Coolant problem that will NOT go away! :mad:

[elementalwindx]

What a GREAT idea to whoever told me about the coolant system pressure tester. I found SEVERAL small leaks. Top radiator hose leaked if I bent it slightly (replaced that), little small hose from the neck to some other metal line was leaking (going back to autozone soon to buy some of their hose), another small hose was leaking (tightened the screw on clamp and that fixed it), and my turbo's water return line for some reason is leaking quite a bit. I'm seeing drips coming from the bottom of the line where it curvs back up. That turbo line is just some I got from autozone, but why wouldnt it hold the coolant?

What do you 2g guys use to do the water lines on your turbo? I remember my t25 water return line wouldnt work cause it hit the turbo and I couldn't bend it right to fit right, so I just chopped it off at the striaght, and attached the rubber hose with a screw on coupler and screwed it on as tight as possible.

I'm running a super 16g turbo and I'm guessing I should buy a 14b water return hard line and the rubber lines and that would work?

 

[spoolin27awd]

You are welcome for the idea , and if you tighten the hose clamp to tight you could cut the line a bit try to have the steel part flared at the end so the hose will not blow off and check to see if you cut the hose with ths clamp hope ypu have silicone hose or it will melt around that turbo!!

 

[luv2rallye]

What a GREAT idea to whoever told me about the coolant system pressure tester.

Your welcome. It's the most used tester I've got and everyone wants to borrow it! I should charge rent.

 

[elementalwindx]

You are welcome for the idea , and if you tighten the hose clamp to tight you could cut the line a bit try to have the steel part flared at the end so the hose will not blow off and check to see if you cut the hose with ths clamp hope ypu have silicone hose or it will melt around that turbo!!

are you saying the rubber hose I have on there now will melt around the turbo and I should get silicone? I thought that was the other way around.

 

[kanderson111]

Did you isolate your radiator and check it? I kept having an overheat problem and I could not find any leaks, but I was not holding pressure. Finally after I replaced the radiator I checked it by itself and it was leaking at the top seal. The new radiator fixed the problem. Don't buy the O'reilly radiator like I did, it functions fine but the fan mount insert were slightly off and I had to do some drilling to make the fans fit.

 

[elementalwindx]

Did you isolate your radiator and check it? I kept having an overheat problem and I could not find any leaks, but I was not holding pressure. Finally after I replaced the radiator I checked it by itself and it was leaking at the top seal. The new radiator fixed the problem. Don't buy the O'reilly radiator like I did, it functions fine but the fan mount insert were slightly off and I had to do some drilling to make the fans fit.

How would I isolate it?

 

[elementalwindx]

Ok my turbo water return line and the small line just under my radiator neck busted and I've replaced them with new lines. I still see bubbles coming out the cap, but it doesn't seem to be loosing coolant, and I drove the hell out of it today and the highest it got in temp was 220deg and it easily went back down to 210. There is no smoke at all coming outa my tail pipe at idle and even during heavy boosting. This is day one, hopfully tomorrow when I look at it in the daylight it will look like I havn't lost a drop of coolant I still do not see how you guys are running 190deg temps. I have a full bottle of water wetter, 10% coolant, and the rest distilled water and I'm still hitting 220deg at a 180deg thermostat. Any idea where I can find like a 160deg or 170deg thermostat? I think I'll try one and see what it does.

 

[danielbui]

Autozone sells a 170 T-stat for 2g's but you have to ask for it

 

[elementalwindx]

Ok ok I am going to take my car out to the pasture and shoot her.....

Theres not a single drop of coolant missing from the system now, but I took it for a 30min drive on Interstate 40 at ~75mph and after 10 minutes it started slowly overheating, so I had to turn my heat on to cool it down while I was driving it. I even had to slow down to 70mph to keep it from hitting 230deg temps

I took out the 5 month old thermostat and tested it. It works just fine. *sigh*

ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANY IDEAS?!

Perhaps my stock 450cc injectors (even tho only hitting 80% idc) might be running my car so lean enough to cause the over heating?

16lb radiator cap
No Coolant missing
No Oil missing
No smoke coming from my car at idle, or driving, or during boost.
New used head, resurfaced, cleaned, pressure tested, with 4 layer metal hg from an evo3, with arp studs, 3g lifters, new valve stem seals.
New thermostat that I tested before I put it in.
1 spal fan (pass side), and 1 stock fan (driver side) both wired to come on togeather..
70% distilled, x% water wetter, the rest coolant.

wtf could it be?!

 

[BISHILVR]

Again, have you tried running without the fmic???. If not, amuse me.

 

[elementalwindx]

Again, have you tried running without the fmic???. If not, amuse me.

my smic is smashed from a stupid beagle that ran out on the middle of Interstate 40 while I was doing probably about 60mph by the time I hit him. Skull smashed into the fog light, then into the smic, then under my tire. Then I'm sure the other 20 cars behind me got a piece of him too....damn dog.

 

[Omega]

my smic is smashed from a stupid beagle that ran out on the middle of Interstate 40 while I was doing probably about 60mph by the time I hit him. Skull smashed into the fog light, then into the smic, then under my tire. Then I'm sure the other 20 cars behind me got a piece of him too....damn dog.

Which can be picked up for next to nothing.

I have heard of the composite water pumps eating themselves apart. If the impeller ingested something nasty or lost a fin or two, the coolant flow will be greatly hindered. That could be a cause for all of this. When you put the head back on, did you reuse the WP?

Other than the water pump and SMIC install, you have gone down every road i think.

 

[elementalwindx]

Which can be picked up for next to nothing.

I have heard of the composite water pumps eating themselves apart. If the impeller ingested something nasty or lost a fin or two, the coolant flow will be greatly hindered. That could be a cause for all of this. When you put the head back on, did you reuse the WP?

Other than the water pump and SMIC install, you have gone down every road i think.

water pump is brand new as of december. ill try to find a friend w/ a smic soon.

 

[Below Ambient]

Ok ok I am going to take my car out to the pasture and shoot her.....

Theres not a single drop of coolant missing from the system now, but I took it for a 30min drive on Interstate 40 at ~75mph and after 10 minutes it started slowly overheating, so I had to turn my heat on to cool it down while I was driving it. I even had to slow down to 70mph to keep it from hitting 230deg temps

I took out the 5 month old thermostat and tested it. It works just fine. *sigh*

ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANY IDEAS?!

Perhaps my stock 450cc injectors (even tho only hitting 80% idc) might be running my car so lean enough to cause the over heating?

16lb radiator cap
No Coolant missing
No Oil missing
No smoke coming from my car at idle, or driving, or during boost.
New used head, resurfaced, cleaned, pressure tested, with 4 layer metal hg from an evo3, with arp studs, 3g lifters, new valve stem seals.
New thermostat that I tested before I put it in.
1 spal fan (pass side), and 1 stock fan (driver side) both wired to come on togeather..
70% distilled, x% water wetter, the rest coolant.

wtf could it be?!

sounds like a blown head gasket to me... it can be blown and not discharge any coolant anywhere but under boost it can lift the head in just the right spot to push combustion chamber gases into the water jackets... im not surprised about your problem but the only way to really diagnosed it is to see if your overflow bottle fills under boost before it gets too hot...

 

[elementalwindx]

sounds like a blown head gasket to me... it can be blown and not discharge any coolant anywhere but under boost it can lift the head in just the right spot to push combustion chamber gases into the water jackets... im not surprised about your problem but the only way to really diagnosed it is to see if your overflow bottle fills under boost before it gets too hot...

overflow bottle levels no longer change. I even put the outside end hose in a bottle and tapped it by my air filter to see if any water came out at all and it was completely empty.

I'm doing a compression check tomorrow. I ended up being too busy today.

 

[Below Ambient]

overflow bottle levels no longer change. I even put the outside end hose in a bottle and tapped it by my air filter to see if any water came out at all and it was completely empty.

I'm doing a compression check tomorrow. I ended up being too busy today.

compression wont do anything as far as finding your problem but a leakdown might

 

[elementalwindx]

compression wont do anything as far as finding your problem but a leakdown might

leakdown refers to what? I've done so much lately that I cant remember how a leakdown test is done.

Ive done this so far:
Coolant pressure tester -fixed 4 lines due to that. *Solved my missing coolant issue*
Block Tester -did that 3 times and all turned out fine.

I'm ordering a 12" spal fan tomorrow and trying that out to see how that goes. Seeing as how its from RRE it will take a week to two weeks to get to the east coast *sigh* but oh well.

 

[ZenkaiRacerDsM]

Whats the flow rating on that SPAL?

Contrary to popular belief, most aftermarket fans do not flow as well as the stockers.

Also maybe you aren't overheating at all and just have a bad temp sensor?

 

[TurkF26]

have you ever ever thought about a clogged or rotted radiator??? these radiators are not the best radiators out there. they are 2 row metal and plastic radiators with a very low efficiency. either have it flushed, or call me up and order a new one. i work at a radiator shop and can help you out.