Overheating problem.

[user removed]

I'm not confused. Runs cool without the t-stat=confirms the t-stat is crap.

Constantly having to waste time figuring out the part you just replaced is crap is why I quit working on cars. Had a radiator cap would not release pressure was one I remember. Blew the water pump gasket out the side.

regards
mech

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

I'm not confused. Runs cool without the t-stat=confirms the t-stat is crap.

Constantly having to waste time figuring out the part you just replaced is crap is why I quit working on cars. Had a radiator cap would not release pressure was one I remember. Blew the water pump gasket out the side.

regards
mech

Wow wtf.

Like I said it's gonna be Thursday when I'll be back in town to run the test. I'll let you know what happens as soon as I do it.

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Abnormal is not being able to bleed the system until there are no bubbles and-or bubbles in the recovery bottle after the system has been completely bled. Those bubbles indicate a failure in the head gasket and those bubbles are from the combustion chamber.

regards
mech

Since you mention it, the problem I had may have been related to the head gasket. When I had the timing belt changed, the mechanic mentioned to me that the head gasket was worn a bit thin on one end. The car lost about a pint of coolant every two months, but there were no visible leaks, no vapor in the exhaust, just a very slight odor of coolant under the hood sometimes when hot. It was easier to simply add coolant to the reserve bottle to keep it at the right level. Since it only overheated under severe conditions, it was easier to rig the fans to cool it. Before I did that, running the heater on full blast also would bring the temp back to normal.

[2000mc]

What the heck XYZ, I've never even heard of wearing a head gasket thin... You're probably driving too hard

But seriously, I hadn't heard of wearing a head gasket thin, is this really a thing? If so, what causes it?

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by 2000mc

What the heck XYZ, I've never even heard of wearing a head gasket thin... You're probably driving too hard

But seriously, I hadn't heard of wearing a head gasket thin, is this really a thing? If so, what causes it?

Age, contracting and expanding due to heat/cold would be my guess.

[2000mc]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Constantly having to waste time figuring out the part you just replaced is crap is why I quit working on cars.

Working at a dealership keeps me sane since I almost exclusively use oe parts, some of the worst vehicles are when mr shade tree has been tring to fix a car for several days and replaced a bunch of parts. So you get burried in diag, and then piss off the customer when you tell them they have a bad suchandsuch, and they tell you you're wrong because he just put a new one on when it started having these problems.

[cowmeat]

Balto, I'd have to agree you need to at least pull the thermostat off and see what the results are. This is the cheapest and easiest test, since you went ahead and bought a radiator already
It probably won't run great with the thermostat off since it'll probably never get up to temp, but at least you won't kill the poor thing before you even diagnose what's ailing it If both hoses feel pretty warm and firm after 10 minutes, then it's getting water through the system, so it probably isn't the water pump.
Of course, it could be the head gasket, but I always try for the cheapest fix and work my way toward the more expensive ones. That way, even if it ends up being something more expensive, you never have to worry about changing out the cheap stuff down the road, and sometimes you get lucky!

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by cowmeat

Balto, I'd have to agree you need to at least pull the thermostat off and see what the results are. This is the cheapest and easiest test, since you went ahead and bought a radiator already
It probably won't run great with the thermostat off since it'll probably never get up to temp, but at least you won't kill the poor thing before you even diagnose what's ailing it If both hoses feel pretty warm and firm after 10 minutes, then it's getting water through the system, so it probably isn't the water pump.
Of course, it could be the head gasket, but I always try for the cheapest fix and work my way toward the more expensive ones. That way, even if it ends up being something more expensive, you never have to worry about changing out the cheap stuff down the road, and sometimes you get lucky!

With me it's never that easy. Trust me haha. But I'll have a little faith and hope for the best.

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

Age, contracting and expanding due to heat/cold would be my guess.

That's mt guess, too. I had bought the car used at 60K miles and by the time I sold it it had 160K on it. Since nothing else was affected I decided to leave well enough alone.

[Baltothewolf]

Well it's 15F cooler than it was the night I did the tests, but I put in the old thermostat, and took it on the same route and Max temps I got was 181F. I'll know for sure tomorrow when I go to my friends house if it worked for sure. And update accordingly but a 50F drop is massive difference. And it barely, barely hit 181F, all the other runs were 175-178F.

[Edit]: The thermostat was hollowed out.