Overheated, please help!

[kouki-gymkhana]

I was driving on the highway this afternoon in some decently heavy traffic when I noticed that my temp. gauge was inching higher and higher towards the "H." It figured that it was the stop and go traffic that caused the temp. to rise but I've been in much heavier traffic before and never had any problems. The car was running normally and made no anomalous sounds. Well, I decided it might be best to pull over to the shoulder and shut her down to check things out. When I popped the hood, I noticed a small amount of steam and a significant stream of coolant leaking out onto the road off of the front undertray (I could not see an obvious source of the leak.) I let it cool down for an hour and then refilled the radiator and the fluid immediately ran out onto the pavement leading me to believe that the bottom radiator hose was busted or loose because the top hose was intact.

I had the car towed to the nearest garage where they refilled the radiator (without the leaking I had when I did it) and ran the car on the lift for more than 2 hours WITHOUT it overheating or leaking significantly. Only a small amount of coolant (a few drops every minute or so) leaked off the front side of the radiator. At this point, I'm like WTF! Now, I'm no expert but it would seem to me that if the radiator was cracked or if a hose had gone bad, the coolant should have leaked out immediately after the shop refilled the radiator and if the water pump failed, the car should have overheated while running on the lift for 2 hours. The shop is trying to convince me to purchase a new radiator but they cannot localize the source of the leak and I'm not about to drop $500 to replace it when I'm not even sure that it's the source of the problem.

Anybody have any thoughts/suggestions? Thanks in advance:help

[kriptix]

If you want to save some $ you can try to find a used radiator at a junkyard and put it in yourself.... If you need a new hose get one from Kraigen. A new raditor should runn you about $200-$300.

[NISTECH]

its probably your water pump they are known to temporarily "heal" themselves. if you can get a small inspection mirror(counter item at most part houses) and look at the weap hole under the water pump neck behind the pulley. see if you see a track of coolant running down the face of the pump. if so replace the pump. also recommend doing a t-stat when doing any coolant leak repairs.

[MikeB3284]

It sounds like your timing is off. The KA24e engine is extremly picky with timing, it has to be just perfect. If the timing is retarded even the slightest amount it will over heat. Try advancing the timing in extremly small increments. You can do this by turning the distributer counter clockwise. Turn it a very small amount and then let it run to see if it made a difference, if not try a little more. Be carefull not to advance it to much, if it is advanced too much the engine will ping and knock in high gears while going slow. i know this because i just did a timing chain overhaul on my ka24e, a ****ty job.hope this helps.

[kouki-gymkhana]

UPDATE:Thanks to all that have responded! I decided to take my chances and drive the car home (25mi) without having the garage fix it. To make a long story short, the car overheated twice during the journey, both times repeating the same symptoms described above. Each time that I'd refill the radiator, it would only take about 1/2 gallon to fill it. The car has been sitting outside my house for the past 2 weeks.

I have decided to replace the entire cooling system (radiator, water pump, thermostat, hoses, etc) and plan on doing the work myself. The parts will run me about $240 and I figure it's the best way to nip this cooling problem in the bud and obviate any cooling issues in the future. I may have to subsist on Ramen Noodles for a couple of months but I have to get my baby back on the road ASAP!

From my research, it appears that it should not be too difficult to replace these parts. Any quick words of wisdom? Thanks again and I'll keep you posted on my progress!;)

[greasybob]

Where are you going to get your radiator ???

I need to get one, too. Seems like you're getting a great price, much better than I've been finding.

[kouki-gymkhana]

I found an OEM spec radiator online for $128.00 +$15 S/H WITH a warranty. The company seems pretty reputable. I believe they're called Radiator Doctor. It isn't exactly the Koyo upgrade I'd been hoping for but on my budget, it's the best option at this point.

-kouki

[kouki-gymkhana]

I just wanted to thank all those that replied to my original plea for help. I successfully replaced the radiator, thermostat, hoses, water pump, and all of the belts with a little help from my buddy. The whole project took about 1/2 day and went off without any significant problems. Thanks again!

[Q45tech]

OEM SPEC? you mean one that roughly physically fits in the place of oem.

Whether the weight is the same, or the fins per inch, or the metal thickness, exact backpressure/restriction, or the quality of plastic or quality control is to be determined.

Usually inexpensive aftermarket radiators provide 88-95% of cooling of oem.............but that is much more than a used old oem does. At those prices you can change them out every 2-3 years [30-50k] and still be ahead.........unless the absolute lowest temperature is what you require.

As long as you don't exceed 194.99F [ecu cooltant temp head output temperature] the ecu will be happy and deliver the optimal ignition timing.