CaliforniaMayhem

Ya I know these cars are notorious for failing and have a lot of issues.

Mine has never had a problem. About the vehicle:

1993 clean title with 89,000 original chassis and engine miles. Engine is all stock except a cat back exhaust. I bought it 4 years ago and I put a enjuku aluminum radiator on it, new hoses, and put a OEM water pump and I believe oem thermostat. I also replace thermostat housing as it broke.

So my 240 has been sitting for almost 6 months, occasionally I would start it and let it warm up but that's it. Car runs fine, I have a daily and I have had consistant wheel bearing issues in the rear so I stopped driving it.

I have clean oil and I want to get it smogged so I can drive it again. I put new gas in her as she was almost empty and got her warm. I went to a shop that seemed really cool, I talked to the manager or owner and the tech and advisor (I was the last guy there and they let me come back into the bay at the end of it failing).

The tech told me the car was over heating and that it was running rich and a high idle. He said I also needed to replace my vacuum hose going to the EGR. They also said I needed a thermostat and water pump. I asked what RPM it was at and he said 1100 or so. I should have asked what temp he got from the over heating too but I didn't. It passed all emissions but failed the visual is what they made it sound like.

All of my cooling has been redone and I tested it the last few days by driving and monitoring the system. My car idles at 750 and never sputters, it never idles at 1100. I used a infred temp laser to monitor my upper and lower radiator hoses last night as I ran her for 30+ minutes. Top hose got to around 165 and wouldn't go any higher and my lower hose was at 88 for a longggggg time. It eventually went to 102°F but that was it. My thermostat housing was reading 169-171.
Could this indicate a possible sticking thermostat? From what I read while searching, oem thermostats open at 177 so maybe it is stuck in closed loop because it won't warm up?

I daily drive a 98 nissan frontier 4x4 with a ka24de. It also passed smog this year. After driving 22 miles to work today, in some traffic too, I took readings on my hoses. Upper hose read 165, lower read 88. Are both of my thermostats sticking or am I missing something? I have overhauled the cooling on my truck too with new aluminum radiator (stock looking), hoses, pump, thermostat.

I don't know if the guy at the shop is scamming me for a retest fee or if i should replace the thermostat. I know I don't want to fail again because then I can get ref'd to a star shop or bar I think. Anyways, I know it's a lot of random thoughts but I appreciate any input.

CaliforniaMayhem

Edit: ok so I actually found the written tech worksheet.

I'm gonna remove the egr and replace that hose and get it retested Monday. Already replaced the gas cap. I'll keep it updated.

https://imgur.com/a/L7mHQi9

CaliforniaMayhem

Last update. I pulled the egr hose off that the tech had pointed out. It was a 2 inch hose with a 90° angle. There was nothing wrong with it. I put a pipe cleaner through it and it came out clean, no obstructions. I changed the gas cap and removed one zip tie on my intake hose for a metal hose clamp.

I took it in to different shop today and it passed fine, no issues.

I'll be filing a claim with the BAR against the first shop. Who know's how many people they rip off with this kinda crap.

afishysilvia

Glad you got your problem solved, care to share the name of the business that you went to for us California residents so we don't end up there?

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