Just wondering about a problem I just had. After a severe overheat due to a hole in my rad I just paid big bucks for a new rebuild with 3mm seals. I bought a Fluidyne rad, inter cooler, down pipe and so on, so it would not happen again. I just went for a Sunday drive trying to break in the new engine and I glanced at the water temp, holy ****! I turned it off popped the hood and left the fans run, it was hotter then hell but I caught it soon enough.

My ? is, on a rebuild that was a serious overheat, would you not think to replace the thermo stat. I was told it was a good thing that I did not ruin the engine because they do not warranty overheated engines. I think bullshit ,it is there fault not replacing a 20.00 thermostat after spending over 9 K. Maybe I am just mad but what do you guys think?

Also how ruff should it idle with a steet port?

Thanks

 

Was the coolant buzzer on? also check your levels... im not sure if they are suppost to replace a temp sensor. The last owner on my car overheated the engine, put in a reman, and sold it to me. I had almost the same problem with mine but the upper radiator hose busted and poured all the coolant out. I fixed it and put the coolant all in.... man it had the roughest idle untill the coolant flowed through the engine. I was almost sure I damaged something... but it ran fine after like 5 minutes.

 

The thermostat should be replaced every couple of years or 60k miles anyway...

When was the last time you replaced it?

 

I bought the car only a few months ago and it was screwed to begin with. I had it for about a week and it overheated on Me driving 65 on the highway. So just being a newbie I went to the specialty shop to install a rebuilt. I also bought everthing I needed for a reliable car. After I got the car home it started to leak oil out of the seal on the oilpan and so on. It also would not idel properly and sounded like it was missing alot. Is that from the street port? The whole thing is very dissapointing for Me and like I said I paid big bucks to this shop and trusted them instead of going to a dealer(choke)

The car has been sitting for a few days so I went to start it. Major ruff running, smoke, everytime I turn it off and restart even after it is warm it ramps up to 3000 RPM? Did it fry again? The warining buzzer never went off but it did get hot enough to spew a little coolant as it was sitting with the hood open and the fans on.
I am scared to take it out of the garage.

Thanks guys for the replies any help is greatly appreciated.

 

If you had a repair shop install a rebuilt motor then yes they should have replaced the t-stat all the hoses and made sure the car was operating correctly. this is what you are paying all that extra money for. they should also cover any problem that was not caused by neglect. a stuck t-stat days after picking up the car is not the owners fault. it is a defective part that the shop should take care of. if you had some one rebuild the motor and you installed it yourself or had someone do it as a side job you are one your own(this is why it costs alot less, no warranty on the labor). the t-stat is not something a engine rebuilder will change. they usually just remove all the manifolds and water pump housing if they are left on the engine and install them after the rebuild as a courtesy. big engine shops usually won't even take an engine unless you have removed all these parts so there is no confusion as to what they worked on.

 

Thanks for the reply Tim. I am sure that the seal is gone so I will not run the car again untill I tow it back to the shop.

I guess they used a T-stat out of a older car with no KMS on it.
The buzzer never went off and the coolant light still does not work also? I guess they were not repaired or looked at either.

Tim should it have ran so ruff from a street port, or is this because or the oil leak? Sounded like it was missing.

Thanks Again

 

a streetport will run a little differently like a piston car with a big cam. but if tuned right it should not be that noticeable and all those things you mentioned should have been checked when they installed the engine. if you are a mechanic you need to make sure you fix all the problems that may have blown the original engine, or the new engine may suffer the same fate as the original. This is why an engine overhaul costs several thousand dollars. If they only change the engine and don't address all the systems in the car they should be doing it a discount rate and telling you in advance that they are not going to check the rest of the car.

 

What did they do yo the engine for 9 k?

 

The rebuild was 5400.oo Can with porting and 3mm seals. The rest was for upgrades, IC,Fludyne Rad,DP,MP,fuel pump.

I think I found the problem, maybe an air lock in the cooling system. I drained it and refilled and it seems to be running normal. The low coolant sensor is definately not working!