I replaced my radiator and my Thermostat. I had to do that cuz I cracked my other one driving home while the temp was above the red. Now, it's fine with heat, but I hear a knocking coming from the head somewhere. I know it's not from my install i.e. loose parts, cuz I checked. It is just like a Valve tick, but it's a knock (deeper tone). Here's the interesting part. I can only hear it when I'm at idle and it goes away when I depress the clutch pedal. My question is: Do you think this knock could be a result of running it too hot for too long? Why would it only be there at idle, and go away when I press the clutch? Could I have damaged a mechanical component or the head gasket? Could it be the fact that an oil change is due (could I have helped the oil breakdown by running it so hot, or something)?
Another noise (that I've always had) is a humming/rubbing sound, like something spinning against something else. It also goes away when I press the clutch, and comes back when I let off. Seems like it's a clutch plate/flywheel thing to me, but I don't know anything about clutches. My shifting is also notchy at certain picky times. So I wonder if it's mis-adjusted, or just needs the three bottles of Redline MT I've got waiting for a good day. Thoughts? Thanks alot. PEACE. Tek.
ok, new rad and new noise too...?
if your temp was in the red, i am 99.9% sure that you blew a head gasket, so that would be the popping. change the oil and when the car is cold, open the rad cap and see if you see bubbles, that means you need a new head gasket but is not the only thing. make sure you have all of the air out of the system, there is a bleed hole by the temp sensor. the clutch sounds like its misadjusted, and is not disengaging right. before you do anything with the clutch, put the red line in and see if that fixes it.hope this helpsmichael
if the head gasket is blown, id say asap, there will be bubbles coming from the radiator you will see them when you have the cap off, dont take it off untill its cool, but if theres no bubles, a head gasket may still be leaking. do a compression test, see if it is low on any thing. if you dont replace the head gasket, you may overheat again and cause more damage. does your exhaust have any white smoke or any thing and what caused the overheating in the first place. make sure all of the air is out of the system and since you just replaced the radiator, check the coolant AT THE RADIATOR, not the expantion tank those arnt accurate bcause rad is what will go down, and it may not pull any from the tank. just uncap it and make sure that there is still enough for it to be full, check it every day and if you overheat again, or if you see the temp going up, turn off the car and have someone pick you up and get it towed. the bubbles are caused by gasses blowing past the combustion chamber and into the water jacket, the area with coolant that surrounds each piston. the gasses will blow into it and bubble. if coolant gets into the combustion chambers, it will make white smoke
Ok. No smoke. No bubbles. Temp has never gone up again, and I've driven it fairly hard up hills, traffic on a hill, freeway (25miles each way) a couple times. I'm pretty confident that it was a bad thermostat. I checked the rad level a day or two after I replaced it, but I will check again. How would I do a cheap compression test? I haven't got a shop or any heavy equipment. What do I need? Thanks for your help 240kid. PEACE. Tek.