420a overheats while idle, stalls when driving.

[ryan95eclipse]

Lots of new parts. lots of diagnosing but im not a certified mechanic. The car has been overheating since i got it. Itll start quickly at cold. shut off once i turn the key off. after about 5 minutes of idling the gauge will go all the way up to hot and the engine gets so hot you cant touch it. I put new anti freeze and thicker 10w30 oil and it dropped just a little bit. new radiator, water pump, oil pump, fuel pump, rod bearings, almost everything is new on this engine. compression is good. 185 180 180 185. I thought maybe the timing jumped so im getting a timing light. also thought of heater core. What are any other ideas. clogged passage? the thermostat works and doesnt open until its been hot for a while and the fans barely kick on. now when i go to drive it down the road itll be fine for about 50 feet then start popping and jerking and trying to stall then stalls and wont start up for a few minutes. i been on it for 5 months. any ideas?

 

[Fotowntalon]

Any leaks/ air in the cooling system? I'd hate for all this work to be over not burping the cooling system.

 

[dalesmitsu]

Is yours an automatic, if it is hows the fluid level for the transmission.

 

[ryan95eclipse]

its 5spd. and i talked to a guy who said he build them and he said to jack the car up at an angle so all the anti freeze fills the back of the engine up first and the air bubbles rise to the top. we burped all of the air out. had the heater on full blast. and still nothing. pulled the thermostat out and it went down to about a 3/4 if you were to measure it. then goes back up.

 

[ryan95eclipse]

any ideas? im hoping its something im just over seeing.

 

[VelocitàPaola]

Check the sensors near the thermostat housing. Make sure all the wires leading to these sensors are in good shape. Connect to your ECU using a code scanner and check the temperature it's reading, if possible.

 

[ryan95eclipse]

MY obd2 doesnt work. theres no power going to it at all. and both those sensors i changed and the connectors look good.

 

[bullettdsm]

Here's my little check list;

Leak in the cooling system;
Look for the easy obvious; signs of leakeage. Puddles on the ground. Lots of coolant on the tranny/backside of engine (pesky heater hoses)

Cooling fans;
Sit at idle to see if the fan comes on (duh). If they don't, you may have to rev it up a couple o' few of times to get heat going. Of course, watch the gauge as you do it.

Thermostat;
Pull thermostat and check it by boiling it in water and seeing if it opens fully (though most just replace it. Cheap and easy flip flop).

Radiator cap;
Have the radiator cap pressure tested (though, like the thermostat, most just replace it),

Radiator;
Look for obvious signs of rust and green/white flake build up on the exterior (usually located on the lower half). See if fins are just flaking off. Look for "wet spots". Pull radiator and have it pressure tested.

Blockage in the cooling system;
Flush the cooling system seperately (radiator then engine side) to check for blockage.

Water pump;
Check for signs of "weepage" under the water pump. Listen for grinding or squeaking (usually a chirping sound) coming from water pump. Look in the radiator cap opening and see if the coolant is actually moving (obviously, do this when engine is cold).

Headgasket;
Comp check and leak down. Look for oil contanimation or oil levels filling themselves up, . Look for air bubbles in the coolant as well as hardening of the coolant lines(pressurizing from the headgasket allowing combustion chamber pressure in the cooling system). Look for white smoke out of the exhaust after warm up. Check for hydrocarbons in the coolant (though this all could be good, but you could still have a bad headgasket. That's the tricky part).

.....and the etc. is for whatever I forgot/missed

With all that being said, I highly suspect headgasket because of overheating and stalling out. Any signs of discoloration on the plugs?

I see that you already ran without the thermostat (that would have been one of my quickie checks. Remove the thermostat and see if she overheats).

You see where Paul's going with the misread/misinformation of the inputs to the ECU. Basically could there be something happening that the ECU is seeing incorrect/incomplete information that is making it do "funny" things. Certainly a curious avenue since you cannot communicate with your ECU.

MB

 

[ryan95eclipse]

As amazing as it sounds everything you just listed is good. I havent gotten too great of a look on the heater core hose but it has been mentioned, along with the timing possibly being out 180 degrees but wouldnt that blow up the head from being off so much? Tuesday im taking it to get diagnosed if i can make it up there.

New reman. ECU, new radiator and new fans. both new coolant temp sensors. new radiator cap and hoses. new water pump, new oil pump. compression is 185 180 180 185. no white smoke. thermostat is the 195* just replaced as well. new oil 10w30.

I can suspect a blockage and am wanting to do a backflush if possible on these engines. before i did all this work the rod bearings went bad and got metal shavings all throughout the oil. changed the oil a few times ###### about 4 times. then the rod bearings and no flakes since. im completely stumped. and all this money just to rebuy all of it again for a rebuild would be such a heart ache.

 

[bullettdsm]

along with the timing possibly being out 180 degrees but wouldnt that blow up the head from being off so much?

Not sure where this was mentioned, but no this is not your problem. Will not start and run with this condition.

MB

 

[ryan95eclipse]

Thats what i thought to, see after it gets real hot and i try to drive it and it starts acting up. if i play with the ECU wires or just reset the ecu it will start back up. im lost. i gotta wait until tuesday to get it in a shop for a diagnose. but would much rather have it fixed before tuesday. or some more possible ideas.