Car running...Coolant not flowing.

[tokendog]

I got my SR20DET up and running tonight. I had a few issues with grounds, etc. but sorted that out and its cranking right up.

I do have a few other issues though. For one, my temp gauge is not working and its an S13 blacktop in a 93 240SX.

I can not use an aftermarket one until I get the correct adapter from phase2.

Also, the bigger issue, is that my coolant is not circulating. The lower radiator hose is pumping coolant up, and it is getting to my heater core, but it does not appear to be coming back out nor is it going to the upper radiator hose. Neither of those two are pressurized.

What could be causing this? I only ran the car for about 5 minutes. Any thing I should worry about? Is it possible that there is something blocking the coolant? I was thinking of just removing the hoses from the heater core and looping the back to each other near the intake.

Also, does any one know or can any one tell me how to check my TPS to make sure it is set right? The car idles at about 1000 then jumps to 1500 and stays there. When taking the intake manifold apart, I took the TPS off and did not set it back where it originally was set to.

Someone said use a multimeter to check it and make sure it is set to .37, but I have not had any luck with that and could not get a reading. Any other ideas?

Please help me iron out these issues!

Thanks,Doyle

[romerider153]

jack the front of the car up and let it idel for awhile its faster if you have an electric fan and can just leave it off but eitherway jack it up and let it run for a decent amount of time once you fell the hose to the left get hot you know your tstat opend start squezzing it to help to circulate the air out and keep toping off the radiator until no more can fit. and how do you know your temp gauge dosn't work if you only gave it 5 minutes to run

[tokendog]

well now I see that the coolant line from the back of the head to the turbo, a stainless steel line, is leaking. So I need to tighten that.

I also do not know if the temp gauge is working at the moment, but I do know that it was not working before I redid the head gasket. I let it run for about 5 minutes or more and the gauge did not move at all. I am just paranoid that the engine will overheat again ESPECIALLY with the coolant not flowing through the entire system.

I just do not feel like repairing another blown head gasket so soon after fixing my previous one.

Is there any chance the leaking SS line is allowing air in to the coolant and preventing it from pressurizing? It was also leaking from the heater hose area, the lower one, and it was not pressurizing the top one (L shaped one) from what I can tell...I am thinking of just looping those two and eliminating the heater core from the system.

Any issues I may need to be concerned about with it not pumping coolant through the system for such a short time? Any issues with air bubbles and the HG?

Thanks!!

[romerider153]

at first thats what i did only because there such a pain to get to and i didn't think about it till the motor was in but once i pulled the intake manifold off i cut and turned the hard line so it pointed in the right direction and still kept the nipple for the turbo but ur best bet is to fix all the leaks and try to bleed the system then worry about your gauge if i can remember right i think theres a little ground for that batch of sensors that bolts to the head or water neck i cant remember for sure but double check that

[tokendog]

at idle how long would it take an SR20DET to overheat? Without a gauge and radiator fluid running through it, I'm sure it would not take long at all...

[romerider153]

dude to even get the tstat to open with my sr it was a got 7 minutes at least and then i sat there bleeding it for another 10 minutes if the motor is already warm and u let it idel if its on stock turbo my guess is like 10 or 15 minutes i had a gt30 on stock rad so it was alittle quicker but ull be fine unless ur tstat is stuck closed which u might want to replace it just in case ull be fine if you dont fell the left hose getting hot it will take a little longer then u might expect

[tabasco122]

just get a real car, like a 3000gt

and i told you it would take longer than that to open up...

[tokendog]

well the thermostat did open as it was leaking from the turbo side of the engine. I am just worried about the car overheating again because that is what happened last time and it has been down for a long time.

I am going to fix that leak today and see if that works, but I need to get a water temp gauge so I can monitor my temps. From what I've read, the stock temp gauge basically has three readouts...

Cold,Hot,Dead car.

So I am going with an aftermarket one, but I don't feel like tapping the hole so I guess I'll have to get that Blitz radiator hose.
Modified by tokendog at 8:44 AM 10/16/2008

[tokendog]

just get a real car, like a 3000gt

and i told you it would take longer than that to open up...

Its actually VERY funny that you said to get a real car like a 3000GT, Ryan, after your car died multiple times from overheating =P

Hehehe

[romerider153]

yea good way to waste your first post on a nissan forum -1 for you already but the tstat is on the intake side its a reverse flow system so the turbo side hose will get hot quick but the intake side hose will take awhile after a couple minutes fell the hoses on will be hot and one will fell room temp for the most part once the other one starts getting hot you know your tstat opened and if you got the gauge already autozone sells a bunch of those thread adapter fittings cant garrentee theyll have the right one but its worth a shoot

[rwdisgoo]

wow

[tokendog]

wow

???