Car Overheating (Please Help)

S

Simple88GT

New Member
Mar 19, 2008
83
0
0
F-V, NC
#1
I have been messing with this car all weekend, It started when my fan relay stuck on after driving and killed my battery. I got all of my electrical problems fixed, but I still cannot fix the overheating issue, I am going to change the thermostat either today or tomorrow. I drove it to work this morning, 30 min drive, and when I got to the office, it kept stalling and was just pouring black smoke out of the exhaust, anyone have any idead why it would be stalling like that with all of the black smoke. I have changed the Cap, and noticed that I was loosing fluid at the cap, it looks like the flange where the cap locks down on is bent a little bit. could this cause an overheat problem?

Also,I changed my oil last month switched from conventional to royal purple 10w 30, and now its burning oil at startup and my pressure drops the longer i drive it, I think that maybe due to the overheating problem though. Any help would be awesome.


-josh-
 

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#3
i dunno man. got to change the thermostat first. if that doesnt fix it. you could have a plugged radiator. You can still have water flow through the radiator even if its got a few problem areas in it. Had this happen on my 02 dodge. Also might want to squeeze your radiator hose to check and make sure you have water flow from your water pump. it could be that as well. first things first and check the t-stat. Also, make sure your fan is working. As far as the smoke, How many miles on that 306 build?
 
#4
I got to thinking about the water pump, and have a question I noticed that there wasnt any flow in the radiator until the thermostat opened, but the therrmostat is opening at around 250 ish, it is a 160 mr gasket that I installed back in april, Is the water supposed to move in the radiator at all times? As far as the miles on the motor I am unsure, I bought the car from a friend who bought it from a friend... I would guess less than 15000 though. I appreciate all the help I can get on this.


Thank you

-Josh-
 
#5
A t-stat stuck closed can definitely cause a meltdown.

The water starts moving in the radiator (passenger to driver's side direction) once the stat opens.

THe difference in the boiling point of coolant at 1 ATM vs at 16 PSI is about 50*F. Definitely ensure your system can hold and maintain 16 PSI (a cooling system pressure tester will help you with this, though it does attach at the location of your issue in the first place).

For the smoke, check your MAP sensor and see if it melted or if the hose to it or any other vac lines melted. This causes the EEC to partially think the car is at WOT and you'll run really rich.

It's always a good idea to spend 5 mins and pull codes (even KOEO codes on a cold motor) to see if something huge pops up.

Good luck.
 
#7
After it cooled back down to a reasonable temperature I strted it and it ran fine no smoke or noises. I will be doing a tstat tomorrow and hope that fixes my problem, however now my alt isnt charging again so I need to retrace that. Thanks for the help guys

-Josh-
 
#8
Head gasket, mayhaps...? :shrug:

If not before, then perhaps after you overheated it enough to "lock up" the motor, you may have blown the head gasket. (Then again, if you were able to start it after that, it's not truly locked up.) Check for oil in your coolant, or for coolant in your oil (looks like a milkshake) - if you see it, you've got a head gasket blown and should NOT drive the car AT ALL until you've fixed the issue.

FWIW, my '84 has been boiling over since I bought it over a relatively short distance of driving. Swapping out and even removing the thermostat did not solve the issue, nor did a total system flush. At this point, it's looking like a head gasket issue for me, but it's also possible that the radiator is almost compeltely plugged up with corrosion and rust, since the prior owner was running almost straight water in the system and it was full of orange yuck. :(
 
#9
Im thinking I now have a blown head gasket, there is a small amount of oil in my coolant, no coolant in the oil however. Also I cut muy oil filter open and found what appears to be chunks of plastic, maybe carbon buildup. There are metal shavings which I did expect considering that it got so hot it stopped running. On the bright side however there is no smoke or noises when I got it started. I guess my weekend will entail pulling my heads and replacing the gaskets.

-Josh-
 
#10
Ok so I got to thinking and realized that the only other thing I have done to the car recently is change the timing, I set it at 16*, someone told me that the increased timing could have caused it to run hot, is this possible. When I set the timing it never pinged, and it was at 14* before I changed it. Just trying to figure out what could have caused it to overheat so bad. Thanks all

-Josh-
 
#14
Just got done testing the Old Tstat, put in a pot of water with the new one, the new one opened first its a 180 and the old one 160, never opened even after sitting in boiling water for 5 min, next step take off lower and check for more plastic stuff in the lifter valley
 
#17
well the person that owned it first after the motor was redone, beat the absolute hell out of it, so its not really that much of a surprise to me, but it just sucks cause I have only owned it since april and I have alread y put over 2K more into it. now I just need to figure out how to get the oil pan off with motor in car.

Thanks for the replies though, I appreciate it.

-Josh-
 
#18
Simple88GT said:
well the person that owned it first after the motor was redone, beat the absolute hell out of it, so its not really that much of a surprise to me, but it just sucks cause I have only owned it since april and I have alread y put over 2K more into it. now I just need to figure out how to get the oil pan off with motor in car.

Thanks for the replies though, I appreciate it.

-Josh-
Click to expand...

your gonna have to undo the motor mounts from the frame and jack the engine up
 
#19
think I would just pull the whole motor and go through it all. Good chance you did some damge to the bearings. Not to mention if it really has had that tough of a life, then ur just adding some extra insurance. As long as there isn't any marks on your cylinders then you can do a home hone job and put new rings/bearings and be done with it. Take you an extra two days maybe since the heads will already be off the car. not to mention is just a pain to torque heads and intake while the motor is in the car.
 
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