kuning

*OK, so here's the story. I just got my car back from the panel beater 2 weeks ago after 2 months sitting in the workshop. Went to another workshop to get my cluster problem fixed up.

*Brought the car back home last week, went for some 1 hour drive. no problem
*On Tuesday I drove the car for about 10 minutes (Back n forth). Normal driving, didnt bash the car. Nothing wrong with the car (apart from me scraping the front bar in my garage).

*Last night I was about to go to play pool about 15 minutes drive from my place. Gave it some squirts but didn't hit redline. Halfway there, saw my stock water temp went up a bit. Drove it below 3K for the next 4 mins and the car overheated, coolant burst from the overflow tank. I switched off the engine and let the engine cool down while I went to play pool.

*3 hours later, I drove the car straight away (no warmp up) affraid that the car would overheat again.
*Cranking the car was kindda hard as if the starter motor or battery is weak.
*Went to a servo (petrol station) and opened the radiator cap--> no water.
Topped it up with water. bubbles were coming out from the radiator tank (?? that thing where the rad cap sits).
Went back home, water temp stayed normal.
Parked the car and bleed the radiator with tap water. Bubbles were coming out from the rad tank (On last attemp, no air bubble was seen).

*After I switched off the engine, I could hear a sound like water boiling just near the water jacket / underneath the TB.


*On another note, my friend (apprentice mech.) did however, revved the car 3-3.5K during cold start. Dunno what he was trying to pull But eitherway it wouldn't result in overheating would it?

So my question is, What's wrong with my car? How come it's suddenly overheated? What should I do? Can I drive the car with mixed tap water and the coolant I used to bleed it?
Can't be the heater core because I've had the heater core replaced with a brass one about 5 months ago and there were no coolant leaking into the cabin nor steam coming out from the demister vent.


help


UPDATE:
Went for a dyno day this morning. Water temp has been consistently normal. Stock water gauge stayed just below the middle.
Dyno shoot out made 141.3KW ~ 185hp (?) @6700 RPM. (please note, this is Aussie spec dyno i.e.lower readings).
Engine run fine the whole day except for the regular backfiring.

So what the heck happened on friday night? Why did it overheat and for some reasons it's running normal now?

Engine mods included: aftermarket DP, fart canon muffler, intake pods and MINE's ecu. Not the best setup I know, but that's how I got the car when I bought it. So far I have been focussing on fixing the exterior (done) and interior since I don't drive the car much.

seanbrowning

How much lower is the aussie dyno? Just curious because that number seems like 80hp off what it should be?

kuning

anyone else might be able to help me perhaps?

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

How old is the thermostat?

Cgotto6

iTrader: (8)

Your gonna want to get an aftermarket water temp gauge as the stock one is known to be worthless. Pretty much if the stock needle moves above "normal" theres a chance your coolant seals are toast.

kuning

Yep, I realize that long ago before I even bought the FD , read it from the FAQ's sticky.

kuning

True, haven't thought of this yet. It's quite old as I remember. Will look into this. Thanks Mahjik.

On another note, my number plate is currently zip tied on the front bumper mesh which means it's blocking the airflow to the radiator. Can this contribute to the overheat problem?

Here's a pic of how it looks like