that you can take off and directly fill it?
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Old 04-30-2012, 07:23 PM
PPLATTO PPLATTO is offline
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Default Re: Radiator won't fill - Please help!!

No. This is a 2.3 liter. It does not have a fill cap on the radiator - the only cap on a 2.3 is on the overflow rez.
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Old 04-30-2012, 07:24 PM
FireRanger FireRanger is offline
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Default Re: Radiator won't fill - Please help!!

edit

Not familiar enough with the 2.3 to make sense of this. The tank is integral, this shouldn't be happening.
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Old 04-30-2012, 07:30 PM
RagerTom RagerTom is offline
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Something stuck in hose between Rad and overflow? Did you fill the overflow then start truck, then check overflow to see if it was filling Rad before you started driving?
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Old 04-30-2012, 07:31 PM
Slcksht Slcksht is offline
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Don't know if this will help but most pumps need to be primed. It won't get any pressure if drawing air through the pump. Hope that helps.

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Old 04-30-2012, 07:35 PM
2010 2010 is offline
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Default Re: Radiator won't fill - Please help!!

thats not an overflow tank. I know on my 2010 2.3 whenever the ranger is running I can see in the clear pressurized tank coolant flowing freely. can you see that??
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Old 04-30-2012, 07:42 PM
FireRanger FireRanger is offline
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Default Re: Radiator won't fill - Please help!!

This has nothing to do with the pump. Something is blocking the bottom of the tank. Most likely, you did something to it in the process of draining it.
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Old 04-30-2012, 08:05 PM
PPLATTO PPLATTO is offline
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Default Re: Radiator won't fill - Please help!!

I don't think that I did anything to block the bottom of the tank, as all I did was loosen the clamp, let it drain, and put it right back on. And I don't know how I would prime the pump - getting fluid to it is sort of the problem I'm trying to solve. Here is why I'm speculative about it being a recirculating system working properly - the fluid in the overflow was clear (as in just water was used to top it off). However, the radiator had blue-green fluid. It was very different. I'm thinking blockage, too, but I don't think it was just because I unclamped and clamped the bottom hose.

Is is possible - that the thermostat is stuck closed? I don't know if the thermostat is upstream or downstream of the overflow, so I'm not sure that this is sensible. I've heard that the truck will still heat with the thermostat closed. This is a 2002, and I have never replaced the therm.

I also know that the overflow is pressurizing (slightly turned it, in order to see if there was pressure, without removing it totally). Would this matter? Is the flow of fluid from the overflow to the radiator gravity fed, or pressurized?

Sorry, I may be rambling here - but the two colors is a clue, I think.

----------

Sorry RagerTom, I didn't answer your question. Yes, that is exactly what I did... I drained the radiator, and noticed that the overflow did not drain. I then pulled the hose off the overflow res, re-clamped it, and then I filled the rez to the top. Ran the truck for 15 minutes. No fluid drop in rez. Drove the truck about a mile. No change in temp guage, and no fluid drop in rez.
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Old 04-30-2012, 08:07 PM
RagerTom RagerTom is offline
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I would check any and all hoses on there. There could be a strainer on one and it's clogged with sediment. Did you do a flush or just drain the system?
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Old 04-30-2012, 08:16 PM
RedRanger2001 RedRanger2001 is offline
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Default Re: Radiator won't fill - Please help!!

Did you reclose the drain........?
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Old 04-30-2012, 08:16 PM
PPLATTO PPLATTO is offline
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Default Re: Radiator won't fill - Please help!!

I just drained. The fluid really wasn't dark to indicate any sediment. No hose is compressed or collapsed, and all are flexible. I can squeeze all of them and they return to normal.

I'm just curious as to whether it was stopped all the time, and I was just lucky to happen across it. I'm still not sure, though - the truck has never overheated, still doesn't, even with the AC on.
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Old 05-01-2012, 05:23 AM
KyBucks10 KyBucks10 is offline
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Default Re: Radiator won't fill - Please help!!

I know when I flushed out my system the other day, there were a couple of little sponge type things that floated around in the overflow that acted as a strainer. Those things wouldn't let me drain the overflow unless I took them out or kept them from getting to the hole in the bottom of the tank. Maybe that has something to do with it?

And it doesn't make sense to me that your radiator doesn't have a cap of its own. Im not calling you a liar, Ive just never heard of that. You mind posting up a picture? I know your engine is different from mine because of the 7 year gap. I'd be interested to see what it looks like.
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  #14  
Old 05-01-2012, 06:54 AM
modelageek modelageek is offline
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Default Re: Radiator won't fill - Please help!!

you have a manual.......you can pull the rad in 10 minutes if that helps............check all the hoses....fortunately your t-stat costs about $120.......however if it was stuck closed you would think she'd be runnin hot!
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  #15  
Old 05-01-2012, 12:12 PM
2010 2010 is offline
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Default Re: Radiator won't fill - Please help!!

most fords 2000 or newer dont have radiator caps. my 2010 does not have a radiator cap, it has a plastic pressurized tank, not an overflow.

----------

make sure cap is on tight when running engine or else it will not go into radiator. its a pressurized system. it needs the cap to circulate coolant.
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