Overheating

[DjPants]

93 240sx se I picked up this car with zero knowledge of the cars history for a grand. Driving the car home it actually made a somewhat impressive distance before it was overheating terribly. Well after checking the thermostat, and the water pump i took the advice of many reputable people, and put in a new headgasket. Luckaly i put it in myself or i would be out about a grand and still wouldnt have fixed anything. There was, however, a small blow out on the headgasket on the third cylinder, plus i got the whole head gasket set with new oil seals for 90 bones, so it was somewhat worth it. i filled the coolant back up just like the FSM says, but im still wondering if there is air in the system, and it should also be noted i have a cracked overflow tank. How much does the radiator hold, i think the FSM says 6.7 liters for the cooling system, but how many liters of that is just the radiator. The coolant i drained looked quite nasty, as well as the oil, i'm positive the previous owner did not love this car. I didnt flush the radiator out with a garden hose like i probably should have, but with the drain **** open i did blow through the radiator from the filler, and it was quite easy and stray coolant would drip out. Also if i cant get a hold of the "purge funnel" thing that i've read about in so many treads what is the easiest way to make sure i get all the air out? What did i forget to say, well being able to drive the car the second time was nice, and i cant beleive she chirps em when you bang it to second, but uh i think it has at least three different tires, bad brakes, and what sounds like ousted wheel bearings. I can not wait to get this car back to where it deserves

[navysnail]

how about the pressure cap, have that checked by a shop. it should be 11 to 14 psi, if it doesnt hold that much, then that may be your problem.

if the brakes are really bad, it may be the backing plate making the soun of the bad wheel bearing

the easiest way to get all of the air out is by opening the bleed plug and fillling the radiator untill it overflows by the hole, then put the bolt back in and cap it off.

[DjPants]

yeah my bad man i failed to mention that, today at lunch i put on my mazda mpv's radiator cap. Both calsonic, both 0.9 bar, so very similar, probably identical. I drove the car around and it warmed up, but then it started to overheat, but it didnt get hot it only went to two thirds, but then the temperature came back down to normal and stayed there. Granted this was probably only a 8 minute drive or better, but the temperature was fine when i brought her home, i would have driven longer to see if it went up, but i had to eat and get back to work. This kinda makes me believe there is still air in the system. When i was willing it up again after it over heated i did get a lot of bubbles coming out of the bleed plug and filled it until it just dribbled out.

[DjPants]

i shouldnt say the temp was only up to two thirds, it was closer to four fifths, but it did come back to normal during regular driving

[navysnail]

so it goes up when you stop moving like at a red light?

[NISTECH]

lift the front of the car as high as possible use the bleeder funnel and let it run for like 20 mins with the funel half full.

[DjPants]

no, i can letting it sit wont make it over heat. today i banged it around at my lunch break for like 15 minutes and it didnt over heat. when i got home from work i drove it for 25 minutes then let it idle for five minutes and it didnt overheat. However is it normal for the overflow tank to fill when its turned off, but to empty back into the engine when it cools so it is empty?

[DjPants]

i really should have read my last post before i posted it. I drove it out again, and i pushed it pretty hard about twice, and then had to sit for about three or so minutes and then i pushed it hard again and the temp went up, but came back down pretty quickly. I know at some temperature (like 212, i dont know, but i know you do) the electric fan comes on. I took it out on the highway at about 70 for awhile and it was all good, i was almost to taco bell when i saw the temp start to rise again, but when i parked the temp went back down to normal pretty quickly. And i change my last remark about the overflow being completely empty, its just above the min. line. But what i really want to know is, does this sound like my radiator needs to be flushed out garden hose-style, or is a faulty fan clutch to blame? can i check the fan clutch, sound it be mcuh more difficult to spin when its hot than when its cold?

[NISTECH]

i should not free spin at all it should feel as though it has drag on it. and its normal for coolant to go in and out of your overflow bottle like you mentioned.

[DjPants]

so it should feel significantly different when its hot compared to when its cold right?

[NISTECH]

yea it will but it wont "feel" alot different it just shouldnt free wheel

[DjPants]

oh after i shut it off it keeps spinning you mean? no it doesnt do any of that, i'm just wondering maybe i need to get a little more air out of the system, but hell if i can get the 240 up my ramps, my bud has some longer extensions so i will have to borrow them so i can better purge the air, and i do have one of those filler necks, so i do thank you for your advice, and i will get on it as soon as i can

[NISTECH]

also make sure you dont have any debris between the radiator and the condensor or even infront of the condensor. I have seen leaves cause this kind of overheating.

[DjPants]

i just took a peek, great idea by the way. But i'm not at my garage so its too dark to see and i want my little grabber tool thing. But i kinda still think i need a new radiator cap, because it will over heat a little bit, probably 3/4 of the way of less every time i drive the car, but then it will come back down.

[s13sr20chris]

does the heat work? common air pocket prob. when you jack up the front and run the engine, if you dont have a burp funnel then just take off the cap and keep it full.

[DjPants]

i have been so busy, and i really am workin way way too much. But at least im only one paycheck away from a front clip. I havent had any time to work on my car except try to bleed air out little by little when i add a little coolant every so often. I really do need to get it up on some ramps and purge all the air. It will always over heat but i think always once, and its usually around the same time. But today for the second time, i noticed that while it was starting to approach the H, the heat (which i always keep full blast) was not hot at all. So temporary air in the heater core meaning a gang of air still trapped in my KA? I will throw some new parts at her soon just for safety. A new radiator cap for sure and a new thermostat, which i will make sure has the air hole at the top, which i did not even check when i installed it. Maybe no one cares, but i do thank you for helpin me out with my new baby, and i always know its satisfying to get a great car workin again.

[s13sr20chris]

keep trying. we need as many nissans esp 240s on the road as possible. they are the best.

[DjPants]

this motor is kickin my ***. I raised the car on ramps and used the funnel that fit into my radiator neck. I bled the air for about twenty minutes. At the very beggining i let it idle for a while then i held it at 2000rpm for about three minutes and the coolant in my funnel kept rising and soon it was just shooting out all over. eventually it got real real tame and after shakin my car all over finally no more bubbles would come out. I dorve the car for a few minutes and got it on the highway, and the temp just starting flying up again. However, i put new clen coolant in either last week or the week before. the coolant in here was nasty, just nasty. And when you raised the rpms of race the engine the coolant in the funnel would rise up. I wonder if i need to pull my radiator and flush it out with a hose. I was going to get a new cap and themo today, but i had to work again.

[s13sr20chris]

i have seen the thermal transmitter go bad before. do you have an alternate way of checking the engine temp? like a consult(its a strech i know).

[DjPants]

when the overflow tank is boiling, then yeah, im pretty sure its too hot

[NISTECH]

I didnt go back and read the whole thread. Did you ever put a t-stat in this thing? Did you check for debris in fornt of the radiator? is the radiator the same temp from top to bottom when it is hot? Have you taken the cooling fan off recently and perhaps reinstalled it back wards? When was the last time you put a water pump on it?[ stretch on that one]

[s13sr20chris]

when the overflow tank is boiling, then yeah, im pretty sure its too hot

oops, got ahead of myself. sorry. it couldnt hurt to pull of the water pump and look at the impeller blades. rtv(super grey) only costs like $3. if the impeller is all ate up, you buy a $150 water pump.

[DjPants]

yeah, i thought about that too. I just got my new radiator cap and themo, put em in today. i gotta empty the radiator anyway so i might as well pull it and run a garden hose through it to see if its all gunked up. I sure the owner of ths car didnt ever change his coolant, based on how terrible the oil smelled. Nistech: I tested the thermo, but i couldnt measure its opening temperature, however it did open long before the water started to boil. I'm gonna put a new one in today, but i dont think thats the issue. Plus when i reinstalled it im not sure i have the air hole up. looking between the condensor and the radiator i see nothing. The condensor is pretty chewed up from being hit by a bunch of road debris however. I did remove the fan when i did the head gasket, but i never removed it from its base that it bolts up to the water pump pulley, i knew well enough not to get it backwards. Besides, it not a problem of overheating at low speeds, it usually happens when i'm moving. About the water pump, i didnt remove it from the block, but there was zero play in the shaft. And when you gave it a good spin it would easily move the coolant that was puddled in the inlet. rtv super grey 3 bucks? I got the grey permatex for almost seven bones...

[NISTECH]

your radiator may have an internal restriction in it. Take the rad cap off and look in at the cooling fins are they plugged up?

Also if you have a digi cam take a picture of your condendor and post it. I am wondering how bad its chewed up from road debris. could be restricting air flow.

[s13sr20chris]

3 bucks at my local auto zone(not that i dont have tons of nissan orange in my toolbox for me). it does sound like a rad restriction. do you know anyone with a infared temp probe? how about squeezing both the rad hoses? are they both really hot?