overheating and not running right

[dremersvision]

man i hope someone here has a answer for me. well im driving to cleveland today with my girlfriend and my idea is that is if a car can go for 3 hours or more on a trip then it should be ok well the 1st part went well we got to where we needed to be and coming back was something else. im driving and i see a little sunfire gt behind me. anyways we played around alittle but i stopped because traffic was getting heavy. i noticed one time i pulled and seen some smoke but i didnt pay to much attention to it. so about 20 mins later im drving around a bend and the car just shuts off. im like what the f&*k? so i stop and try to turn the car on it turned on but it was running horribly so it sputtered along but once it reached the higher speeds the sputtering stopped and the overheating game started. the temp gauge would go so high and then it would drop back down so quickly. so i noticed this till i got to my exit got off went into the gas station and noticed how full the coolant resvoir tank is and some coolant dripped out. im like huh thats weird. so it cooled down enough to drive to my house. i get to my house parked the car. went outside to try to turn the car on and nothing. the engine cranks but doesnt come on. what the f*&k is wrong with this thing???

 

[kr0n0z]

Sounds to me like a timing belt, or possibly a head gasket.

 

[gsxtacy]

Head Gasket.

Plain and simple.

You were playing around, head gasket was weak in one area or two, now coolant is leaking into your cylinders fouling plugs and generally running like crap.

If you pull your plugs, I bet you'll see some weird white crystals on at least one of them.

My car did the same exact thing Christmas Day 2004. ARP Head Studs, Cometic HG, and new timing belt stuff later Jan 19th 2005, (didn't remove balance shafts while I was right there doing all that) Apr. 20th, spun a rod bearing trashed the short block.

So, the skinny is:

Your gonna have to remove the head., or have it done. While it is off, its agood idea to replace that stuff I mentioned AND remove your rear balance shaft at the very least. Disable the front balance shaft (omit Front BS belt, leave shaft in)

It sucks to hear that man, but its better to do the job right the first time, so now that you know this....the ball is in YOUR court.

gsxtacy

 

[dremersvision]

i understand what you are saying. but what dont make sense is that when the car is revving at a much higher rpm that it runs so smooth. friday i went into the garage to see if i would notice anything differently well. the plugs were shot so i changed the plugs and put some double platinum plugs and noticed that 3 out of 4 plugs were done for. put in new plugs turned her over sputters but in high rpm the car runs good. low rpm car sputters and wants to die.

 

[kr0n0z]

Im not sure on the exact name of the tool, but they do have a head gasket tester. It goes onto you radiator and tests it through the antifreeze. Ask a local shop or parts store if they have one.

 

[MOJO757]

I had the same problem you are having a last yr. Make sure to get you check out your head gasket. Last thing you want is for it to be damage.

 

[ADrewzki]

Before you go and pull the head off and spend hundreds of dollars, have you tried something as simple as seeing if there's an engine code that's given? Even with a blown head gasket, I'm going to say that there's still a possibility that your engine can start. Where was the smoking from? Engine or out the tailpipe? What color is it? Blue or white? Is there any oil in your antifreeze or vice versa? What color were the plugs when you replaced them? Start with the basics. Fuel, compression, spark and air. If your compression is bad, THEN maybe you can consider it being a blown headgasket but I don't think you've done enough troubleshooting to say anything for certain.

 

[dremersvision]

see thats what has this one shop baffled where i live. no oil in antifreeze and no antifreeze in oil. no smoking from exhaust pipe besides the normal water nothing comes out.

yes i had a check engine light on before all this but disconnected the battery so no check engine light now. the car did this same thing 2 weeks ago. but i changed the plugs and wires it still did the samething until that check engine light came back on. and when i say did the samething i mean the sputtering when turning on. unless the coilpack is shot.

 

[ADrewzki]

What about the other stuff I mentioned? Do you have spark, fuel, compression? What condition were the plugs when you replaced them the first time? Oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil would be a definite sign of headgasket being blown. Keep troubleshooting. As far as I'm concerned, you don't know anything yet. Spark, fuel, compression. Start there.

 

[dremersvision]

when i changed the plugs the 1st time they were bad but not competely gone. it was the wires that were toasted but this time around the plugs were gone.i was told about the spark how do i check that?if it was a lack of fuel wouldnt the car stay and not turn. thanks for trying to help me out.

 

[ADrewzki]

There's a few different methods to checking for spark. The easiest one would be to simply unplug one of the wires and leave it on your valve cover or intake mani. As you crank the engine or start the engine up, you'll see the spark starting to jump from the wire to the engine. The method I use involves a timing light. Hook up the timing light, turn the engine on and then test each wire. IMO it gets the job done just as well but quicker because I don't have to pull and reinstall each wire. Just as an aside, you can check the resistance of your injectors using a multimeter. If you know anyone with a noid light, you can see if the injector is getting the right signal as well.

 

[dremersvision]

i checked to see if any spark was going to the plugs and nothing i tested cylinder 1 and 2 on motor itself and neither had spark going to it.