Strange over heating problem

[Cody240]

Ok so about 2 months ago I was driving my car and then noticed some steam coming from my hood so i pulled over and shut it down, then popped the hood and see my water pump pulley shaft had broken and it was just sitting there. So I get it home and buy the replacement water pump and install it, not long after it starts to over heat but not in the normal way one might think it would sit there and be fine for a good few miles then it would suddenly start to heat up and then try to overheat then I would shut it down. Next I checked the thermostat and it was going bad so i changed that out hoping it would help, well it helped a little but it still had the problem. Now by this time I could only think of a few other things that could cause it, 1 the system is not bled and there is some air in it, 2 it has a blown head gasket and it is pushing air in the system, 3 it also may need to be flushed. Well I flushed and bled the cooling system and it helped again just a small margin but still would do that weird overheating. So I next got a compression tester and tested all the cylinders and found that the third cylinder was about 30 psi lower than the rest which were all at 120 give or take a psi, so I took off the valve cover and checked the torque on all the head bolts and it turned out that the ones on the exhaust side were about 15 lbs under spec on that cylinder and a little less on the others so i torqued them up and it seemed to fix the problem. Now I after this I had to go some where about 45 minutes away and it was the only car I had and it drove great almost half way there, about 20 miles then it started doing the overheating thing again but this time I knew what the problem was and pulled over and relieved the pressure in the radiator and then blasted the heater and stopped and repeated the process of relieving pressure all the way back home on side streets (because I was out of tows form AAA) and managed to keep it from over heating at all. So now we are at were I am today I know it is my head gasket and have this head gasket sealer to try and fix it but I wanted to come on here and ask the minds of NICO what they thought. Any info would help thanks. Oh and the engine is a single cam btw.

[night240]

sohc sucks. dual would be better if u can swap it out.

[pacotaco345]

Sorry, idk if this qualifies as threadjacking but my car has a similar problem, I would drive and it'll heat up for a minute then cool off, and it would do this almost every time I drove the car, so not knowing that I could bleed the air out of the system with that little screw I just drove it and added coolant everyday until it was finally full. That seemed to fix the problem but the other day it overheated in a drive-thru and I wound up pushing it through the lane.. I don't know if your car cools down a lil while after it overheats but be sure to check it if you haven't. Hope that helps

[Cody240]

Actually yes mine does cool down after a bit but then heats up again and keeps doing that it wierd. Oh and yes a dual cam is better but the engine I have has got to be one of the cleanest and most well kept I have ever seen so idk what is up with it.

[Lonismos14]

120 compression is really low iirc it is supposed to be around 150-175.

[night240]

maybe u should rebuild it? isn't sohc ka parts cheap?? if not mistaken?

[Cody240]

oh I forgot to mention that since it has been torqued the psi went up to about 140 on the highest cylinder so ya i am still low and that is only on one cylinder the others are less than 140 but above 120 IDK if I have to rebuild than i may just swap in a dual cam with a 5 spd depending on how much cash I have.

[Lonismos14]

i would do that because your compression is a factor on how healthy the motor is, continue to drive on that motor but a de swap is in your future.

[Cody240]

I think your right plus I think is time to ditch that s*** old auto and get the real deal lol plus it is actually cheaper to buy a used dual cam than it would be to rebuild this worn out single I guess I start my search

[Lonismos14]

Where are you located i can give you a de for free. it needs rebuild tho

[Cody240]

I live in Fontana CA what is wrong with the de that you have that it needs rebuild

[Lonismos14]

im in ga to far

[Cody240]

its cool I have a guy who I can get one with complete trans swap and everything for $900 so ya it cool thanks any way

[night240]

its cool I have a guy who I can get one with complete trans swap and everything for $900 so ya it cool thanks any way

good deal bro.

[OutToWinPAHC]

My guess is when you "got it home" the first time you warped the head. I assume you drove it with issues.

[Cody240]

I drove it all of half a mile and the gauge didn't read hot in that time and i have tested the gauge so I know it works but whatever the case if it is warped then so be it. I will just buy a new engine and what not and chalk it up as a learning experience I guess. I mean it will cost some cash but hey what are you going to do whats done is done and i have to pay for it either way so why not spend a little more and get a better engine and trans then just rebuilding the old engine. The funny thing is when I bought the car I said I would drive the car and keep it maintained until it finally gave in, then swap it for a newer dual cam and 5 spd lol I guess it just came sooner than I thought.

[night240]

haha u never see it coming

[Cody240]

No lie one day your driving along them BLAM!!! $900 repair bill hits ya right in the nads and biitch slaps you until you think you owe it drug money lol but hey that's life.

[night240]

No lie one day your driving along them BLAM!!! $900 repair bill hits ya right in the nads and biitch slaps you until you think you owe it drug money lol but hey that's life.

I agree.

[TimTurboZ]

its cool I have a guy who I can get one with complete trans swap and everything for $900 so ya it cool thanks any way

good deal bro.

Really you can get and RB20 Swap for $1000...I found my DE w/5speed for $400-$450 last year, engine ended up being poop but I picked up another DE for $200 off a friend of a friend. Mabye Dual Cams are becoming rare or something

[s13k1d]

i have the same problem, have for about 4 months. and still driving it. waiting for it to let go ha. but check your o2 sensor see if its green. mine is, thats a sign of a bad head gasket. not that it seems it matters since your gonna de swap it, but figured id throw out the info incase other people wanna dig further into there issue.

[Cody240]

Ya know I would swap RB but there is a lot of work in putting one of those things in and I want reliability not something I have to worry about cause in was installed wrong I mean this car is my daily but I may look in to it I mean you never know besides at the moment I have no money for either yet so hey maybe your right what is another couple hundred for some RB awesomeness. Oh but that $900 swap came with every thing to swap the engine in and do the 5spd swap including the ECU, complete wiring harness, 5spd drive shaft, new pedals, etc, etc... so ya its not just the engine and trans and it is also out of a 97 so it is not as old and crusty as most of the ones in my area.

[Lonismos14]

Out of a 97 that might be a little difficult with the obd2 and rb20 swap cost more than a 1000. the motor and trans and etc will hit you for atleast 1300 then its other stuff you need.