At a serious loss here need help...

Phatt_daddy

Member
Apr 22, 2005
219
1
19
Hytop, AL
I got a heating problem as in it is overheating. I have quit adding antifreeze to it cause I got to add it every day. The oil has no trace of water in it, and the compression test yielded a sealed up head. So what am I missing? A couple of times the temp has even hit like 270 but the heater vens were blowing cold air instead of hot. Cant figure it out.

Any help would beappreciated,
Nate
 
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The fact that the temp gauge is showing high temps but no heat is coming out of the vents, is a sign that something is up. I'm thinking you've got a partially plugged cooling system, thermostat is stuck, something like that. I'm not sure why it's losing coolant though. Check the thermostat first.
 
Check the thermostat. Next, make sure the fan is coming on when it should.

Sounds like a stuck thermostat or a problem with the IRCM or the wiring connectors at it. Mine had both of these probs.
 
The fan is wired to a toggle switch (previous owner) and I cant make sense of the haynes manual that I have. I cant see any cut wires that look the same as the ones that are spliced for the fan. Fan looks like it is running a little slow though.

Would the thermostat cause me to be loosing water? That is my biggest concern right now. Also would it be better to replace the engine or rebuild it? Either way I cant afford for it to be down for a turbo swap and I dont want to go w/ a 5.0 swap seeing as how the car has been previously wrecked so it will keep a 2.3 or other 4cyl in it for now.

Nate
 
I don't think you're in need of a rebuild or replacement. I think you just have a problem that needs to be addressed. Fixing a problem is much cheaper (maybe not less frustrating) than just replacing the entire motor.

This may sound stupid, but are there any signs of water underneath the car? There are a number of freezer plugs (one of which is obscured by the bellhousing) that could be leaking water. Any substantial water leak will cause overheating for a couple of reasons, the obvious being a loss of coolant, the second being a loss of cooling system pressure. Water has a higher boiling point when under pressure and therefore tends to stay liquid in a motor at operating temperature when under 12-14lbs of pressure. Lose that pressure, and you bring the boiling point back down to good ol' 212F at ambient pressure.

If you're adding coolant every day, it's going somewhere. (duh right?) What I'm saying is that there is either eveidence of a water leak on the ground or on the engine or it's blowing it out the overflow into the recovery tank.

Have you checked the exhaust pipe for excessive water? It may be a good head gasket, a good thermostat, and a good water pump, but the head may be cracked.
It wouldn't be the first time a high-dollar head sacrificed itself to save a low-dollar gasket.
 
Since I first posted about my problem I havent driven the car so I will have to fill it up and try it out again when it quits raining here.
As for replacing the engine, the reasoning behind it would be if I couldnt figure it out and ended up bombing the whole thing. Last time I drove it, when the temp guage got over half way, the car lost almost all its power pulling up my mountain on the way home. I mean it wouldnt even pull in third gear. with hella bad valve rattle. So I figure the engine has about had it anyway.

Thanks,
Nate
 
Red_LX said:
The fact that the temp gauge is showing high temps but no heat is coming out of the vents, is a sign that something is up. I'm thinking you've got a partially plugged cooling system, thermostat is stuck, something like that. I'm not sure why it's losing coolant though. Check the thermostat first.
If the car is over heating due to a stuck thermostat, water would be pooring out of the over flow once it reaches it's boiling point. Most of this will happen during driving, and wont be detected during a cool idle test, and can be easily missed during an after drive inspection, because it tends to calm down when the water pump isn't flowing. You might check the connections on that fan too, it could be making and breaking connection while you drive. But even without a cooling fan during normal driving you shouldn't see that kind of temperature except in heavy stop and go traffic, unless your cat is highly clogged, which causes major heat issues.
 
possible!

I had the same symptoms several tmes.
One was a heater core that worked fine until I had pressure on it.
It had a seam come loose and sealed fine until it got hot,expanded and then it dumped coolant out the drain tube.
Another time was a leak in the overflow tube to the reservoir.

Bruce
 
Distortion 5.0 said:
If the car is over heating due to a stuck thermostat, water would be pooring out of the over flow once it reaches it's boiling point. Most of this will happen during driving, and wont be detected during a cool idle test, and can be easily missed during an after drive inspection, because it tends to calm down when the water pump isn't flowing. You might check the connections on that fan too, it could be making and breaking connection while you drive. But even without a cooling fan during normal driving you shouldn't see that kind of temperature except in heavy stop and go traffic, unless your cat is highly clogged, which causes major heat issues.


How would it come out of the overflow? If the thermostat stuck, no coolant would be going through the radiator. I had that happen on my TC after it sat for awhile with no coolant in it one winter, I filled it and started it up, and the temp gauge went up to 180 within maybe 2 minutes of starting the car, so I shut it off. The radiator, however, was still cool to the touch. I took the cap off and a bunch of cold water shot out of the radiator, so pressure had built in the radiator, but the water was definitely not circulating and none seemed to be going into the overflow.
 
Red_LX said:
How would it come out of the overflow? If the thermostat stuck, no coolant would be going through the radiator. I had that happen on my TC after it sat for awhile with no coolant in it one winter, I filled it and started it up, and the temp gauge went up to 180 within maybe 2 minutes of starting the car, so I shut it off. The radiator, however, was still cool to the touch. I took the cap off and a bunch of cold water shot out of the radiator, so pressure had built in the radiator, but the water was definitely not circulating and none seemed to be going into the overflow.
Because it might not neccesarily be stuck all the way closed. It could be faulty as opposed to completely stuck. I've had it happen before, may not be extremely common though.