Engine swapped, high idle and high temp???

[xtremeOsiris]

Just got done putting in a 6-bolt 4g63 into my '94 Talon and for some reason the engine temp gets really high if driving in city traffic and sometimes just back country cruising. If I turn my A/C on (which doesnt work) but activates the second radiator fan, engine stays perfect. Thermostat is a 180º and only a couple months old. I removed the heat shields from the front and back of the exhaust manifold when swapping it, could that cause the whole engine to run hot? If that were the case, wouldnt headers have the same effect?

Also, when I start the car in the morning or whenever the engine has been sitting, some belts squeel and it has a hard time idling. Somtimes it will stall out. If I rev it to about 2K until the belts stop squeeling it will idle. Even then it idles at 1100 or so. Then I drive around and sometimes it will idle high and other times it will idle normal at 750. Also when engine is cold, there is a weird knocking noise. I had a bad balance shaft bearing in my previous engine, and it almost sounds like that but the symptoms arent quite right as it doesnt get super loud as the revs go up and it tends to quiet down after it is warm. Almost sounds like taking the plastic handle end of a screwdriver and hitting it against the block. Oil pressure is fine.

Anyone have any ideas on any of this, greatly appreciate some ideas.

Thanks,
Matt

P.S. When I swapped the motors, I swapped the Camshaft position Sensor, and just put it on according to how the wear marks were. Could the ignition timing be off and cause any of this? Just a thought. Thanks again.

 

[ltvarney]

Removed heat shields have been known to cause fans to melt, so it's possible that would cause the car to get excessively hot. I don't know if it would create enough heat when the car was moving, but possibly at idle anyway.

I would check for adequate coolant flow by removing the radiator cap when the engine was cooled, and watch how well it flows once it reaches normal operating temp. Where did you source the engine from? It could be a bad water pump.

The knocking could be as simple as lifter tick.

Not sure about the timing causing any of your problems.

 

[xtremeOsiris]

I replaced the water pump when I installed the engine. I got the engine from Noyan USA, but i think they sourced it from another importer as they did not have any 4g63s in stock. I don't quite undeerstand what you mean by watching the coolant flow. You mean to actually leave the coolant cap (on thermostat housing) off when the car is running? Wouldn't that spill coolant all over the place?

About the heat shields, my exhaust has a leak somewhere too so I am thinking I am going to put the shields back on when I fix the leak. That will at least narrow the options down some.

Thanks for the info.

-Matt