Over heating problem. Please help!

[spedracr666]

Its a 1991 ka24de. my girl was driving it on the highway and the upper radiator hose popped off. she couldnt pull over rite away so she drove it with the car on H for about 5 min. now the car overheats no matter what. i have replaced the radiator, the water pump, the thermostat(170), by passed the heater core. i dont know what could be wrong anymore. please help me out she needs the car to get to work and school.

[nnkfws333]

Well if you didn't blow a headgasket (check to see if the coolant isn't mixed in with the oil and no globs of white smoke you should be ok) you probably didn't bleed the system correctly. You probably have air bubbles. Bleed the system and try again.

[spedracr666]

no white smoke. no oil in coolant or visa versa. bled the system for 5 min by taking off that little screw.

[nnkfws333]

You positive you installed the thermostat correctly? Also when you bled it did coolant come out of the bleeder screw?

[orion::S14]

Massive overheating = blown HG.

Not blown like it would from detonation, where coolant and oil mix...but blown where the head is warped and the gasket cannot seal in the combustion pressure...so it bleeds into the coolant, and causes overheating. SO no indicators like oil int he coolant, or vice versa.

I've had a KA like this...overheated, the previous owner replaced thermostat, pump, hoses and radiator...with no luck.

So I bought it.

And it only overheated when I pushed it. if I drove it gently (kept the cylinder pressure down), it wouldn't overheat. If I hammered on it, it would overheat and push coolant out into the resevoir.

Pulled head, resurfaced it, put in new headgasket, bled system, and no more problems. Even in Florida 95 degree heat with the A/C on...

- - - -

Does it push coolant out or not?

If not, it may be just more bleeding that's necessary...how much water/coolant did you put back into the car?

But I'd bet that 5 minutes with it on H warped the head...sorry.

- Brian

[Var]

Moral of the story. Dont let your girl drive your car..or any girl for that matter, unless they can work on their own cars.

[spedracr666]

well i put in a junkyard engine with around 100000 miles after i thought it was the head gasket and the problem is still there. its not as bad as with the other enigine. this time its fine for 20 min of driving. and after that the needle starts creeping up real slowly. i am stumped and so is everyone else that i talked to. please help my gurl needs the car to get to college and i gotta get this resolved soon.

[Ritz S14]

Take out the thermostat and see what happens. If the junker car has body damage, the engine may be okay, but if the body was straight the engine may be shot/bad/bhg.

Try a coolant pressure test for about 5 min, to see if it can hold pressure.

Sometimes a bad radiator cap can cause your car to run hot/over heat because of a weak spring.. so hopefully you threw in a new radiator cap when you replaced your radiator... and it's very important to mix 50/50. Water does the cooling while the coolant prevents your plumbing system from corossion.

[spedracr666]

well i put in a new thermostat but not the cap. im gonna try that today.

[spedracr666]

well that didnt work. any other ideas???

[Pancor]

You obviously have some sort of flow problem. If coolant is flowing through your block and flowing through the rad along with air, you should have no problems. Is your rad clogged? Is your water pump working properly? Is your fan spinning properly? Take your thermostat completely out and see if it still overheats.

[Inland180]

Im having the same exact problem as SPEDRACR666!!! Im tired of this.hehehe I bled the systems. replaced the waterpump. thermostat installed a new rad cap. changed hoses and still overheats!!! any new ideas?

[crioten]

there could be a slight crack somewhere on the radiator... one of my old ones had a crack right on both sides of the base where the radiator cap is attached (someone leaned over the hood and used the cap to balance themselves, thus cracking the craptastic oem radiator)...

you can replace it with an aftermarket aluminum oem replacement for a little over $130ish

[projectRDM]

Got to be an air pocket. Keep bleeding.

[sw20>>s14]

bled the system for 5 min by taking off that little screw.

i bled my system and im still occasionally overheating, but whats this little screw everybodys talking about? sorry im just wondering because i was told of different procedures that didnt include this little screw...btw, i know how frustrating it can be...

[crioten]

its a copper or brass (cant remember offhand) screw thats located on the upper radiator hose that is right by the throttle body...

just look at the upper radiator hose and you will know what it is when you see it...

to bleed it, unscrew it and pour coolant in the radiator and wait for some to squirt out, while its still squirting out close it down to make sure no air gets in there

[Inland180]

Ive bled the system for a while now!! Still overheats after like 20 min of driving. I use the heater to bring it to normal temp. but dont want to be driving all the time with the heater on... its getting kinda hot. lol.
The thing is that when i turn the car off .. the top rad hose has lots of pressure like it wants to explode. And when i open the rad cap 1/2 way to let pressure out .. all the water in the rad goes to the resevoir....

[crioten]

ok, im going to guess that there is something wrong with your rad, go out and buy another one... radiators tend to not last past 150k miles...

they arent that expensive for a stocker...

[Inland180]

Maybe it is!!! but the water in the rad is super clean.. i opened up the bottom and put a house a the top.. The water came out quickly and also very clear clean.... Could it be that some of the cores are clogged or something????? Does anyone have a stock rad???heheh anybody with some more ideas?

[crioten]

wait wait wait.... ok this may be your problem...

is there any antifreeze in there? you need to make sure you have the right amount of antifreeze to water...

[Inland180]

well I was doing it with water by itself no antifreeze.....!!!!!!hehe didnt think it would matter really since I was told water cools better but its not always good because it gets rust in there.. but im about to put some antifreeze in there right now and bleed it again. Ill let you guys know what happens.. but thanks alot for the help.. I really appreciate it... keep those ideas coming... Thanks alot guys

[Inland180]

DAMN man !!! well i basically tryied everything. I bled the system good. still overheated. I took off the damn thermo and still overheated. I guess its gonna be my radiator... but the thing is that the water comes out clear ass hell from it. But maybe some of those fins are clogged up or something. Its weird because when its at idle it doesnt overheat but when i start driving it around that when it starts overheating and its usually the other way around... What do you guys thing?

[crioten]

how bad is it overheating, is it like jumping right into the red, or does it slowly creep up there... also is the clutch fan working properly? (like it starts spinning when the car gets hot, etc...) also do you have the radiator fan shroud on there?

[sw20>>s14]

Its weird because when its at idle it doesnt overheat but when i start driving it around that when it starts overheating and its usually the other way around... What do you guys thing?

it could very well be a bad head gasket...not bad enough for the regular symptoms (smoke, milky oil, etc.), but minor enough to let pressure escape in the cooling system. usually contributed to a warped head due to driving under extreme high heat conditions (driving with the needle up for long periods of time)...

[Saggy]

My problem:

My 1994 Nissan Sentra worked perfectly until recently. I had a small issue with overheating, spent about $500 replacing the water pump, thermostat, and radiator cap, and still it gives issues whenever I push it (faster than 60 miles/hr on a freeway). It does not give me problems inside the city when I am going at lower speeds (about 30 miles/hr). I sometimes spend more on coolant than on gas itself. I had a guy at MIDAS look at it, and he did a pressure check and said it is okay. He cannot figure out what the problem is. I have these answers to your questions as well.

Question: Does it push coolant out or not?

Yes once it starts over-heating, the coolant gets pushed out of the coolant compartment. The coolant compartment is mostly drained after the heating onslaught.

How much water/coolant did you put back into the car?
The radiator has 50/50 coolant/water. The compartment has 100% coolant. I was told this by the guy at Autozone cause the weather is freezing in DC area.

"Massive overheating = blown HG. I have had a KA like this.."
What is HG and KA? How do I check for coolant in oil and vice versa? Why is it giving me problems when pushed ?

"Is it like jumping right into the red, or does it slowly creep up there"
Creeps slowly up there. Right now, I will know it is going to over-heat when the hot air from the vents are replaced by cold air. i.e. there is no car heat. The hot air/cold air cycle goes 3-4 times before it completely stays cold, and the car starts over-heating.

"Are the fans working"?
Yeah the radiator fans are working..