OVERHEATING!!

SON240sx Automotive
1

OK folks, you ready?

last month, my s13 ka24de was running badly, no power, and luke warm heat… the heat from the blower never got hot, and that saddened me.

then, out of nowhere, i cracked my radiator. may have been too much water in my coolant system, but, what-evs. small crack on the top, passenger side, in the front where the hose goes… so i’d drive short distances, by the time the motor got to running temp steam would start pissing out from under the hood… this scared me, but it never overheated, so, no harm i suppose.

So, i pick up another rad off a sonling… head to the store, pick up a new t-stat and some coolant, off to my buddies place to replace the rad/t-stat/coolant. and my buddy loans me a walboro, which, as soon as i pulled out of his drive way after we installed it, the power problem was gone, my car was FAST AGAIN! (KA fast… dont hate)

Finish that… bleed it… no heat from the blower… but… idling theres no overheatage.

thinking were finished, we pack everything up, i say goodnight, start heading home, i make it 2 kilometers and im at the H… overheating.

fml.

shut off the motor, drive some, overheat again, shut off the motor, drive some, overheat…

fml.

motor off again… wait a bit… go for another, wamp wamp, dead battery.

ok

Next day, we remove the thermostat and do some boiling water test… the T-stat opens…

heh… so faulty T-stat theory, demolished.

ok. what do i do…

How’s about i run T-statless? why not…

Put it all back, no T-stat, drive allllll the way home, no overheating, running at my regular operating temperature… BUUUUT no heat from the blower :frowning: :frowning: :(. not COLD per se… just not HOT… maybe luke warm?

drove this way for a week… NO PROBLEMS, just… not HOT, its getting brutally cold yall… I want HOT!

i tell my boi, im freezing, and how am i supposed to get a chick in this frozen ass car?? can’t do it.

ok, well… lets try putting a new t-stat.

do it all up, bleed it…

SAME THING AS BEFORE!!! :@:@:@:@:@:@:

i make it a kilometer from my buddies house, all the way to the H, overheatage.

So, as i sit here, very annoyed, slightly angered, trying to think logically about this…

No T-Stat = No overheat
No T-Stat = luke warm heat from the blower (unless its negative temperature outside)

W/T-Stat = Overheats
W/T-Stat = CONSTANT COLD AIR!!! even when im overheating (wtff??)

so fellas… chikitas who are sexy enuff to drive a 240…

What

The

Fuck?

what am i doing wrong, what arent i doing right, is there a problem im unaware of or not considering… what… the… fuck…

Couple things to add, i had this no heat from the blower problem last year, I changed my waterpump, got a LITTLE bit more heat, but still not hot.

Ive also experienced a bubbling from my coolant resevoir over various periods, never stopping entirely, ussually consistant after driving longer than 20 minutes.

I would really love a situation where my car doesnt over heat, and my heater system works well

Help me son,

your my only hope.

2

headgasket symptoms no ?

3

YES…this could very well be the case…
make sure you bleed it PROPERLY. sometimes it takes a while for all the air to come out so use the right bleeding tool if you can.put the heat on low in the car and constantly rev the motor to get the tstat to open and for whatever air locks to get out…
with the tstat out the system does ot build up enough pressure to creat a problem but it sucks to drive with no tsat u just burn more fuel and the car takes 4ever to get even lukewarm lol

a good motor does not usually give such a hard time to bleed so when i hear this constant fight just to bleed a motor with a tstat in, that usually sounds like trouble…goodluck

4

hmm… headgasket would be shyte…

but bear in mind, my motor wasnt overheating WITH A CRACKED RAD!!!

i changed the rad, changed the T stat, now im having problems

if it were headgasket wouldnt it have been happening prior?

this is illogical. im angry

ugh.

more suggestions please

5

everything is illogical and ur angry because ur in denial kid.

i guess you want sonlings n chikitas to lie to u.ok ill be the 1st… everything is fine dont worry about it, just keep driving but be alarmed u might not pick up the same chick twice in that cold car…lol here u go. dude didnt you urself say this

“then, out of nowhere, i cracked my radiator. may have been too much water in my coolant system, but, what-evs. small crack on the top, passenger side, in the front where the hose goes… so i’d drive short distances, by the time the motor got to running temp steam would start pissing out from under the hood… this scared me, but it never overheated, so, no harm i suppose.”

alot of damage could have been done there man

6

if you didn’t bleed the system properly, that could cause it. did you try parking on the steepest hill you can find? nose end pointed up of course. i was paranoid about this when i installed my rb.

7

sounds like you have air in the system, just keep trying to bleed the air from the system. i had your exact same problem.

8

ok you people that have experienced problems bleeding their coolant systems, did you guys ever try running w/out thermostat?

and how long did it end up taking? what extended measures did you employ to ensure it was fully bled. I’d say ive probably tried for about an hour, but i didnt do much revving, is this something i should try? I think im going to do the elevation thing… maybe pull up onto some ramps…

something else ive started to consider,

when i had no T-stat and ran a bit hotter, i would crank the blower on full, full heat, and would feel some heat in the car.

with thermostat, this isnt the case, im overheating and blowing pure cold air

to me this seems like… there are… huge bubbles… between the motor and the heatercore, is this often a problem ? how would i go about bleeding everything straight through to the heater core?

thanks for the help, keep it coming

9

You thought you had issues? Fuck, i wanted to kill myself when i had my miata with the stupid v-mount. best and worst thing.

Anyhow.

Goto a warm place.

Drain the bitch
run it for maybe 20 sec with the lower rad hose or drain out. GET IT ALL OUT.

JACK THE FRONT OF THE CAR AS HIGH AS YOU CAN!
Make sure your rad cap is highest point, not the resivior(in case ya moved it)
Now, fill the bitch up with coolant, a whole jug. dont dilute it, yet.
Pour it all in, now with your hose and drain back in, run the engine, heat on. while pouring your green goodness. Now, pour water in there, boiled or distilled–or my fave choice–out the hose(not recommended) rev it. let it sit. rev it. let it sit. until water shows just below the cap. and bubbles are gone.

This sometimes has take over a hour to do.
Sometimes its 5 min. some times 50.

Good luck, soldier.

10

I’ve never changed a stat in a 240 - so newb idea - Other cars I have changed it was possible to put the stat in backwards - they dont work well that way :slight_smile:
Looking at the stat housing I doubt you could do that on the 240s but thot I’d ask (re the overheat with the stat). Second what temp is the stat set to open? I know you saw it open in the boiling water - but do you know at what temp? Could be a bad stat even if it opens.

Re last years bubbling consistently in the rad - as pointed out earlier - usual symptom of a leaking head gasket (combustion pressure pushing into a coolant passage somewhere). Best thing would be to borrow a Cooling system pressure tester or go to a shop that will do the test for you - that way you will know for sure what is going on. Best of luck.

11

well the first one i boiled opened after the water started boiling…

the second one i didnt test it… as far as it going in backwards, there was an arrow on the t-stat saying >> to rad hahaha so… i got that right both times

i did some googling and alot of ppl have been saying hit up a steep hill, and jack it up from there… lol pretty intense… we’ll see how it goes, bleeding attempt #4 i guess

ill keep updating…

also currently looking to obtain a newer rad as this one seems to maybe leaking every so slightly

12

is there any advantage to not pre-mixing the coolant? it just seems a lil’ dangerous to the engine to not have it pre-mixed.

but yeah, just lift the front end up as high as you can, and remove the rad cap while you run it to get the bubbles out. DONT take the cap off if the engine was running prior to this. like, if it’s warmed up.

13

also on the thermostat there should be a jiggle valve or a hole for the air to travel through, this hole should be at 12 o clock. if its not facing up, you will have lots of trouble bleeding it.

14

ka’s the problem lol. Im not sure if you CAN put a thermostat in backwords in a 240. I would def check that out. Make sure the jiggle valve is at 12 o’clock and be patent when bleeding. Does your exhaust smell of coolant? is it leaking from anywhere? the rad cant be clogged but its a thought. I mean I have drivin my winter 323 at full blown H way past overheating for more then hours on the highway and never suffered headgasket/head problems. Really if your headgasket is ogne or the motor is fucked that kind of sucks. Just make sure you eliminate all the points givin to you. If you have…the ddream is over.

15

coolant goes first.

whats the danger?
your pouring it in, starting engine
pour water?

danger-NOT

16

i thought it was supposed to be 50-50 mixture or else it wont carry the heat as awell and could freeze easier (yes, anti-freeze needs water added so it won’t freeze as easy) i mean, what’s the plus to putting it in first as opposed to pre mixing?

17

Water is what cools your engine. Antifreeze is added to prevent water from freezing.

You have it backwards.

We use 50-50 to get the best of both. 50-50 will give you approximatly -35 C freezing point.
And of course the antifreeze has anti-corrosion chemicals to keep the metals from reacting to water.

As for pouring in antifreeze first…?
Wierd method. If you pour in 4 L antifreeze then only pour 1 L water, then the mixture becomes 75-25. That will give you terrible cooling properties.

18

you learn something new everyday, lol. regardless though, i have to agree that not mixing it properly is a bad idea.

19

Mr Lube…

Rad Flush with a machine for $89.99

20

can anybody else confirm this?

the t-stat that i originally took out had this hole in the top, the second two did not