radiator leak

[Dennis Wilson]

This weird looking garden hose connector ring deal is leaking below the funny threaded on ring that you see in the picture.... 1995 C1500 W.T with a 4.3.... Can anybody tell me what the purpose of this connector with what looks to be garden hose pipe thread ?????? Is it for flushing the radiator? Will I find a gasket under this ring if I remove the ring? I found these pictures on Rock Auto.... and the leak is definitely coming from under this.... I have worked around Chevys all my life and this is a first so I thought I would ask before I try to remove that ring..... also.... is this a Chevy part or will an auto store be able to help me? Any suggestions and ideas appreciated even if it is only to tell me what the name of this connection is called so I can research it a bit.... Thanks... Dennis

[davester]

That's where the oil cooler lines go to.  The other side is typically for the transmission cooler lines.  On my truck (a GMT800), there's a clip that slides into the side of that connector, then the line in pushed straight in until the clip catches and holds it in place, but I don't know what the setup was on earlier trucks.

[Dennis Wilson]

Hi "Senior" .... my son stopped over with his 1994 truck this afternoon and I took a look and saw the oil cooler lines on his... Chevy made a lot of changes between 1994 and 1995... This was one of them...... I did fill up the radiator and also the overflow tank... and ran the motor for a good 20 minutes so the thermostat opened... I cleaned up the area real good... and no leak..... which makes me think it happens at higher RPMs.... I don't drive this truck very far to the lake and back.. about five minutes and that is about all I use it for... pulling my boat.... So I will watch it everyday.... Although it is a 1995 it only has 76,000 miles on it and all the hoses, water pump etc. are original.... so maybe it is time to just get some updating done on it before next winter... One other option I might try is to take off the shroud and run it a bit.... and buy some "high heat JB Weld" if it is just a minor leak.... who knows??? Thanks for the update... PS... looked and a new radiator from Rock Auto is about 80 bucks..... Have a good one...

[Dennis Wilson]

Work is done.... success... but, I have read all about air bleeding processes and swear I remember that on a 4.3 Chevy motor, air can get trapped in the intake manifold and there is a square headed bolt located off the middle of the intake that you loosen to hear an obvious "hiss"which is releasing the trapped air... when the air finally is gone, antifreeze would come out at which time you close this square headed bolt.... Now, I looked on mine, and see it... question is, is that the purpose of this square headed plug on the intake?

 

I still think I may have a little air trapped in the system and tomorrow I might pull the radiator cap and let it warm up to get the thermostat open.... 

 

I also burped the upper radiator hose quite a bit.... should I do it more of should the air escape by itself?

 

Thanks