Having problems with overheating

[bmxr152]

Well i recently switched from a cheap 1 row plastic tank aluminum core radiator that was having problems staying at one temp to a 1G mishimoto radiator. I switched out to the 1g water neck and cap style too. For some reason when my car gets warm it likes to fill the overflow tank up. It almost seems like i have a blown head gasket but i have 160 psi across and my oil has no traces of water. I just moved from cali out to phoenix and it alot hotter here but for having a 180 degree thermo, 1g aluminum mishimoto radiator, and a spal puller fan it still gets into the 200 degree range. It seems like im getting air into the system from somewhere. Anyone have any ideas let me know. Im also new to the phoenix area so if anyone is close let me know, i dont anyone with vr4's, or dsm's like i did in cali.

 

Interesting is your radiator maybe higher than the 1g thermostat neck thats probably why you have air in your system because u cant properly "burp" the system ???

 

[tayschells13]

mine did the same thing but my headgasket was the problem. check the radiator cap if its pushing coolant even.

 

[iLLeffeKt vr-4]

+1 on checking/replacing the radiator cap

 

In addition to checking your radiator cap you may want to pick up another fan if you only have one low profile slim fan as those don't move nearly as much air as the stockers do. Especially if you still have ac and plan to use it, which I imagine you will want to because you are in for quite a treat if you plan to skip ac during the hottest months in Az.

Oh and there are dsm/mitsu/whatever-you-like-to-drive meets at in n out on Ray and Priest second thursday of every month.

 

[bmxr152]

I replaced the cap and still the same. I did notice the 1g mishimoto radiator with 1g waterneck setup is hard to bleed but i always try to top it off overtime i drive it and when i check it the next day the overflow will be fuller and there will be air in the system. Maybie my overflow hose could be to long? I also noticed when i was topping it off when it was warm that it shoots quite a bit of air bubbles and the coolant will go up and down when i rev it, but after i rev it it will blow air and make the coolant rise past the neck and spill out. Ive never seen it do that before, and never on any of my other dsm's.

 

[bmxr152]

I just did another compression test to make sure. I was at 155 on cylinders 2,3,4 but cylinder 1 was 145. It wasnt all the way warm but pretty much. I checked it probably a month ago and it was 160 across. I also noticed when i lowered the boost to 14 psi yesterday that it wouldnt overheat as bad and didnt seem to run as lean on wot. The car runs really nice when its cool but as soon as it hits say 180 it just cant seem to stay cool unless i have the fans on 24/7. I just tried a block tester but every time i would drain out some of the coolant to do the test it would rise back up while performing the test and contaminate my fluid. Anyways i wasted all the test fluid since it was contaminated every time. Oh btw im running water meth injection and it doesnt seem to make a difference on my air fuels anymore, if anything when its on im running leaner at WOT now. kinda wierd but it never did this before i moved out here to phoenix. Any suggestions

Oh and another thing whenever i park it after i drive or sit idleing the temps always shoot up past 200 no matter if the heater is on at max and the fan.

 

[tayschells13]

Well, im thinking if anything start from the easiest fixes and work your way up to the more complicated. Thermostat, Radiator cap, possibly the fan temperature switch at the bottom of your radiator, try flushing the system incase your radiator is clogged, add water or even "wetter" to try making it run a little bit cooler, if your have to maybe wire up both radiator fans to run at the same time, possibly your waterpump or even your belts slipping,and last id point my finger at your headgasket but thats my 2 cents for ya man. Hopefully something works out for you, goodluck /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

When is the last time you changed your water pump? When I changed my water pump recently each blade had a gumball sized rust corrosion type thing on it that was for sure hindering the efficiency of the pump. I'm guessing that has to do with the fact we have iron block and aluminum head plus over the 19 years is how that probably accumulated.

Other than that, I would suggest using a stock thermostat at the original temp. I hear/read of a lot of people who switch to a lower temp thermostat but I have heard that is bad because the water is always cycling, never letting it stop for the radiator to cool it down. A local tech said that and it makes sense to me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

And you may want to change back to the original water neck so that you can positively avoid air in the system.

Also, do you have a laptop? Or at least a logger? Since I went to ecmtuning/link it helped in that it immediately notified me if something was not working properly. First it notified me of my cas as a problem and sure enough after looking at the ecu pinout I realized that I had snipped the wrong wire when installing my wideband. So you may want to consider getting ecmtuning software or a logger at the least as it will provide you with much needed info. Ecmtuning software also shows water temps and a friend of mine mentioned that the temps were getting too high so I bought a new fan sensor, 180* sensor, and now my fans kick on much sooner.

Start with getting a logger or laptop and software so that you have the ability to gather info from the ecu. It makes a world of difference. Then after looking at info I'd go from there. I don't understand why peopl eswitch to the 1g water neck. What is the point?

 

[DR1665]

What's your setup? How are you logging/tuning?

If you're already experiencing overheating issues in this weather, your car will be all but undriveable in about six weeks, when we're back into the triple digits for the season. We need to get you sorted.

For comparison, I'm running 14psi/hacked+K&N on an otherwise stock setup. Cooling system bits (plastic radiator, 180° tstat, new cap/hoses/pump) are all less than a year old, and I'll see coolant temps drop during extended cruising at highway speeds when ambient is below 70°F.

Where in the valley are you located? I'm 51st Ave & T-bird (Glendale). My buddy Keith is out this way too. Mikewitdaspike is selling his Galant, but he's west valley as well. 3of1000 and boostedinaz are outside the 101 loop in the east valley. Plenty of good people 'round these parts. The Phoenix heat is tough on these cars, but it's nothing a healthy cooling system can't handle. You've got a glitch in your system somewhere.

Try burping it again?

 

[vegeta1170]

You could take it down to a shop that does emissions and open the overflow, start the engine and put the exhaust probe over the opening of the overflow. If the hydrocarbons go up, blown head gasket. You also could do it over the rad cap.

 

[AnotherNewb]

Im surprised no one has suggested a cylinder leak down test. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif