Water temp raises at idle, lowers when cruising...please help

[GinNBoost]

Ok, I recently discovered this problem after installing my 14b with my friends. Now one thing I should note is that we did not use coolant, but instead using water to fill the radiator hose. (We did not have coolant at the time). Also the only fan installed is the driver side fan. I'm awaiting to purchase a slim fan. So now that all those small stipulations are out of the way, here's the problem: originally the car was blowing out coolant and water kept being dumped underneath the car, so my coolant reservoir was getting drained quickly, and the radiator hose wasn't being pressurized at all. Figured it was the thermostat. So we changed that...no more signs of any of the previous problems, and the old thermostat appeared to be dead anyway. New problem: Whenever I'm driving and come to stop for a few seconds/minutes, my water temp gauge rises slighty...almost up to the 3/4 way point. Then once I start moving again, it lowers back down to the normal temp. Very odd. Does anyone know what could be causing this? Is it the lack of "real" coolant? Lack of two fans? Please help, I don't want to risk overheating, and I don't want my new turbo to be ruined... thanks.

 

[DSM_One]

The left fan, the one you do not have, cools the engine esp. during idle.

 

[Kevin90GSX]

Hmmm I know several people who are running just the one fan over by the intake and they arent having any issues.

Did you perhaps get air in there when you were filling up the coolant? My suggestion is to dump the water and get the 50/50 from Walmart and top it off with water. Also try replacing your coolant cover. It may be leaking causing you to not have any pressure.

Ive seen it happen before.

 

[Gigaah]

Well unless you have it wired it differently the drivers side fan only comes on when the AC is on. Its the passenger side fan that kicks on for cooling/

 

[GinNBoost]

Update: I replaced the thermostat, radiator cap and still the problem persists. Whenever I'm sitting at a light...my water temp gauge will go up to about 3/4 of the way...then when I give it gas, I see white smoke coming out of my exhaust. Anyway else know what may be causing this? I hope it's not the headgasket...but how could that be? The car wasn't touched for 3 days but everything was working perfectly before the turbo install. Could it be the water pump? Or is it my lack of a passenger side fan? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Gigaah]

You need to do a compression test. The white smoke, if antifreeze is a good sign of head gasket issues but you can't know for sure till you test.

 

[IllEagl]

You NEED the passenger side fan, it is the primary fan. The drivers side fan only comes on with the A/C.

 

[bhop]

"Now one thing I should note is that we did not use coolant, but instead using water to fill the radiator hose. "


Also, along with re-wiring the other fan, I would replace the water with coolant. That'll probably fix it.. from my own experiences, just water gives the symptoms you're describing. Mine overheated in the desert and I only had water to refill it.

 

[quest49s]

Water disapates heat better then coolant, but coolant has a higher boiling point than water. Coolant also lubes seals inside the cooling system, such as the waterpump seals and o-rings.

100% water cools better then a 50/50 mix but is limited to its 212*F boiling point, In Colorado I always preferred a 70water/30coolant mix because it wasn't as hot as Arizona where I now run 60water/40coolant, both mixes also had Water Wetter

coolant raises the boiling point, but varies dependent on the percent mixed w/ water.

I recently had a similar problem, but was a simple fix, When I put my motor and radiator back in I wired my Spal fan backwards and it was pushing air instead of pulling it. So it was drawing +150* air through my radiator but as soon as I started moving again it would cool down.

So to answer your question, here are some things to check:

Is the primary fan running, if so what voltage is being supplied to it?

If you are at a stop and keep your rpm above 3500 while you sit, will your temp still raise? If not then signs point to your water pump. How many miles are on your water pump?

Do a compression check if the latter fails to show anything.

Good Luck

 

[GinNBoost]

Thank for the replies guys. I'm gonna put some coolant in with water and see what happens. Also my friend was telling me that I didn't need the passenger side fan, and he ran on just the driver side fan during the summer...so he thinks the fan isn't the problem. I'm the second owner of the car but the previous owners records says that the water pump, timing belt, 60K maintenance was all performed...right now the car has 91k on it. So yeah. I'll let you know what happens. THanks again.

 

[SlowSpyder]

The boiling point of water wont be 212 deg in the cooling system. Remember water will become pressurized and the boiling point raises 3 degrees per psi, say a 15lb cap will raise the boiling point to 257 degs. So i dont think thats the problem though i do agree with everybody else on putting back the passenger fan unless you wired the a/c fan to run once it gets hot.
The passengerside fan is the radiator fan and the driverside fan is the a/c condenser fan. Normally if the coolant temps are around 203-210 the radiator fan is on at medium speed and the a/c fan is off when the car is under 28mph. If temps reach above 210 then both fans should run and this would be able to cool down but the thing is even though the a/c fan is on, its only running at medium speeds while the radiator fan should be a full speed. You took out the main radiator fan so you just lost the ability to cool down your car effectively at idle because without the main radiator fan the car will run hot due to running on the a/c fan which will only turn on after it hits 210 degs and it will only run at medium speeds

 

[GinNBoost]

I should also note that whenever I turn off the car I can almost hear the water boiling (or what sounds like boiling at least) underneath the radiator cap. And it was a cold night tonight and I noticed that whenever I sat at a light or sat still...the water temp would remain normal. So I don't know if that changes anything or eliminates any possible suspects?

 

[SlowSpyder]

once the water becomes depressurized it should boil. If its boiling and spewing into your overflow tank and it throwing coolant or water onto the ground then you have either a head gasket problem or a crack in the head. If it boils abit and its not spewing onto the ground from the overflow tank then you should be ok. To be sure I would put that passengerside radiator fan back on unless you rewired the other one