95 s14 overheating

[EngS14drz]

i just brough this car the other day and im looking forward to starting this projec. also to be a part of this forum. im very hands on and not affraid to get dirty. i have cleaned her up a little and replaced the maf and battery which got her started right up. the waterpump starting shooting out water which i found out is the seals so i replaced that earlier today (a lot easier than expected) and added coolant. still wants to overheat. next thing mostpeople would turn to is thermostat but that doesnt make sense since its only starting to overheat under load. is has the stock ka that im aware of and has a lot of miles but ide like to get it driveable before i go spending money swaping engines. if u need more info to help out thats fine but any help is appreciated, thanks.

[Norty]

Based on what you said, I would start with just making sure its bleed good. Best way that i have found is to jack the front of the car up making sure the radiator cap is the highest point. Then let it run and bleed out leaving the radiator cap off. Sometimes this can take a while, I like to make sure I get it good and hot. Don't get discouraged ka's are notorious for being a pain to bleed. Also make sure the heat is wide open. g/l

[Sileighty_85]

also make sure the radiator is clean inside and out
IE inside tubes not corroded and clogged
and the outside fins are clean and free of debris

[EngS14drz]

Awsome, thanks guys. I did notice after driving it that it needed more coolant since I topped it off. I saw the coolant moving in the radiator and no leaks out of the weeper hole. Also the top hose gets hot and bottom hose is warm but not really hot so I'm guessing that's good. I will try bleeding then and if not it could be the radiator since it does have 217k lol.

[dawagarage]

i was going to say the same thing as norty. our cars are notorious for this. they require a good bleeding. a few months ago i had to change out my water pump & even after what i thought was a good 'bleeding,' for the following week it would continue you try to overheat. it just takes a while to get all the air out of the system. another option other than jacks/jackstands would be to park on the steepest incline you can find. until your overheating woes go away, carry a container of coolant in your car & remember not to remove your radiator cap when the engine is still hot or all that pressurized coolant & steam is going to burn you

[EngS14drz]

yeah i got ya. ive been told a lot its probly my headgasket since the car has 217k. i will deffinatly try the bleeding and hope it works

[Z U L8R]

easy way to diagnose a bad thermostat. or a thermostat that's not opening all the way up

warm the car up to operating temperature, when the temp guage starts to climb, see if the lower radiator hose is getting as hot as the upper hose. when the thermostat opens the lower hose will get hot.

as said before, you could also have water flow issues ie the radiator could be partially clogged, or the heater core.

you could compare the heat of the heater hoses as well to identify if you have a restriction in the heater core,

gl,
Dave

[EngS14drz]

Yeah I noticed the hoseshave a bog temperature difference. Maybe I'll try the thermostat. It still overheats after beening driven. Cools down really fast after that. But I did notice that it overheated after I stopped. So it's not cooling as well as it should. I noticed when I was bleeding it that the level flutuated a lot. Is that normal? Like it went down then came back up.

[jdm213]

yeah i got ya. ive been told a lot its probly my headgasket since the car has 217k. i will deffinatly try the bleeding and hope it works

its not the head gasket, and if you do change it by the way make sure to replace all gaskets and not just the head gasket and resurface the head :kiss:

[EngS14drz]

Will do for sure. I like your confidance :) it will saw me money if u guys are right. I noticed that thbthermostat had only 2 bolts holding it in when it has three bolt holes. I've found a bolt to replace it but noticed it was leaking really bad when I put it back with just the 2 bolts. Hopefully I'll get it bak together soon and bleed it again. Thanks fr all ur help everyone. It's much appreciated

[blueshark123]

im almost 99% sure its just bleeding the system i had the same problem twice

[EngS14drz]

Yeah, my thermostat was hel in by the 2 upper bolts I guess the last guy didn't want to put the bottom one back in lol. After this I will bleed it reeally good and see what happens. Thanks again to everyone who has helped

[EngS14drz]

Thanks to everyone. My thermostat was thebproblem. It runs too cool if anything now. Thanks to everyone for the help.