A big THANK YOU to everyone (especially fasteddy <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />) for helping out on this one; the car is back up and running and I am pressure testing it today. I ran into two last problems/questions, so hopefully you feel like sharing a little bit more knowledge for the last time in the foreseeable future (fingers crossed).

1: I turned on the car (standing still) and waited for the thermostat to kick in. Once it did, I noticed that the electric fan in front of the radiator never turned on. Is this common? When/how to turn it on? Is this a common problem?

2: While running the car on water to test it (not the engine; I wish), I noticed that a lot of pressure had built up in the radiator. I had to loosen the cap for it to bleed over into the overflow canister. It seems the radiator can't bleed freely into the canister with the cap fully screwed on. How to fix this, and is it supposed to be like that?

Thanks a bunch.

It's a pressure cap, and it's supposed to hold 13-15psi, but if the system is generating that much pressure that quick, it's the head gasket or cracked head.

The electric fan only comes on with the A/C.

The rig has been up and running for a week now. Absolutely no leaks, perfectly green coolant, no interference with oil, no idling issues, and runs completely smoothly.

It seems it was probably leaking from microscopic holes around the heater and bypass hoses, possibly due to a faulty thermostat. The old cap was bad too as the spring was stuck, so the complete overhaul paid off. Now I just need to figure out how to pass that smog retest. Broke the 15 mph NO PPM limit.

Thx for the help <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />