Cold weather overheating....

[SnakeKack]

Here's a little background... 91 KA24DE...This morning my girlfriend wakes me up like 45 minutes till she has to be at work... her job is 45 minutes away....I just moved to Northwest Ohio in August (thank GOD I am moving back to Florida...) so I am not used to dealing with cold weather. Well I start the car up and let is run for like 3 minutes and decide to just go since I don't really have time to let it fully warm up.

Driving down Route 12 I thought I noticed smoke from the engine... I thought I was seeing shit but I looked at my temp gauge and it was about 2-3 slots from the "H" mark.

I pulled over called her gramps and she got to work. The resevoir was bubbling. I let it cool and drove 2 miles and it did the same. It doesn't leak anywhere. Added a little coolant to top the Radiator off then drove home went to that same hot point once than went back down the Normal Operating Temp (NOP) which it stayed at even when I pulled in the driveway and let it idle.

I have been having problems with getting the heat to work lately and was thinking my thermostat was going bad, so I got a new thermostat, replaced it. Started it up with the cap off and the bleeder hole open. Kept filling it and when the bleeder was oozing coolant and no bubbles I closed that up. Checked the temp and it was getting hot again....Went inside online searched on Zilvia and checked FSM for any tips or experiences and I seemed fine. Tried bleeding air again wasn't really anything there.

OK so here is the weird part. I went out and it was running at NOP. Took it for a spin, and it started to overheat and bubbled from Res. so I turned around and it was going up...then went down to NOP...pulled in the driveway and it was still fine...Let it idle and fine...took it for another long spin and had the heat on. The air was alternating from hot to cold but the temp gauge was staying steady at NOP. I tried switching the air temp to cold and it stayed cold, then to hot and it stayed hot. I kept the rpms high while driving a few times in both settings and the temp seemed fine. Pulled in the driveway and it was fine still. BUT I was checking how hot the upper and lower hoses are....The upper is hot. The lower that goes to the Thermostat was cold...wouldn't that keep me from getting hot air? But I was getting it nice and toasty....without the car overheating. Anyone have an idea?


I am also curious if me not letting my car warm up would blow a headgasket or something like that? I don't appear to be losing coolant....I noticed dark shit in my coolant but it didn't have that look of oil in it I think it was just my old fluid which never looked green and always looked nasty since I bought the car anyway. Oil on dipstick seems fine. Can't really tell about white smoke since it's like in the 20's white smoke comes out ALL the time on everyones cars.

[EAT Motorsports]

flush your coolant and change your water pump as well as make sure your fan clutch is working....if no go then start lookin into HG

[njd07]

those are all the signs of a blown headgasket dude. needle keeps flucating, coolant low, heater cold/hot...defiently check the headgasket. do a compression test..... if 2 cylinders side by side both have low numbers...then you know its a headgasket problem.

[SnakeKack]

The water pump is good and I changed the fan clutch back in like September. I'm gonna go start it up now and see what happens.

[SnakeKack]

Ok so I went to Autozone and used their pressure tester. No leaks. The pressure never drops. I think that rules out the Head Gasket.

What I did notice is when I step on the brakes the temp goes up. Not to H but it goes up. When I come to a stop it goes back down. So that rules out the "wind is keeping it cool" thing. Cause if that was the case then it would still heat up when I am stopped.

So I am thinking there is a bunch of shit stuck in the lower hose. Flushing the system is what I didn't do. I think I am going to pull the radiator off as well and squirt watter through the bottom to get any gunk and shit out of there.

Anyone else go through the same thing?

[RedtopTech]

judt because you didnt notice any leakdown doesnt mean that the HG isnt leaking. You should let the car warm all the way up with the cap off. Next remove all of the spark plugs. Then pump the coolant system up to 23 psi or so. Wait about 10 minutes. look inside of each spark plug hole and inspect for coolant. While you have the plugs out, go ahead and compression test each hole.

[SnakeKack]

Well. Right now I have the Radiator, shroud, lower hose, upper hose, and all that shit off up front. I'm gonna attempt to clean it all out and see if there is shit inside.

I really, really don't think it is the head gasket because I can get the car to run totaly fine, except sometimes (really most of the time) when I hit the brakes, or I am on an incline where the front of the car is facing down the temp guage rise REAL fast towards H but never gets to H, like 2 notches away.

Also it take a LONG time for the lower hose to warm up. That is why I think there is shit clogging the lower path.

I am thinking about replacing the water pump for the hell of it since it right there and right now at my Part-Timer at Autozone I get 30% off everything in the store except oils and fluids and shit. And the water pump is like 30 bucks without discount...Brand new NOT reman.

So I am also wondering...How hard is it to replace the head gasket? I mean I got all this shit off of it right now...maybe I should just keep on going. But the only thing is I got off tomorrow, and I gotta be at work monday at 12 lol.

Another thing I was thinking is replacing the Radiator with one of those Mishimotos...since they seem to be ok and aren't too much money. And believe me I know it ain't no Koyo, but I figure my car doesn't see alot of action and I don't push it or nothing, so I don't think I would need what appears to be the best, but if I do replace my Radiator I'd like to upgrade cause that's just how I am.

[Turtle]

Takes about 1-2 hours to replace the HG if your old HG was OK... I did one for my 280z doing the timing chain and all that crap was easy if you know how to do it... You have to take off the heads and stuff off, if you have no experience working on cars I wouldn't recommend you trying it unless you have lots of time and an extra car. If your car overheated a lot you might have to worry that things warped internally. Reading what you wrote though everything should be OK.

[sharkeyes14]

i recently have been having this same problem, except mine is a 97. i was driving it tonight and it did the exact same thing yours did, got almost to the red and then dropped back down to NOP. i just figured the thermostat had seated because it had been parked for two weeks then when it got hot it unseated and opened. but then when i got to a red light my temp started going back up. So whats the verdict, did you ever figure out what it was?

[lazy240]

you might need a thermosta and rad cap cuz me and womenbeshoppin did that to hais car and both of those went bad

[bigOdom1]

sounds like a thermostat to me


btw... by the time the stock temp needle is on H you are probably Fuxxed

[idlafie]

Here's a little background... 91 KA24DE.... The resevoir was bubbling....I have been having problems with getting the heat to work lately

OK so here is the weird part. I went out and it was running at NOP. Took it for a spin, and it started to overheat and bubbled from Res. so I turned around and it was going up...then went down to NOP...pulled in the driveway and it was still fine...Let it idle and fine...took it for another long spin and had the heat on. The air was alternating from hot to cold but the temp gauge was staying steady at NOP. I tried switching the air temp to cold and it stayed cold, then to hot and it stayed hot. I kept the rpms high while driving a few times in both settings and the temp seemed fine. Pulled in the driveway and it was fine still. BUT I was checking how hot the upper and lower hoses are....The upper is hot. The lower that goes to the Thermostat was cold...wouldn't that keep me from getting hot air? But I was getting it nice and toasty....without the car overheating. Anyone have an idea?

....I noticed dark shit in my coolant but it didn't have that look of oil in it I think it was just my old fluid which never looked green and always looked nasty since I bought the car anyway.

Snake.....you might want to take a moment & re-read what you wrote in your post....The symptoms you are describing are those of a partially clogged radiator.

The radiator is the engine's main heat exchanger. Unless coolant can pass freely through it at the speed the water pump and thermostat want to push it, it can't get rid of the heat it needs to get rid of, and deposits prevent fluid movement.

Any deposits at all in the radiator are bad and are caused by one of more of the following:
Incorrect coolant
Mixing incompatible coolants
Old, corrosive coolant
Use of tap water to mix with aftermarket coolants

When you pull the rad cap off and shine a flashlight inside, the coolant should be transparent (plus whatever color it was when put in), and the fins should be clearly visible.

If the fluid is murky, brown, smells like rubber, goopy, or if the fins have white, crusty deposits on them, you've got circulation problems, and likely corrosion problems inside the engine.

Remember...your coolant is about 175 to 180 degrees as it circulated in the engine block and old coolant gets acidic and corrosive, and will eat all sorts of internal parts, from your head gasket to the water pump impeller. It also cannot carry heat as effectively as fresh coolant.

Inexpensive silicated coolants (the cloudy stuff) can cause silt to build up in the engine's water jacket as well as the rad, providing an impediment to free flow of coolant.

Coolant should be changed every two years with a non-silicate, non-borate type. Long-Life coolant is supposed to be good for five years, but like anything mechanical, coolants can break down over time too. That is why it's always recommended to change your coolants every 30 thousand miles about once every 2 years.

Mixing coolants of different formulations can destroy the corrosion-inhibitors, leaidng to rapid corrosion, water pump, thermostat and radiator failure, as well as head gasket problems.

A radiator problem peculiar to Northern regions is external corrosion of the fins. This is caused by winter and road salt, and reduces the fins to a white powder. The fins then crumble and fall off, and once they do, that section of the radiator cannot exchange heat with the outside air. Run your hand gently over the fins at the middle of the rad's core, at the very bottom, under the bumper. If they're crumbly, you'll know.

Warmer areas may suffer from sand, pine needles and other debris embedded in the lower half of the rad, which prevent air movement through the rad and thus impair heat exchanging. That is why it is best to always inspect your radiator every so often & spray the exterior from the fan side to flush out the debris.

Anyhow, before you go thru the major hassle of tearing down your motor to swap out the head gasket, either 1). take your old radiator to a radiator shop & have them open it up & flush it out for you or 2). buy a new radiator.

Chances are it's your radiator that's bad & not your head gasket. Sounds like the previous owner never flushed the radiator or changed the coolant & now that lack of care is causing your problem.

Anyhow, hope this helps! Good luck!!
ID

[Ninjabread]

Sounds like it might be air in the system.

Or a blown HG. My old ka used to do that thing where you said you stepped on the brakes and the temp goes up...

[98s14inaz]

Snake.....you might want to take a moment & re-read what you wrote in your post....The symptoms you are describing are those of a partially clogged radiator.

The radiator is the engine's main heat exchanger. Unless coolant can pass freely through it at the speed the water pump and thermostat want to push it, it can't get rid of the heat it needs to get rid of, and deposits prevent fluid movement.

Any deposits at all in the radiator are bad and are caused by one of more of the following:
Incorrect coolant
Mixing incompatible coolants
Old, corrosive coolant
Use of tap water to mix with aftermarket coolants

When you pull the rad cap off and shine a flashlight inside, the coolant should be transparent (plus whatever color it was when put in), and the fins should be clearly visible.

If the fluid is murky, brown, smells like rubber, goopy, or if the fins have white, crusty deposits on them, you've got circulation problems, and likely corrosion problems inside the engine.

Remember...your coolant is about 175 to 180 degrees as it circulated in the engine block and old coolant gets acidic and corrosive, and will eat all sorts of internal parts, from your head gasket to the water pump impeller. It also cannot carry heat as effectively as fresh coolant.

Inexpensive silicated coolants (the cloudy stuff) can cause silt to build up in the engine's water jacket as well as the rad, providing an impediment to free flow of coolant.

Coolant should be changed every two years with a non-silicate, non-borate type. Long-Life coolant is supposed to be good for five years, but like anything mechanical, coolants can break down over time too. That is why it's always recommended to change your coolants every 30 thousand miles about once every 2 years.

Mixing coolants of different formulations can destroy the corrosion-inhibitors, leaidng to rapid corrosion, water pump, thermostat and radiator failure, as well as head gasket problems.

A radiator problem peculiar to Northern regions is external corrosion of the fins. This is caused by winter and road salt, and reduces the fins to a white powder. The fins then crumble and fall off, and once they do, that section of the radiator cannot exchange heat with the outside air. Run your hand gently over the fins at the middle of the rad's core, at the very bottom, under the bumper. If they're crumbly, you'll know.

Warmer areas may suffer from sand, pine needles and other debris embedded in the lower half of the rad, which prevent air movement through the rad and thus impair heat exchanging. That is why it is best to always inspect your radiator every so often & spray the exterior from the fan side to flush out the debris.

Anyhow, before you go thru the major hassle of tearing down your motor to swap out the head gasket, either 1). take your old radiator to a radiator shop & have them open it up & flush it out for you or 2). buy a new radiator.

Chances are it's your radiator that's bad & not your head gasket. Sounds like the previous owner never flushed the radiator or changed the coolant & now that lack of care is causing your problem.

Anyhow, hope this helps! Good luck!!
ID

My thoughts exactly or air in the system. My gf's civic was overheating and when I pulled the rad 75% of the rad fins were smashed and the inside was all gummed up with crap. Replace rad, thermo, and cap...bleed properly.

If your head gasket is going your oil will start to look like chocolate milk. How does your oil look?