so i just installed my new 10.5 hotside, megan racing o2 housing, and megan racing exhaust manifold.....i had taken out the radiator to make the install easier...so i put it back in and about a 1/2 gallon of distilled water...and i wanted to start the car and let some of the water get sucked into the motor and then continue filling the radiator til it over flows like i was told to...and after i started it up for only a 1/2 minute the exhaust manifold was smoking and was super hot just after a 1/2 minute.....so i shut off the car obviously cause i have no idea whats going on.....

so can someone help me out????

is it possibly because i didnt fill the radiator up completely right away??? and so should i fill it full before i start it again?

idk know what other possibly senario could be causing this

please help guys!!!!!

 

Are you serious?

Its normal. Fill the rad, drive it, let it cool down and check coolant level again.

 

umm yes im serious.....ive never done this install so thats why i asked.....how many have you done???? im just checking cause i didnt think the manifold would be that hot that fast

something did seem to be leaking out of one of the bolts on the exhaust mani that hold it to the head...idk if it was some water that got splashed there but it seemed to be running outta the bolt almost so thats another reason i shut the car off

 

You want to completely fill your radiator as high as it will go before restarting your car. Then you run the heater to ensure the hoses fill up as well. While you are doing this keep the radiator cap OFF. Use a funnel in the radiator in case it overflows a bit and start squeezing your radiator hoses (top and bottom) to burp the air bubbles out of your system. After your car reaches temperature you might see a sudden drop in coolant when your thermastat opens up. Just add more if it drops, it will only be a little. Once all this is done then you can put your radiator cap back on. Let it sit over night and look at your overflow tank in the morning and fill if necessary.

BTW, you would not have a leak from a manifold bolt. You are probably seeing steam from coolant or oil that got on your manifold.

 

Yeah dude that's normal. It's burning off oil from your fingers, other types of oils and chemicals that were on it. Make sure you put a 50/50 mix of coolant and water and fill the radiator up. The smoke will last ten minutes, maybe more. Then it'll stop.

 

+1 thats normal, it can also melt any plastic material thats near it, if car gets driven hard overtime!!

 

Did you use antiseize on the bolts? If you did that stuff will smoke when you first turn your car on. You also have grease/oil residue when doing the install will make it smoke too. That's totally normal, let it smoke and it will eventually go away. Mine did that, I freaked out and everything disappeared after I had the car on for a few minutes.

 

okay.....damn lol thanks for the help guys...i was a little paranoid

 

no i didnt use any antiseize....

 

yeah i filled it with distilled water and some 50/50 antifreeze just so its not all water....and then started it for about 3-4 minutes....did it twice and the mani was still smoking a lil but not as much as before

 

did you have any trouble with the manifold fitting on?