this guy i know has a 93 base that he's trying to bring from washington state.
basically... im the only one on my base (and probably within 50miles of the base) with an FD. he wanted to know if i could help him out with his car. he tells me that he has an overheating problem, what it does is starts up, runs for a bit, the temp gauge goes up and the coolant light/buzzer comes on then the car stalls. he has no idea what it could be and, quite frankly, niether do i. i told him id ask you guys for help on his behalf.
anyone have any ideas?

 

Sounds bad.

Check for coolant leaks, be sure to check the turbos and throttlebody cause they have coolant lines running to them. If no leaks then go get a cooling system pressure checker at an auto parts store and pressure test your cooling system. IF you lose pressure the leak could be internal seals. That means rebuild.

You could just have air in the system and it needs to be filled and burped. Hope for this.

Does he see lots of white smoke at start up and while the car is running? This is a sign of a blown coolant seal and would require a rebuild.

But if it has overheated and he has seen the needle on the temp gauge rise anywhere above the normal level then it could have blown the coolant seal.

Good Luck.

 

Agreed, someone doing a coolant change with no knowledge of the system could easily have left it only 2/3 full.

 

first of all, listen to what x605p747R1 said coolant pressure test first, and see any external leaks first
thx andy

 

It could be a busted thermostat that is stuck closed.

 

thanks... i'll pass this info along to him.
he said he hasnt noticed smoke or anything on startup... that was the first thing i asked him. his car is still at his partens place in WA. i'll see if he can arrange to have the cooling system checked.

 

Where in Washington, I maybe able to help.