1990 laser rs over heating

[Bojangles465]

okay, so some background history first:

i bought the car in june, had no problems out of it, until one day, i noticed there was some slack in the timing belt, so i cut off the car and did a timing job on it, replaced the tensioner and belt and began driving home, and it started acting funny, so i parked it for a while, and fixed it up, and replaced the maf, ecu(did 91-94 ecu swap), adjusted the idle, and it ran perfectly, so then i went over to one of my buddies houses, and noticed the engine bay was abnormally hot, but not boiling or anything, so i let it sit and cool off, and i drove back to my house, but on the way home, i smelled burning rubber, followed by the smell of hot coolant, lost power steering, battery light came on, and i pulled over to realize the accessory belt was shreaded, but luckily i was 2 miles from the house, so i pulled over, let it cool, and then continued home. the next morning, i looked at the pullies, and realized that the water pump pully was sharp on the edges, and was on backwards from me doing the timing job(fail, i know) so i replaced the pully with one in my garage, and replaced the belt, and then i took it out for a spin, and it only got about 20 miles until it boiled the coolant, so then i replaced the radiator cap, and radiator, and there wasnt a thermostat in it, so i put one in, and it was still overheating, but i could tell it was acting better, took longer time for it to overheat. after that, i torqued the head bolts(i figured that since it got hot, it backed some out) and i got a few turns out of a couple, and i put the valve cover back on, and did a compression test, i got:

cylinder 1:120
cylinder 2: 120
cylinder 3: 122
cylinder 4: 125

it is running much better, smoother, cooler, and it takes longer to overheat, but it is still overheating, and i dont understand what it could be, im running out of ideas any ideas?

 

[DSM1G90]

Points toward a cracked head gasket.

Did you replace the WP when you did the belt?

 

[Bojangles465]

no i didnt replace the water pump, the Previous owner said that he replaced it with a new one about a month before i bought the car from him. also, on the blown HeadGasket, i know that is possible, , but other than the overheating, there are no signs of it. before i retorqued the head bolts, there were some bubbles in the coolant(some times more than other times, sometimes none at all), but it is no longer bubbling. there is no fluid of any sort in any 4 of the cylinders, no mixing of oil/coolant anywhere, and no smoke coming from the exhaust. im at my wits end with this damn car, and i just want to get this fixed so i can start fixing her up cosmetically.

would it help if i posted a video of me driving the car?

 

[1995 brian]

Is the water pump leaking at all? Are your timing marks dead on? Are the fans kicking in?

 

[Bojangles465]

Is the water pump leaking at all? Are your timing marks dead on? Are the fans kicking in?

No leaking from the water pump from what i can see, timing is dead on, and the fan(yes only one, because the ac is eliminated) is hard wired to the radio, and the cooling system is holding pressure, top hose is hot, and lower is cold.

 

[bigbird94]

It could be air trapped in the system somewhere. These cars aren't required to have the cooling system "burped" but I reccomend it.

Some little things to try may be wrapping the down pipe in heat wrap, making a vent in the hood above the turbo (like a stock evo), both would help but may not solve the problem.

Otherwise I'd change the head gasket and check the head and deck for flatnes.

Did you remove any heat sheilds while working on the car? Are both fans functioning properly? Did you remove any shrouding in the bumpe/radiator?

 

[1995 brian]

If the top hose is hot and bottom cold your thermostat is not opening.

 

[Jakes 93GSX]

The same thing happened to me, I was about 1 mile from my house and the radiator hose busted, so I fixed it and on the way home 500 ft from where I fixed the coolent line the alternator belt and bully broke. I thought I threw a rod because the belt was slapping against the block. The radiator light battery light and engine light came on
I got it home and replaced those things and it was back. Check all your vaccum coolent and oil lines and fluied levels to make sure they are all OK. Best of luck man.

 

[Bojangles465]

It could be air trapped in the system somewhere. These cars aren't required to have the cooling system "burped" but I reccomend it.

Some little things to try may be wrapping the down pipe in heat wrap, making a vent in the hood above the turbo (like a stock evo), both would help but may not solve the problem.

Otherwise I'd change the head gasket and check the head and deck for flatnes.

Did you remove any heat sheilds while working on the car? Are both fans functioning properly? Did you remove any shrouding in the bumpe/radiator?

i always burp my system, so thats not the issue, and so far as wrapping the exhaust goes, i will do that once i have the money to get a real exhaust system, right now im running a cheap ebay header with a stock down pipe. also, im hoping to get a VIS evo III style hood eventually, but im not too keen on cutting my hood , it looks bad enough being 5 different colors ;P also, so far as the fans go, i only have one, in between the radiator and the IC, because it wouldnt fit in the stock location because of my egay j pipe. also, no the shrouding isnt there i dont believe.

If the top hose is hot and bottom cold your thermostat is not opening.

hmm really?? i thought it was the other way around? i thought that if the top was cold and bottom was hot, the thermostat was stuck, if this is true, then i have a bone to pick with oreilleys!