Overheating problem on 3sgte,need help PICS

[Aust162]

Updated: 26/5/06
scroll down for the lastest progress thanks

Hi guys, my 3sgte has been running a bit hot as of late. its steadily getting worse. its a gen2 motor rebuild about 2500kms ago with a cometic 1mm h/g and arp studs.

On the handcontroller it's reached temps of 104.c. themo fan normally comes on at 94-95c and turns off at about 91. its been going over that temp and the fans arent turning on. i pulled the plug on the thermo switch and ran them on constant for awhile, it didnt help.

I'm loosing a bit of coolant, but i had a couple of little leaks around the hoses i just fixed up, so i cant say for sure if the coolant loss is from only the hoses.

I just checked my oil cap and its got a line layer of cream sludge and my temporary catch can (600ml fanta bottle)has that shit in it too.

The block and head was assembled by the workshop.The motor has Never seen over 11psi on the ct26. I'm a bit worried to keep driving it, i dont want to damage the head (hopefully it hasnt already )

What's peoples thoughts?what should i do?

contact workshop?retorque the head and hope the gasket is ok?any further tests i can do to confirm?

[Jorrs]

take it down to Natrad they will do a free test on it, and will tell u if its the HG thats gone, yours sounds exactly like wat mine did and was a small leak in the HG. I got a spare HG here if u want it when it gets hot, take radiator cap of and see if its boiling say small lil bubbles there if they r there its BHG for sure.

[Aust162]

I drained my coolant last week to fix some leaking hoses. when i filled it up, i ran the car at idle with the cap off to let any air out. i noticed that it was bubbling.watched it for about 10mins. its got a new cap on it now too.

[Jorrs]

it may just need a higher presurised cap, after its been running for a while, is the coolant a sort of caramel colour or have a particular smell? i would recomend the free pressure test.

[Aust162]

The coolant seems to be clean. i havnt checked it that closely yet,just noticed the oil today after work.

I'm hoping the gasket and head are ok still. being a MLS gasket it should be tough.I'm hoping that i can get away with just re-torqueing the head studs. i'll be exploring all avenues first before i start fiddling with it though. just after some advice atm.

[tooch]

If you haven't retourqed your head studs yet since the rebuild, I would recommend doing it. Hopefully that's all it is!

[Aust162]

Yeah, i' havnt retorqued them since. it wasnt even suggested too me.I've heard on alot of car's people retorqueing them, and some they dont..

I'm hoping thats all it is tooch. I know exactly how you feel with your car, i'm just getting sick of it!

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

could also be possibly a bad seal when you guys swapped over the headgasket.

I'd also hazard a guess that if it wasn't torqued upto the right value (60ft/lb) then its probebrly undertorqued.

[BrianRA23]

To check if there is a leak into the combustion chamber
1. take car for a drive
2. pull the spark plugs out while engine is hot
3. sit a cold (room temp should be fine) screwdriver in through the hole.

If there is condensation on the screwdriver after a couple of minutes then the gasket is leaking.

[Aust162]

ok, well after an endless night of stressing , i went and spoke to the workshop that did the assemble. they said it doesnt have to be retorqued ,and that they did the studs up to spec, which happens to be tighter than factory spec headbolts.

I borrowed their cooling system pressure tester and tested it. My cooling system held just over 15psi over 5mins.(i pumped it to 16.5psi, and it lost about 1psi.i found that i had a tiny split in one of my heater hoses,and i'm certain that's where it was loosing that 1psi of pressure)

After this i disconnected the coil lead (with the pressure still being held in the cooling system) and cranked the car several times. the guage on the tester didnt move. it held the 15psi no problem.

So, i'm about to call the workshop when the boss gets back and tell him my results. in the mean time i thought i type this down

I was told that if i got these results,that the h/g will be fine... i'm hoping it is?

[EldarO]

take it down to Natrad they will do a free test on it, and will tell u if its the HG thats gone, yours sounds exactly like wat mine did and was a small leak in the HG. I got a spare HG here if u want it when it gets hot, take radiator cap of and see if its boiling say small lil bubbles there if they r there its BHG for sure.

its called the Tee-Kay test, and its not free.

cheap though.

tests for exhaust gasses in the coolant.

Eldar.O.

[EldarO]

and you need to retorque your studs around 1000km's of driving after you have the headgasket done, this allows for the expanding/contracting from engine warmup/cooldown.

Eldar.O.

[Aust162]

For anyone thats interested, the lastest news is. drove the car again on a cold night,only to have the temp rise again to 102d. i let the car idle for awhile with the bonnet up, and checked for anything strange. I felt the bottom radiator hose and it was cold. the bottom half of the core was cold too. everything else was warm.

Next morning i pulled the thermostat out.tested it.seems to be faulty.its not opening at the right temperature.its rated at 82d and it wont open anything under 95d.

So i ordered a new one, its going in today,hopefully i'll be driving it around tonight! thats the plan

*also that crud in my "catch can" and oil cap have gone completely. I'm thinking it was only moisture from the cold weather,and i park on the grass under a tree. thats my theory atm anyway

[Aust162]

Ok, thermostat is in. the car seems to be keeping abit cooler but the problem is still not fixed
Now i'm a bit stumped for ideas. my thermofan's didnt turn on at all, so tomorrow i'm going to get a new thermoswitch and fan relay,and hope this is the problem... not sure what else to do.
With the new thermostat, the bottom hose now gets hot.
Maybe the bottom of the core is blocked? Or the waterpump is screwed?
What symptoms would i have if the waterpump wasnt working properly?

Thanks

[thechuckster]

what colour are spark plugs?
is intake air temp connected (it will run rich if it thinks the air is cold)

dead water pump would be poor circulation - easy to check with rad cap off and thermostat open. Is unlikely cause unless you have not been using green or red coolant for the life of the motor.

when was radiator last flushed or looked at? if the car sat for a while when the motor was being rebuilt, it could have had all the gunk in the system collect in it?

cheers,
Charles.