Radiator Pressure Options

[LukeyP]

Hi guys, new here, new to owning a Celica.
I have bought a 1993 Jap import Celica 6th Gen. 3GSE engine and yesterday was the 1st time i let it run for over 20 minutes and get up to temp.
The car had been stood for a while. (6 months)

I noticed once it was warm that there was some steam coming from the radiator seal at the bottom, new rad in order then, but i notices something strange. The pressure on the top hose going into the Rad was very high, the pipe was almost bulging. Felt REALLY high. the bottom hose was also very tough. Much higher than i usually see form newer cars. This is my forst car thats older than 2001 so i know it uses a different cooling method (header tank i think)
Do you guys think this is normal? Is it too high and causing damage to the rad?

Thanks for any help guys.
Loving the car so far.

[VavAlephVav]

The radiator cap is ease excess pressure above .9 bar. Maybe the cap is bad. Or thermostat is not opening at the proper temp. Or maybe you've just got an old mushy radiator hose.
Those would be the easy/cheap things to check first.

[Smaay]

yep, its either stuck cap, stuck thermostat or clogged radiator

[nics]

yep, its either stuck cap, stuck thermostat or clogged radiator

^^and then replace the hoses and flush the cooling system. If the problem still persist, you might have an internal leak (head gasket blown, crack cooling jackets etc.).

[LukeyP]

Thanks for the replies guys, i have ordered a new thermostat (any clues to where that goes would be nice) i will change that first.
See if that makes a difference, buy a new Rad if not, do a complete flush and change the rad cap too. (Is there a way of knowing if the cap is bad?)
Dont think its the head gasket, the oil is in perfect condition, sounds great, does not blow etc.

Thanks for the help.

[VavAlephVav]

t'stat housing at end of lower hose near oil filter. At least that's the way the 2.2l is setup

[nics]

Thanks for the replies guys, i have ordered a new thermostat (any clues to where that goes would be nice) i will change that first.
See if that makes a difference, buy a new Rad if not, do a complete flush and change the rad cap too. (Is there a way of knowing if the cap is bad?)
Dont think its the head gasket, the oil is in perfect condition, sounds great, does not blow etc.

Thanks for the help.

Bad Head gasket doesn't always mean oil in the cooling system

[VavAlephVav]

yup, with these the head gasket is more likely to leak exhaust gas into the radiator.

[nics]

yup, with these the head gasket is more likely to leak exhaust gas into the radiator.

And combine that with a stucked closed thermostat and stucked closed radiator cap, that pressure has nowhere else to go.

[LukeyP]

Thanks for the input guys, will change the thermostat soon (shes massive)
I have ordered a new rad cap and will look at trying a full flush at the weekend and see how it goes.

Fingers crossed its not the head gasket. Any way of knowing its that or not? fool proof way of testing it? Cheers

[VavAlephVav]

They have a tester to identify combustion gas in the radiator. Search YouTube for something like "combustion gas radiator" and you should find it