update

[Kyromoto]

well i just drained my radiator and oil (yes I know i shoulda done it first but i got excited and carried away) but anyways i think i found out why my car kept over heating. somtime from one of my rallies i must have loosened somthing because i barly had any radiator fluid in there, and i topped it off on my first rally. also my new oil (400 miles roughly on it) was really dirty. so i dont know what happened to make my oil so bad cus i changed the filter when i changed the oil last time. so does anyone know why my oil was bad and i had almost no radiator fluid? because i couldnt find and leaks or cracks or anything.

does anyone have any ideas? bout the over heating and somehow loss of radiator fluid?

 

[marsh63]

ok your oil mostly suffered from the overheating. called thermal breakdown. radiator fluid is mostlikly cause of a old hose and check where the hose go to the firewall for the heater. it seams to always leak there for alot of cars.

also check behind your ps pump to see if coolant is coming out from the water pump o ring. mostlikly it is a hose or few are bad. or water pump gasket.

did it seam like there was dirt in the oil or chunks. or was it just black?

 

[Kyromoto]

the oil seemed normal... just dark brown like most old oil... and when its light out tomorrow ill see if i can check all the hoses... but what if all the hoses are good? cause just from what i remember quick glance at em they all look fine. the rubber doesnt seem weathered or cracked and all of them seem tightly secured. so if it isnt a leaking hose what else could cause me to loose most of my radiator fluid?

o by the way my 90 GSX has less than 75 k on the engine... so its not so old compared to other 90 cars...

 

[marsh63]

maybe your radiator cap is bad. you should replace that anyways though. check your throttle body area there is some radiator hoses and like a little cap thing there too.

it a leak there is really no where else for the fluid to go. since your head is warped it can go into your motor a little but i doubt thats where it all went.

dose your radiator leak? any cracks in the plastic on it? if you have the radiator out tape off the bottom hole and put water in it all the way and then see if it leaks.

as far as the oil goes mine turns brown after about 600 miles too. its not like when you change the oil all the old oil gets out. also if you drive it hard it will change pretty quickly.

 

[tqmx1]

200K of easy driving is a lot less stress than 75K of being

 

[Kyromoto]

o ok. yeah ill check the TB and see if it could be leaking around there... and my radiator is metal, so i dont know what you mean about plastic parts. i bought a metal one after my plastic one exploded. and for the oil ya most of the driving on it was racing so i guess that explains the oil. and i wasnt planning on taking the radiator out but if im rebuilding the engine i might as well not cut corners like most say and just fix absolutly everything and make sure itll work right. i just wonder why i never noticed my radiator leaking??? im sure i would have noticed somthing like that. I dont know how i could have missed it but some how i did. i think because i did is why it over heated when i blew the head gasket and lost oil and stuff. does that sound like it could be why?

tg, i dont think all the 75k were from racing... it was only in maybe 6 races before i had it, and i put it through 2-3 medium races. i havnt done a stage rally on it just rallyx. so im guessing maybe at the most 2k or hard racing on it.

 

[marsh63]

ok well your motor over heated for a few reasons. 1. no radiator fluid or low (like what you said) 2. bad water pump or leaking pump (which can leak and you probably wont notice it leaking there since you cant really see it) 3. fans arnt working (dosnt explain loss in fluid though) 4 bad thermostat ( you better replace this) 5 bad radiator cap (better replace this too)

oh also check where the cap is on the elbow thing to see if its leaking there too.

what oil are you running in this car anyways? and between the last time you changed the oil did you do any hard pulls? driving hard or in hot temps kills your oil quick.

 

[tqmx1]

tg, i dont think all the 75k were from racing... it was only in maybe 6 races before i had it, and i put it through 2-3 medium races. i havnt done a stage rally on it just rallyx. so im guessing maybe at the most 2k or hard racing on it.

It sure sounds (at least as long as you have had it) It's been run hard and put away wet.

 

[Kyromoto]

yeah i definatly know my thermostat is bad cause it never told me i was over heating. i smelled smoke and pulled over but it was to late. is there a recomendation on a thermostat i should get?

and I have done some normal driving on my baby but its had more time being broke and sitting there because only now i have time and money to fix her. but if i get her working soon ill definatly take much better care of her. ill appreciate her more because im working on it so much and yeah. i dunno how many more races ill use it in. but its just SOOOOO fast and handles like a dream off road ill hate having to get another rally car. but like i said. doing all this work ill have much better understanding of my car and appreciation. shes my little baby

 

[marsh63]

a thermostat wont tell you its overheating all it dose is when the motor gets up to temp it allows coolant to flow back to the radiator to get cooled.

the thing that didnt tell you it overheated would be a temp sensor. um id go with a like 180 degree thermostat since were you live is hot right?

 

[Kyromoto]

OOOO... so i need both of those replaced huh... and umm it depends. last time it drove was at my moms house (high desert) but i brought it back to my house (fontana) so it isnt to hot or to cold. just averege i guess

 

[marsh63]

well just go to a auto store they are like $10 for the thermostat and ask them for where you live what temp to get. but as far as the sensor goes there is 2 wires that go to it that for some reason rip out real easy of the plastic connector. check to see on the water elbow thing(where the fill cap is) if all the sensors are plugged in before buying a new one.

 

[Kyromoto]

o ok... ill see bout doing that tomorrow... also tomorrow imma buy a balance shaft eliminator kit and put that in along with the head gasket and stuff... man this is ALOT of stuff i got to do .

 

[marsh63]

the ballance shaft is going to be hard to do unless you pull the motor. and the kit dosnt include the oil pump gaskets.

heres a thread on how to do it
Balance Shaft Eliminator Kit Install

 

[Kyromoto]

dammit so i need a cherry picker to do it???? ####. my grandpa got rid of his and hes only 1 i knew who had 1... and i forgot who but some 1 said i definatly should put that kit in and for 30 bucks it aint bad.

 

[tqmx1]

. but as far as the sensor goes there is 2 wires that go to it that for some reason rip out real easy of the plastic connector. check to see on the water elbow thing(where the fill cap is) if all the sensors are plugged in before buying a new one.[/QUOTE]

The sensor you are talking about is the AC over temp cutout. The sensor for the temp guage in on the lower portion of the thermostat housing (the single spade connector). The other one (with the two spades) is the sensor for the ECU.

 

[marsh63]

. but as far as the sensor goes there is 2 wires that go to it that for some reason rip out real easy of the plastic connector. check to see on the water elbow thing(where the fill cap is) if all the sensors are plugged in before buying a new one.

The sensor you are talking about is the AC over temp cutout. The sensor for the temp guage in on the lower portion of the thermostat housing (the single spade connector). The other one (with the two spades) is the sensor for the ECU.[/QUOTE]

ok well i was wrong. sorry for the info. i guess i was kinda close though.

well the balance shft kit comes with the plug, stub, and bearings.

on top of that you will need a pan gasket and oil pump hosing gasket kit. and some other stuff but i cant think right now. check the link i gave you for the parts.

you can install the kit in the car but it will be a pain.

 

[Kyromoto]

ok now im confused with all the sensors and wire stuff... ill have to read it more carfully tomorrow and see what i can figure out. where is the water pump fill thing so i can locate where the wires possibly could have fallen out.

 

[marsh63]

the water fill is where your radiator cap is.

this is on the left side of the head.

it has 3 sensors on it.

check to see that all are plugged in.

 

[Kyromoto]

thank you. that pic helped me very much. answered alot of questions. thanks man