Help---Lil overheating prob (GA15)

X_Factor · Postby **X_Factor** » September 3rd, 2012, 9:40 pm

So here is the thing, i am dealing with a lil overheating problem with my car
the weird thing is that it doesnt happen all the time
I've flushed the rad a couple times within the past 2 weeks and removed the thermostat(thinking that it was stuck) as well as changed the temp sensor

What i have noticed is that when it overheats, the water in the overflow bottle makes a bubbling/boiling sound as well as if i touch the top rad hose i can feel the boiling/bubbling going on in there...
The bottom hose however is jus fairly hot

I have not seen any oil mixing with coolant as well as none of the frothy tingy in the dipstick or valve cover to indicate a blown HG

Whats next?
Pull the water pump?

wagonrunner · Postby **wagonrunner** » September 3rd, 2012, 9:52 pm

tap water can make the water pump become porous (fins just cavitate without moving.)
did you flush the engines system? flushing the full system gives you an idea what the pump is doing.
you should also replace the thermostat.

what type gas you using, plugs, and distributor timing?
been so long.................., you auto or manual?, and what rpm you run to?

X_Factor · Postby **X_Factor** » September 3rd, 2012, 10:07 pm

well, im not sure if what i did was flushing the engines system
i drained the rad, fill up ran it for 1 day, drain again
i did that about 3 times

I never used plain water in my system since i changed the rad maybe 3yrs ago
Water wetter and NP radol was always used

plugs---bkr6exi II
since i did the external msd coil conversion and the timing was set i never adjusted it and thats maybe 2yrs now
super gas
auto tranny with external oil cooler so the fluid doesnt even pass through the rad
before the overheating i could have ran to 6-6.3k and hit 180 easy
but since the overheating....i never past 120k

wagonrunner · Postby **wagonrunner** » September 3rd, 2012, 10:23 pm

my flush is disconnect hose from rad, and run water through with engine running till fans come on.
basically open rad system so it overflows, with a top up of tap water. then repeat cycle with coolant till coolant comes out engine, then reattach hose to rad. then top up rad. let cool, top up once more.

replace thermo and recheck. remember how that works. search for X2 post.
though my 2 OH happened with 6 range plugs. I'm long back to 5's.

X_Factor · Postby **X_Factor** » September 8th, 2012, 10:11 am

so i changed plugs, rad cap, water pump and ran a bars head gasket fix through the system
problem solved....i dunno which exactly solved it but thank god its fixed!

wagonrunner · Postby **wagonrunner** » September 8th, 2012, 3:38 pm

happy to hear it.
but next thing yuh tell me yuh change the car, but yuh eh sure why it fix. :poke:

hong kong phooey · Postby **hong kong phooey** » September 9th, 2012, 1:54 pm

Probably radiator cap, if the rubber in the cap swell ,it forms a seal and restricts the spring from retracting and venting to the overflow bottle.

belalegosi · Postby **belalegosi** » September 9th, 2012, 5:50 pm

hong kong phooey wrote:Probably radiator cap, if the rubber in the cap swell ,it forms a seal and restricts the spring from retracting and venting to the overflow bottle.

this.
Cooling system needs to have some pressure in it. Rad cap modulates this pressure.

Race Champ · Postby **Race Champ** » September 13th, 2012, 11:14 pm

Had this same problem the engine is back pressuring into the radiator changed the head gasket and problem was solved .

wagonrunner · Postby **wagonrunner** » September 14th, 2012, 12:24 am

So every radiator ched yuh gonna post what happened with you, even though that was not the case here?

X_Factor · Postby **X_Factor** » September 14th, 2012, 10:15 am

well, the problem did re-occur and i was certain it was the HG leaking....the mechanic told me to check the radiator before he pulled the head soo.....i went to check the radiator and it turned out it had clogged up fairly bad....(which i would have doubted till the end since i ALWAYS had coolant in there)

Props to the guys at ishmael radiator works, they opened the normal plastic radiator, cleaned it and put it up back when other radiator ppl said it cant be done and it only cost 140 and 20$ for a coolant

car doesnt past 1/4 mark now....
later on in the mth i'll put back in a thermostat

belalegosi · Postby **belalegosi** » September 14th, 2012, 1:53 pm

X_Factor wrote:Water wetter and NP radol was always used

missed this.

fyi
http://www.trinituner.com/v3/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=359998&hilit=redline+water+wetter

X_Factor · Postby **X_Factor** » September 14th, 2012, 3:14 pm

well look at that!...

tho i've always used it for the past 3yrs
1/2 bottle added to the radol plus distilled water and never saw ne oily build up

would get a bottle of the DEI however

belalegosi · Postby **belalegosi** » September 14th, 2012, 4:01 pm

IMO for a stock & mostly daily driven car, I would just run decent coolant.
Nothing fancy is really needed if you cooling system is functioning properly.
I've always just ran regular (read cheap) coolant and I beat the living hell out of it all year round (-40C to over 32C).

Interestingly enough, engines make more power being ran hotter. Having a cooling system "work too good" robs the engine of valuable heat. Also for modern EFI engines, if the coolant temp goes too low, the engine management would engage warm up mode ie running richer and robbing you maximum powaaaaaaa