New to the 240(especially vert) with problems-a little pic heavy

[yourbullit]

i'll also use this as my intro.

i bought a 1994 vert w/130k on it. one owner. top was replaced 6 years ago and the back window is decent. it also came with the original boot cover which i thought was a score after looking at the buyers guide.

the body is clean, car fax checked out.

interior is crap as expected: seat bolsters out, hole in carpet by hump.

also came with original dealer sticker.







as for the car:





it ran rough as hell when i first got it, drove it that way for about 50miles to my uncles (the mechanic) house. it ran rough but didn't overheat or anything. turns out it was the #4 injector and after that was replaced it ran smooth.

until the other day when my woman was driving it, she said it began to overheat and drive rough again. before she could make it to a safe place it started to smoke from under the hood (steam i guess) and blowing heavy white smoke out the tailpipe. then we had it towed home and i began using the search button.

thinking head gasket, but i don't have the symptom of water in the oil(milky gray color) don't know if that rules out head gasket but after looking under the hood i found that it looks like im missing something. here is a pic......(back left side firewall)



i've searched related topics like heater core which i think may have something to do with it. but all the posts i found the photos were no longer being hosted.

i just started a new job and have not had a chance to mess with it yet. any ideas on where to start would be great.

thanks


Modified by yourbullit at 2:35 PM 1/22/2009

[biggie]

Being that close on that pic I can't tell exactly where it is, a wider shot would help me, but someone might know.

[Eikon]

That is in fact the connections that go to the heater core.

Were they unplugged like that when you were driving or did you unplug those yourself?

[yourbullit]

i'm guessing its been like that for awhile. i haven't done anything to it other than the injector.

so do i need to connect those two to bypass the heater core?

also on the chance i do have a blown head gasket, does it hurt it to turn it on and run it(not drive)?

[Eikon]

I'd have to see more of the area to know exactly which hoses are which.. but I can tell you that if that is how you found it... that's bad.

There are a series of channels in and around the motor that circulate coolant to absorb the heat from the engine. Toward the back of the motor there are two hoses that should plug into the two white (looks orange on your picture) plastic outlets that are plugged into the firewall. Those two hoses take warm or hot coolant from the motor and circulate it through the heater core so that you can get heat in your cabin.

If you have those hoses unplugged... you have an issue.

Unless the hose that comes from the motor is plugged up, the coolant most likely has been spilling out onto the ground.

Have you checked the level of coolant? Is it full? If it stays full, then something is blocking the hose to the heater core and you are ok. If you ever want your heater to work you'll need to fix that.. but it won't harm the engine.

My fear is that having those hoses unplugged cause the coolant to run out, which prevents the system from actually cooling the car. That will very quickly lead to warped heads (bad head gasket) and other big problems.

I wouldn't run the motor unless you have full coolant levels. If you do have coolant full.... Turn the motor on for a while and see what happens. Open the bleeder screw and see if you get bubbles out of it. Watch those hoses at the firewall and see if anything comes out.

Let us know what you find or if you have further questions.

[Hijacker]

Someone ran the car low on coolant due to the heater core lines being disconnected. This in turn lead to either a blown headgasket or a cracked head from overheating. Now you have oil mixing in with what's left of the water in your radiator.

[yourbullit]

first off thanks for the insight on the way it works and after looking at it again, i found that i think it has already been bypassed. then noticed it in my first shots.

zoomed out to take another pic of the area......



also the line that im thinking is the bypass looks a little restricted the way its bent.....



another question comes to mind, i am thinking about putting in a new thermostat this weekend. and the instructions i found for bleeding the air out involves putting the heater on high.

am i screwed with a bypassed core or do i just go thru the motions as if it wasn't?

going to go and buy some much needed tools(jack+stands)

thanks


Modified by yourbullit at 12:00 PM 1/25/2009

[Eikon]

You're ok.. looks like they routed the in tube into the out tube and just bypassed the heater core. Perhaps the heater core rusted and sprung a leak and they just said, "screw it... no heat needed"?

To replace the thermostat, just proceed with the instructions and forget about the heater core and heat, etc.. You basically just have that circuit eliminated, so everything else is fine.

Let us know how the tstat project and bleeding goes and if that helps the situation.

Good luck.

[heatw]

it's entirely possible to have a head gasket failure where only the coolant passages are leaking into the cylinders or where one cylinder leaks into the the other.. both of those don't give you instantly milky coolant..

happend to me.. on my ca18.

your ok to run the car with a blown head gasket, long as your oil isn't contaminated, shouldn't cause damage. i drove mine 100km to home on it blown. which isn't recommended but it's not like your going to die from doing so.

if you start it up and its still smoking it's very likely headgasket. especially with the running rough part

bad themostats don't explain smoke only over heating

[yourbullit]

well i've had to wait for a payday to get the car towed to my uncles house. so i should be back at it in a while, depending on how long it takes to do a resurface and valve job.

its in the master mexican mechanics hands now.

on the plus side he told be about a great new gasket made my bubbalicious. just chew it up and set it in. so no worries here

[AZ89two4Tsx]

on the plus side he told be about a great new gasket made my bubbalicious. just chew it up and set it in. so no worries here

I hope that was a joke.

[Bstrd240SX]

no

I hope that was a joke.

pe, havent you seen the ads in all the major magazines?

they have a version you pour in your intake too, seams when it gets blown into the combustion chamber it forms a bubble that coats the cylinder walls and seals the head gasket leak

[AZ89two4Tsx]

[yourbullit]

yeah thats the one

[yourbullit]

for those of you that would like to hear about another vert on the road.

i've had it back for the past couple of weeks i just wanted to drive it around before i posted. just in case something else popped up. but nothing yet

head gasket and t-stat were replaced, so now the car is on the road.

enjoying the sun much more now

i haven't really modified anything yet though i have replaced a few things, like:the trunk struts

headlights

and it didn't come with any sort of license plate holder up front so i had to make my own. (cops can be picky around here)

also am looking for some s14 seats now. the seats now are killer(in the painful way)

also, like most the horn in the steering wheel doesn't work, so i was going to see about just installing a universal horn button on a temp fix. but i can't seem to find a good place to go thru the firewall.

thanks all

[biggie]

Good to hear.

If you want, I have a stock front plate holder, would just have to drill the holes in the front bumper if they aren't there.

[yourbullit]

thanks biggie, but i'm quite proud of my bent piece of steel

[squonk]

If you want your vert to stay on the road you may think about a new top soon. It may look as good as it did 6 years ago, but if you take a look at websites giving tops *like topsonline.com* that's like the max life of a top. In other words, within the next 2 years or so top will be needed. It won't be a necessity if you don't live in a cold climate though .

[yourbullit]

yeah besides rain its a comfortable climate, i should get another year or so out of it.

the top isn't frayed anywhere and its still nice and tight

i'll start saving up anyway