Dumbest Question Ever?

[Two-Fortee]

So...I just did my turbo install, and went back to stock because of a little mishap. I got some nice taka lines, and I was getting confused about which coolant end goes in which side of the turbo, got it figured out I think. Put the end coming out of the block around the turbo and onto the side furthest from the block, and the one from the intake mani going down and coming into the turbo in between the block and the turbo. I fire her up shes all good, revving it up a bit and whatnot. Then a notice the coolant in my tank is splashing around quite a bit. Soo..

Is it normal for coolant to splash around like that? Is it just the water pump doing its job?

For some reason today it stuck out at me and it never has before. Just want to make sure I got these lines right, I want my car running nice and smooth and I don't need a dumb error messing everything up. I was thinking maybe my lines were backwards, but then I convinced myself it was normal, then I had no idea, and now I am here. So. Go!

[Zero260]

sounds like you've got the lines right.

what do you mean splashing around? maybe your rad cap is bad and it's not holding presure.

[Two-Fortee]

Coolant in the little plastic tank off to the right of the engine, near the intake manifold. When the car is at idle it looks kinda like a wave pool. Its not going like nuts, but I thought it just sat there and did nothing, but in mine its like.......moving around and all over.

[Myetball]

Coolant tank splashing is not normal. With the motor cold, take off the radiator cap and crank (don't start) the engine. If water shoots out you have problems.

Start by double checking all your coolant/heater lines for proper connections and make sure no hoses are kinked. If everything is good with the hoses, run a compression check.

[Two-Fortee]

Oh ****, why what are you thinking?

[rico05]

If you are getting that motion, that is compression gasses potentially entering the cooling system. IE: Head gasket is blown.

[Two-Fortee]

oh ****, ya that would make sense the car was stolen and beat to ****. How hard is a ca18 headgasket job compared to most other cars? And I'm gonna search but what was that one head gasket everyone recommended again? I forgot...

ps, on a budget, but willing to "pay to play", just want something affordable.

[Myetball]

If you're motor is pretty much stock, why not just get a Felpro headgasket and some new head bolts. Difficulty isn't any more than any other DOHC 4-banger, probably even easier than some...ehem....4G63T.

[Two-Fortee]

k so my coolant was on max, I emptied a bit out and the splashing went down a fair bit.

Soo...I was driving today, and I was going mad slow to make sure everything was cool. Looks like I forgot to tighten my intercooler piping all the way and it blew off. Good thing I was doing like 30 kms an hour. Weirdest thing ever though....I come to a stop, and notice under my car at the back wheel there is a trail of liqued going to my engine bay. So i pop the hood, sure enough piping is off, get that back in...and I take a look for where the coolant is coming from. Its all over the bottom left of my bumper and on the bottom of my cold pipe. I look up into the engine bay and under my battery is a littttle wet but not a lot, and I CANT find where it is coming from. Mind you it was dark. There is still normal amounts of coolant in the tank considering what I leaked, but where is this coming from? I was thinking the rad or something because the hoses seem to be dry. Also, the exhuast mani and intake manifold area are bone dry. Its at the front of my car somewhere on the passenger side (if ur driving a 240). Any hints on what went wrong or where to look? And Why the hell did this happen at the same time?
Modified by Two-Fortee at 3:45 AM 5/28/2008

[Two-Fortee]

My ultimate goal with this car will not be more than 275whp. I want something thats tough and sturdy but I don't need to go tomie or anything. Right now I'm around 200whp.

[Myetball]

So I'm thinking, the overflow tank is supposed to accept coolant from the radiator once enough pressure has built up to pop the radiator cap. Maybe it's time for a new cap.

[Two-Fortee]

ok ... update !

Now the coolant tank (probably did it before but never noticed) is like bubbling almost when the car turns off. Doesnt matter if its running for 20 seconds of 20 minutes. When I cut the power, the coolant tank sounds like water boiling, and kinnda looks that way too. Also, the coolant line from the rad to the resevoir was really hot after a 20 minute drive...Thoughts? I'm thinking the head gasket like stated above...it only makes sense.

The thing is though...the car drives fine...thats why I'm not sure what to do...

[Myetball]

You need to run a compression check. If it comes up pretty much even across all four cylinders it's probably not the headgasket. If compression is good, get a new thermostat and a new radiator cap, put those in and see what happens. If you don't have a compression tester, swap out the t-stat and cap anyway....they're cheap enough.

[splintercell]

MY KA used to bubble in the overflow too, but the reservoir had duct tape holding the cracks back. i put another used reservoir with no holes or cracks and it didnt bubble anymore. maybe because there was to much air getting in. IDK

[Two-Fortee]

You need to run a compression check. If it comes up pretty much even across all four cylinders it's probably not the headgasket. If compression is good, get a new thermostat and a new radiator cap, put those in and see what happens. If you don't have a compression tester, swap out the t-stat and cap anyway....they're cheap enough.

ok, will run a compression test asap.