|
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 1110
 
Location: Tulare Ca | Hey Guys! So my daily driver has developed a new and interesting problem. I noticed on the end of my daily route the passed two days the my car is over heating seemingly instantly.
An example, i was driving home tonight through a residential area near my home. I was aware of and monitoring this problem at the time. I cross one intersection and look down at the gauge and its perfect operating temp, dead center of the gauge, nice and happy, then i check the gauge again at the next intersection that is about an 1/8 mile from the last intersection and says it running Super hot like 6/7 up the gauge. now at that point i had put on about 3 mile from leaving the place i was at.
So i checked it out this afternoon as well as change the oil, which i planned on doing anyways and found the following abnormalities:
There was the yellow-green slime on the breather caps and openings as well as on the top of the dipstick which ive had for a few months that i usually have attributed to cold weather moisture as my daily route barly gets up to operating temp to burn off the excess moisture.
The water in the radiator seemed turbulent but no apparent foam or bubbles.
There was no water in the oil when i changed it.
The Exhaust seemed to have a higher moisture feel to it.
And lastly i seem to have lost a little coolant.
The thought I had was perhaps the intake manifold gasket let loose and might be etting coolant into the cylinder.
She also still runs like a clock and sound and feels great. Any ideas??
Thanks! Mike
|
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 253
Location: Victoria Australia | Hi Myke,
Run the engine at idle with the radiator full and cap off. If you see bubbles appearing then you either have a blown gasket, warped or cracked head connecting the cooling system to one or more cylinders which would pressurise the radiator.
If you have water in the oil prior to engine being run then look out for water beads on the dip stick. When an engine has been run with water in oil, it emulsifies and turns a brown mucky colour, in either case one or more of the same three faults would
be the cause.
However, from what I read that you have wrote, with the rapid overheating, if it was to be caused by coolant loss to oil sump or cylinders then it would be very evident. So having said that, I would check the thermostat as it could be stuck shut not
allowing coolant to circulate to the radiator to be cooled. Failing that I would then check the water pump as it might not be working and that any signs of water and oil having mixed together would be a result of overheating and once again one or more
of the above mentioned faults having occurred.
Edited by Alex 2015-03-12 4:32 AM
|
|
| |
|
Expert 5K+
Posts: 8947
  
Location: WHEELING,WV.>>>HOME OF WWVA | if you see anything other than the look of oil at the breather cap or at the top of the dipstick/tube , you have a interior coolant leak ---------------------------------------------------later |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 2312
Location: Arizona | Might be a bad thermostat but sounds a lot like a leaking head gasket or similar. I'd replace the thermostat since that's cheap and easy. Test the old one to verify if it was working right or not. |
|
| |
|
Expert 5K+
Posts: 7807
Location: Williams California | If it's not spewing coolant, combustion chamber pressure is not entering the cooling system. Replace the thermostat first, if it is still intermittently reading hot with no coolant boil-over, the sending unit could be the culprit. Knowing the foggy, humid mornings in the central valley, the moisture combined with oil on the top of the dipstick and breather is normal, if you are driving your car short distances before shutting it off. All mine do the same thing here in the winter, unless I put some miles on them.
---John |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 1110
Location: Tulare Ca | Welp,Found water in the oil today. So it looks like it is a head gasket. Thanks Guys i appericiate the help |
|
| |
|
Expert 5K+
Posts: 8443
Location: Perth Australia | Myke, take johns advice, it may not be as you think
One thing you could do it to get a radiator pressure tester and presurise the cooling system with the engine off and see if the pressure drops and you can also do this with no oil in the sump and see if it starts to fill the sump up with coolant (or coloured water works good)
Only thing is, you might have to have the engine warmed up first, then do it
|
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 2519
Location: central Illinois | The basic kit is all you need for an old car. http://www.amazon.com/Stant-12270-Cooling-System-Pressure/dp/B0002S... |
|
| |
Instant Overheating?
