radiator overflow filling up quick...after agp turbo kit, ect. install

[96tsiaddict]

So I took the head off and the gasket had three big rips in it so that's what happened. I'll be replacing it tomorrow. Thanks for the advice all!

 

[diab0liK]

I just got a spyder gst on monday, 87k, very nice condition, ran very nice. Only problem was previous owner had raped the audio wiring, and pulled his speakers and whatnot, so I have to rewire the car, but I got it for 5k, so it's hard to complain.

Anyway, I was driving it this morning, and noticed that I wasn't getting any heat, even after 10 minutes or so of running. Drove about another half an hour or so, and stopped at my buddies place, where we checked out the audio wiring situation. THen I drove downtown to pick someone up, and by the time I was halfway there (5 mins from it sitting cold at my buddies for half an hour or so), I noticed it was starting to run a little hot. By the time I was almost home (5-10 mins later) the thermostat was at the max (although nothing visible coming from the engine compartment, or any warning lights coming on). When I pulled up to my house and put the brake on, I immideately noticed some steam coming from the overflow tank area near the front on the passenger side.

Now, I'm wondering if maybe the radiator fan died or something (which I'm going to check out when it cools down a bit), but I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas on this.

I wasn't driving it hard for this period, and I had the heat turned up all the way, and was blowing nothing but cold air. The only other thing I can mention, is that when I bought the car, it had no air filter (the guy who sold it to the dealer stripped a few random things, the k & n and the speakers). So after driving probably 20 miles on it or so, I put a new k&n in there, and that's about all that's changed in the last few days. On the couple occasions I've pushed it a little hard, I've noticed a small amount of steam venting from the overflow tank, but this was a lot of pressure, for sure.

I'm going to check the coolant and oil levels again soon, but I was just hoping people might have suggestions as to what to look at. There's no leaks that I've noticed as of yet, but we'll see.

Thanks in advance,
-d

 

[diab0liK]

I'm having a very similar problem, haven't checked the hg yet, hoping it's not that.

I've had my car for only a few days now, and after having some steam coming from the overflow tank (very small amount) after running it a little hard for 20 mins or so. Today I wasn't even pushing it at all, but noticed virtually no heat on my 10 min drive to the store. From there back to a friends house, still no heat, and then 5 or so minutes into my drive to pick up someone, after sitting at my buddy's house for 30 mins or so, I noticed it running hot. By the time I got home and shut it off, there was quite a bit of hot steam coming out of the overflow tank. After letting it sit for an hour, I went back out, and looked, and the overflow tank is completely full.

I just got a loan to get this car, and am quite strapped for cash, so if anyone has any ideas over it being a head gasket, I'm all ears. So far, I think I'm going to look into getting a new tstat, radiator cap, and draining and replacing the coolant.

btw, this is on a 96 eclipse gst spyder.

Thanks,
-d

 

[92redman]

I'm having a very similar problem, haven't checked the hg yet, hoping it's not that.

I've had my car for only a few days now, and after having some steam coming from the overflow tank (very small amount) after running it a little hard for 20 mins or so. Today I wasn't even pushing it at all, but noticed virtually no heat on my 10 min drive to the store. From there back to a friends house, still no heat, and then 5 or so minutes into my drive to pick up someone, after sitting at my buddy's house for 30 mins or so, I noticed it running hot. By the time I got home and shut it off, there was quite a bit of hot steam coming out of the overflow tank. After letting it sit for an hour, I went back out, and looked, and the overflow tank is completely full.

I just got a loan to get this car, and am quite strapped for cash, so if anyone has any ideas over it being a head gasket, I'm all ears. So far, I think I'm going to look into getting a new tstat, radiator cap, and draining and replacing the coolant.

btw, this is on a 96 eclipse gst spyder.

Thanks,
-d

Take the radiator cap off(when it's cold for obvious reasons), make sure the cooling system is full. Start the car and watch the coolant in the radiator, if it starts to release gas pockets, good change the headgasket is shot or head is warped or cracked. They do make a tester for this sort of thing that uses a blue liquid that you hold over your coolant filler neck and draw in air as the vehicle runs, it will change to a yellow color in presence of exhaust gas.

 

[diab0liK]

bump.

 

[fulanititoo8198]

I had about the same problem I replaced cap,fluid,and thermostat and It went away. Looks like its the HG.

 

[diab0liK]

That's what I was planning to do tomorrow, replace the cap, thermostat, and fluid.......why do you say you think it's the HG?

Maybe you're just confused b/c I posted on this post...ionno.

Hopefully that will take care of it, it's so cold I didn't get a chance to look again tonight before it got dark, so i'm going to let it run, and see if it has any idling overheating problems, and then if after replacing aforementioned parts, the problem persists, I'm going to check out the pump.

If all else fails I'll have to scrape together for a HG, but seeing as I don't see any discoloration in the overflow, I'm hoping I might get lucky here.

Anybody else have suggestions? I figure I have very little to lose replacing the tstat, cap, and fluid, so it's probably worth a shot there. Like I said, it had spit a little bit of fluid out the overflow before, but never overheated like this, and the heater was blowing ice cold.

Thanks for the replies, and here's a link to my original post:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168771

late,
-diab0liK

 

[diab0liK]

just to clear things up, since I've been talking about this w/ ppl in multiple posts....

Tomorrow I'm replacing the cap/tstat, and the fluid. The only things I've done in between when it wasn't overheating and it was, was put a new k&n in place of the nonexistent filter.

This is my first DSM (although I've worked w/ a friend a lil bit a few years ago on his 90 tsi) so if anyone has any suggestions or links to tips/guides for cooling system problems, I'm all ears, since I kind of need my car up and running asap.

Thanks,
-diab0liK

 

[98GSX209]

One thing to look for thats easy is your radiator hoses. Check to see if your upper hose is smoken hot, than touch your lower hose and see if its hot or not. It could be possible that you have a pluged radiator. That would cause your car not to heat up or get hot air when you turn on the heater, your not getting an flow through your system. And with that said check it out and halla back on the P.M

p.s
upper hose(hot)
lower hose(luke warm)

 

[diab0liK]

How long do you think I'd have to let it idle to find out if the radiator is clogged or not?

Also, I presume by upper hose, you mean the return one to the overflow tank?

Thanks in advance,
-diab0liK

 

[hewhoisknot]

flush it to see if it's clogged

 

[98GSX209]

You shouldn't have to let run long to check it. I ment your upper radiator hose that goes to your thermostat housing. If I'm not mistaking is should get hot pretty fast. Than check your lower rad hose. If your lower hose is cold you my a pluged radiator

 

[diab0liK]

I was thinking....if it was clogged, and little/nothing was coming via the return, wouldn't it be highly unlikely that the overflow tank would be really hot and steaming?

Just a thought, like I said, I'm still quite the DSM newbie.

Really appreciate all the feedback,
-d

 

[diab0liK]

ah, that would make more sense, my bad....got that last post up before I saw you reply.

I'll go do that in about 10 mins or something.

Thanks,
-diab0liK

 

[98GSX209]

When you find out let me know what happens. So hit me back on the private message and will go from there. Hopefully its not that bad I don't think it is.


p.s
it wouldn't hurt to flush your system
and replace your thermostat

 

[fulanititoo8198]

That's what I was planning to do tomorrow, replace the cap, thermostat, and fluid.......why do you say you think it's the HG?

Maybe you're just confused b/c I posted on this post...ionno.

Hopefully that will take care of it, it's so cold I didn't get a chance to look again tonight before it got dark, so i'm going to let it run, and see if it has any idling overheating problems, and then if after replacing aforementioned parts, the problem persists, I'm going to check out the pump.

If all else fails I'll have to scrape together for a HG, but seeing as I don't see any discoloration in the overflow, I'm hoping I might get lucky here.

Anybody else have suggestions? I figure I have very little to lose replacing the tstat, cap, and fluid, so it's probably worth a shot there. Like I said, it had spit a little bit of fluid out the overflow before, but never overheated like this, and the heater was blowing ice cold.

Thanks for the replies, and here's a link to my original post:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168771

late,
-diab0liK

What? Now I'm defenitely confused. Good luck anyways

 

[mitsutuner]

There is a very good chance that only your radiater cap is bad, I bet it's the original 9 year old cap. The cap should have allowed the coolant in the overflow bottle to be drawn back into the motor after the car was turned off & had a chance to cool off a little.
Get a new cap & some antifreeze.
Take off the old cap & fill with antifreeze.
Leave the cap off & run the motor,
Depending on the status of your thermostat, it will open in about 3-6 mniutes, when that happens, some of the
the coolant will run into the motor--add WATER to a level near the top.
Leave the motor running, turn the heater on high heat & watch for bubbles to come out where the cap goes.
Some bubbles should come out intermittently for about 10 minutes or so & then stop, when the motor gets hot enough, the coolant level will begin to rise & flow over--at that time, turn off the motor & install the new cap.
Drive the car & see what happens.

 

[diab0liK]

Thanks for the advice, hopefully I"m lucky and that's what it is. I'm going to check for a clog, and then do this tomorrow morning. I'll let you know how it works out.

-diab0liK

 

[Defiant]

One other thing I forgot to mention.

Well, of course you did, my little dear.

It had a small leak that I put some of that radiator stop leak stuff in and fixed a couple weeks ago.

You..... you used stopleak on a turbocharged motor? With a water-cooled turbo spool? O god.

or is it more likely the HG.

Eh, could be a cracked head or block. Is that better?

Get some coolant test strips that'll check your water for hydrocarbons.

That stopleak crap is for '85 Cutlasses. Not for turbocharged DSMs. Band-Aids are not repairs.

 

[Defiant]

Anyway, I was driving it this morning, and noticed that I wasn't getting any heat, even after 10 minutes or so of running.

You were running low on water. Find the leak and fix it.

Do not bump your threads. Ever.

 

[diab0liK]

Well, I let my car run for about 5 mins or so this morning, heat was still ice-cold, and it was pinning all the way at cold, even after running for 5 mins or so. I even held it at 2500 rpm's for about a minute at some point, and couldn't get ANY change. When my roommate wakes up, so I can borrow his car, I'm going to follow this suggestion:

Get a new cap & some antifreeze.
Take off the old cap & fill with antifreeze.
Leave the cap off & run the motor,
Depending on the status of your thermostat, it will open in about 3-6 mniutes, when that happens, some of the
the coolant will run into the motor--add WATER to a level near the top.
Leave the motor running, turn the heater on high heat & watch for bubbles to come out where the cap goes.
Some bubbles should come out intermittently for about 10 minutes or so & then stop, when the motor gets hot enough, the coolant level will begin to rise & flow over--at that time, turn off the motor & install the new cap.
Drive the car & see what happens.

and hopefully I'll be gravy. I did notice some whitish smoke coming from the exhaust, but being that it's about 20-30 degrees outside (if not colder?) it's kind of hard to say if it's HG related. The overflow tank was still full today, so I'm going to go ahead and replace the cap and top off the coolant, and hope that does it, and then replace the tstat. Past that, it looks like it's either the water pump, or a good ol' BHG or worse.

Oh, and after the aforementioned running of the motor for 5-10 minutes there was no discernable temperature in either the upper or lower radiator hoses, or any gases venting from the overflow tank.

Thanks,
-diab0liK

 

[mitsutuner]

I used Bar's stop leak on my 91 tsi, fixed the rad leak in the cooling fins, & it never hurt the turbo, cracked the head or block.
Defiant, is your suggestion based on experience or hypothetical guess?

 

[Bostedquest]

Ok, a small amount of steam is nothing to worry about. That is normal expansion, explulsion.

When is is boiling however, you have issues.
Either coolant is bad, you have a bad mix of water/coolant (too lean on the coolant) or you have some source of extreme heat directly hitting a coolant passage. IE cracked head, block or bad head gasket. Also, a faulty water pump can be to blame.

Now, to test these theories, start with a coolant pressure tester. Take it operating pressure. listen for bubbles. If nothing there, more on to a leakdown and or compression test. Also PULL THE DAMN PLUGS! if one is spotless and the others dirty, or all spotless and they have been driven on for a while... they did not clean themselves with a scrubby...

Overheating/lack of heat is a different issue, that almost solely replies on the thermostat and rad cap. But even enough time, the worse of the problems will take those symptoms as well.

 

[diab0liK]

ok, so I let it warm up this morning, and the upper hose got hot, and the lower did not. I presumed clog, so went and bought a flush kit. When I went to attach the tee they included, the heater inlet was all the way in the back behind the motor, so I decided not to even use it, just removed the lower rad hose, and flushed w/ a hose through the radiator. Then I filled it back up, and i still wasn't getting any drop in the level, so I'm pretty sure it's the t-stat. I thought the t-stat was just under the upper hose line that goes into the block, removed the two #4 12mm bolts, and now I'm thinking it's in the housing underneath that?

If anyone can point me to helping find the t-stat, that would be great, i'm about to search around on the forums a bit.

Late,
-diab0liK

 

[diab0liK]

ok.

So I was going to flush the system w/ a flush kit earlier today, but the heater intake being all the way behind the motor (and the idea of tapping into that line didn't sound like much fun, so I just disconnected the lower radiator hose, and flushed w/ a hose through upper radiator line.

Filled back up, and even after the motor would heat up, tstat wasn't doing anything, so I proceeded to replace that.

After replacing the tstat, I filled up w/ coolant, and then ran the motor w/o the cap, and after a quick second, the coolant was already gone. Turned out the gasket was ####ed up for where the upper hose goes into the tstat housing. So I then fixed that, put it all back together, and topped it off w/ coolant. Now I'm still not sure if the tstat is working right, b/c it bubbled for like a good 25 mins or so, and when it got a little low after 10-15 mins, I added a little water, but it would never really get low enough to need to add a substantial amount, and furthermore, after 30+ mins of idling, and even a couple times of me holding it at 2k-3k rpm's for 30 seconds or so, it never even really got quite up to the middle level, just a hair underneath. Never even boiled over, at all.

On the upper hand, it didn't overheat at all, but I still had no heat from the blower when in the car.

Oh, and when I'm running the heat in the car, should I have it on direct pull from outside, or recirculating?

Anyway, I don't know what I should be led to believe here. I didn't adjust the tstat at all out of the box, but it was basically exactly the same as the one I pulled. I think I put the tstat back in the right way, too......w/ the spring portion on the block side of the housing, and the little probe part sticking out, and into the lower radiator hose.

Oh, I also forgot to mention, that after that 30 mins of running, the upper radiator hose was fairly hot (not too hot to touch, but definitely a decent temp) and the lower one was lukewarm. Now from what I recall, this points to a blockage, so does this leave the heater core suspect to being blocked? Should I go back and get another flush kit (took the other one back when I got the tstat) and actually go through the hassle of splicing it into the heater line in the back and flushing it or what? On the upside, at no point in time did my overflow tank vent any steam or anything, and I had the cap off the whole 30 mins, and never saw any kind of oil, or anything suspicious running through it.

If pics would help, let me know, I can take some (if I can find my usb cable ) but I don't think that's going to accomplish much in this situation.

Also, if anyone could confirm my thought that that line running in the back, behind the block is the heater intake line, I would appreciate it.

Any other suggestions would also be fantastic.

-diab0liK