HELP overheating problem, even after changing common cooling parts
 

I have a 13b single turbo with an upgraded fluidyne radiator. My car began overheating intermittently and eventually got worse and worse. I've changed my thermostat twice-- now running a lower temp thermostat. I've changed radiator cap, installed a mazmart upgraded water pump, new samco radiator hoses and it still overheats. It doesn't matter if I'm driving on the street or highway, the temps keep creeping. It only overheats after about 45min- 1hr of driving. I dont' know what else to do.

I have dual fans, but one is busted. I don't think that would make a difference in freeway driving however.... When it over heats, I loosen the radiator cap a bit to let the vapor/a little radiator fluid escape. Then I top it off and start the motor again and the temp drops immediately. I feel like there is pressure building up somewhere that isn't letting the coolant circulate. Please advise cuz i'm all out of ideas!

Thanks guys:nod:

A few things:

Do you have the oem belly pan on the car? If not, air will not be directed properly thru your radiator.

How many miles on your engine, and how old is it. Could be bad coolant seals. If so, time for rebuild.

Fix your fans. One fan is not enough to keep temps down in traffic, especially on a warm day.

im in the process of fixing my fan right now. How would I know if it's a coolant seal? jeez i was hoping it wasn't going to come to this. its 70k on the chassis, but the motor was rebuilt a few thousand miles ago approx 4-5k by jeff at rotary power... however, they did really shitty work so I wouldn't be surprised if its messed by now. :(

should i try putting some of that fix a leak shit?

nope

When you add more coolant to the car, how much are you adding? If you are adding quite a bit over the course of time you are losing coolant aka you need a rebuild.

well what can i do in the meantime? i dont even know of it is the coolant seal

Having both fans working really makes a huge difference. I had similar problem when I first got my FD and didn't realize one of the fans was dead. Temp start to creep after 30min of driving on street or freeway. After fixing the fan, I haven't had any problems with over heating. By the way, how high are your temps getting?

the temp will go near redline and will probably reach redline if I don't shut down.... I'll fix the fan now and see what happens.

Do you have aftermarket temp gauge? If not, I highly recommend you getting one, because by the time the stock gauge hits high/red, your looking at 120+ degrees!!!

Do you have the OEM belly pan on the car?????????????????????

No aftermarket temp gauge, but I'll look into that. I'm usually fine as long as the temps dont go over 1/2.

Yes, the radiator shrouding is all there.

You have a single turbo, so you must have some sort of engine management. If you have a Power FC you can monitor your temps on the commander.

To determine if you have a bad coolant seal perform (or take it some place) a coolant hydrocarbon test, this detects exhaust gas in the coolant. You can buy a tester kit at NAPA part# 7001006 https://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/C...282509199&An=0

https://partimages.genpt.com/largeimages/223665.jpg

If my car keeps overheating after the fan fix, i'll be sure to get that.

Someone also told me that the fill section of the motor is supposed to use a non-pressurized cap and only the expansion tank should use a pressurized cap.

--Is this true? I'm currently using my stock reservoir tank, does this mean I should change it since it does not have a pressurized cap? or can I keep using the stock reservoir and remove the spring load from the filler cap on top of the motor?

The AST has a pressure cap, the filler neck next to the alternator does not need a pressure cap, but it does not effect anything to have one.

The previous owner must have removed the AST since the filler cap on top of the water pump runs directly to the coolant reservoir.

Would it be possible to use one of these recovery tanks between the filler cap and the reservoir with the same effect?

Or if I get a pressurized reservoir?

cut the top off of a soda bottle, open where you put the fluid and put the bottle in there drinking side down. if it bubbles when it starts to warm you have a coolant leak.

Make sure you have gotten all the air out of your cooling system as well.

if it wasn't your coolant seals initially causing the overheating, it sounds like they would be pretty much done by now. Often all it takes is one overheat incident to ruin them. Hope it works out for you though

Could I use one of these in between the reservoir and the filler cap?

That isn't going to fix your problem. Fix you fan, drain your coolant and mix 75/25 water/coolant AND MAKE SURE YOU BLEED THE SYSTEM. When you bleed the system make sure you turn you heater on so you get the air out of that out. If you bleed your system right and it overheats then could be that your coolant seals are gone.

Do you have a Datalogit? If so what do you have your fan settings on?

If your AST has been eliminated you must have a pressure cap at the filler neck.

Buy a Lisle funnel http://www.denlorstools.com/home/dt1...ng_system.html

http://image.become.com/imageserver/...l-lis24610.jpg

Doesnt he also need the second gen presser cap piece? The one with the little nipple on it, for the over flow? and the one at the top of the filler neck gets capped? With that adapter nipple going to the overflow with the pressure cap on that? :nod:

Example pic -
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...h_HPIM1149.jpg

He already has it.