I recently completed the re-build on my engine and its now running beautifully, apart from getting hot. Both top and bottom rad hoses are hot, the thermostat has been renewed (and ive tested it) along with the header cap. Any journey past 20mins and its burning, one little bit of boost and it climbs the temp gauge!

My heater only blows hot and I think this is a case of the solenoid on the matrix has given up. But when the engine gets hot, turn on the heater full tony and shes back down to half on the gauge again. I've tried to release any air locks by filling up via the turbo with header to rad hose off, until you get a flow from rad and thats fine?? Anybody had this problem or any ideas from you knowlegable lot...?

PLEASE HELP ME! I want my car back...

Thanks :0)

 

Fan cutting in and out? rad semi blocked? Did you fit a new water pump?

 

double fan and yeah they work... flushed the rad through with garden hose when I had it off and the pump looked new when I had it apart so didn't think it needed replacing. Is there anyway to check if the pump is doing its business?

 

Can anybody help me??

 

It sounds like you have either, a head gasket problem or there is an air lock in the cooling system..

If you want to be sure the system is completely air free then carry out the following procedure:

Wait for the engine to cool down & then remove the header tank cap (the tank is bolted to the inlet manifold on the air filter side of the engine) top up the header tank, turn the heater fan on to no:1 & the controls to hot, start the engine & twist the throttle linkage under the bonnet to run the engine at about 2000 rpm (you may want to use a cloth, as it can get a bit hot in that area)..

You now need to keep the header tank topped up so it doesn't run dry (don't fill it to the brim, about half way will do) & the rpm at 2000 whilst you wait for the engine to warm up and for the thermostat to open (steam will start comming out of the header tank when the thermostat opens & you will see coolant starts to circulate through it) At the point the stat has opened you will find that the water in the tank starts to rise and may overflow (this will be excentuated if you let the revs drop).

Run the engine for about another 30 secs, then raise the rpm to aprox 3000 and you should find that the water level drops slightly, at this point, top up the header tank to the brim & put the cap back on. Let go of the throttle linkage & allow the engine to idle.

You now need to go the the expansion bottle (which is located in front of the battery and has a yellow lid) and top this up to the point midway between low and high.

Job Done!

Phil

 

Thanks...I did the head gaskets on the re-build so i was thinking it was an air lock all along, I will give it a go!

 

yr head gaskets might be giving way when on boost only ..so it will not show on any test , I had the same prblem, driving around town is fine, but if on motorway doing 80+mhp after 8-10 miles the engine will get to the hot sector of the guage
it maybe that you did not torque the heads dowm properly ....as that was the case in my forge build with arp studs !!!

 

hmmm how did you find out it was the gaskets in the end? If i drive on an A road for e.g. even at 40-50mph at low revs...still the same so its not necessarily even on boost... WORRIED!

 

I wouldnt worry too much yet!!

I assume you carried out the correct procedure for tightening the head bolts, so concentrate on ensuring the cooling system has no air locks & we'll go from there.

The procedure for tightening the head bolts is as follows:

The text refers to bolts A,B,C etc, they are as follows:

A = Top Middle
B = Bottom Middle
C = Top Left
D = Bottom Right
E = Bottom Left
F = Top Right

When removing Cyl head bolts, they should be undone in the reverse order i.e. F E D C B A

Refitting Cyl Heads:

(1) Apply a coat of engine oil to washers and
bolt threads.

(2) Tighten all bolts to 29 N·m (3.0 kgf-m, 22 ftlb)
in alphabetical sequence.

Then tighten all bolts to 69 N·m (7.0 kgf-m, 51 ftlb)
in alphabetical sequence.

(3) Back off all bolts by 180° first; back them off
by 180° again.

(4) Tighten bolts (A) and (B) to 34 N·m (3.5 kgfm,
25 ft-lb).

(5) Tighten bolts (C), (D), (E) and (F) to 15 N·m
(1.5 kgf-m, 11 ft-lb).

(6) Tighten all bolts by 80 to 90° in alphabetical
sequence.

CAUTION:
Do not tighten bolts more than 90°.
(7) Further tighten all bolts by 80 to 90° in alphabetical
sequence.

CAUTION:
Ensure that the total “re-tightening angle” [in
the two previous steps] do not exceed 180°.

 

my pal who's built hundreds of engines for a living bolted my heads down for me on the re-build. he used his "snap on" digital torque wrench to even get the 90 degree and 45 degree angles right.... so i have faith in him!! I will do as you said BM as soon as its cool...just been out for 10 mins...

will let you how it goes! cheers

 

my pal who's built hundreds of engines for a living bolted my heads down for me on the re-build. he used his "snap on" digital torque wrench to even get the 90 degree and 45 degree angles right.... so i have faith in him!! I will do as you said BM as soon as its cool...just been out for 10 mins...

will let you how it goes! cheers

 

No worries

good luck

 

my pal who's built hundreds of engines for a living bolted my heads down for me on the re-build. he used his "snap on" digital torque wrench to even get the 90 degree and 45 degree angles right.... so i have faith in him!! I will do as you said BM as soon as its cool...just been out for 10 mins...

will let you how it goes! cheers

 

I did as you said BM but no joy... topped it right up to the brim, let it idle, drove less than 3 miles and it climbed again. The hoses to and from the heater matrix are untouchable hot, and both top & bottom rad hoses are hot too. Ive noticed that every couple of days the coolant levels drop so maybe im losing fluid somewhere?? Ive kept a very close eye on it and looked for stains in the bay and underneath but can't see a possible leak. Or could the pump be knackered?? Im out of ideas...

 

yr head gaskets is gone m8 .....if it heats up in less than 3 miles of driving , I had the same problem , but with mine the gaskets only leak when on boost(high speed)
my heads were held in place with arp studs and multi layer metal head gaskets as well !!!!

 

and what would be the easiest way to test if they have gone?? I only re-built it 3 weeks ago!! Used all new parts and well seal on the gaskets...

 

Oh S**t, that's not good news.

Firstly, the coolant in the header tank, when checked, will never be at the top as you would expect, it will always settle at a level about 1" below the neck, so unless you are finding that the tank is either almost or completely empty then you are not loosing coolant.

With regard to the water pump, you say that you checked it and it looked new, so you can count that out as the problem. If it was knackered enough to cause overheating then it would have been obvious when you inspected it.. Also, all your pipes are hot and the heater works, so its obviously pumping coolant around the system. You can also discount the thermostat as the problem seeing as the top and bottom rad hoses are red hot. As a long shot and out of desperation you could check to make sure that the radiator is hot all over and has no cold spots anywhere, but unfortunately it very much looks like you have a fault within the engine itself..

Your next move would be to take it to a garage that has the equipment to check for leaking head gaskets. This is a very quick test that sucks the air out of the header tank & passes it through a liquid which will change colour if there is a fault present..

Why did you carry out a rebuild?.. Was it a big end failure or was it suffering from head gasket failure/overheating.

I assume that the engine was built using the proper "metal shim" head gaskets & the original head bolts, if this is the case, and the correct procedure as laid out in my previous post was used to tighten everything down, then it would mean that you either have a distorted head/block or you have a crack in either the head or block, but whatever the reason it looks like the engine may have to come apart again.
Phil

 

Phil ...the test does not always show that the gasket have gone , as i had the same test done on my rebuild , in my case the gaskets was only leaking when on high boost , tell tale signs are that of pressure building up in tghe header tank , engine warms up very quickly

 

Understand what you are saying, but this guy is over heating with no boost present and at slow speeds so the next logical step would be to carry out the test as it is quick and cheap to do & it would be nice to be certain before deciding to strip it again.

 

I think chaps you are right, and I am skint!

As Bighead says, It only gets hot if i boost. If i leave well alone and have the heaters on fully to cool the engine further then it doesn't reach past halfway on the gauge.

The reason I did the build in the first place was because of a head gasket failure not long after I got the car in April. I re-newed both heads on the build as one cam shaft ceased on an attempt to put it back in the first time. I had the new heads tested (vacuum & pressure) and they came back fine. They were also tested for flatness by the engineering firm and siad they were fine too.

I used 1.6mm fibre gaskets to replace the ones that camke off, and new head bolts along with the well seal as extra. I mentioned earlier that my pal did the bolting on of the heads, and he made sure everything was clean with wet & dry including the block and was happy with it all. Like I said he has built hundreds of engines and loves a Jap import...

Thinking now, I think the disaster error was going with the budget fibre gaskets... budget re-builds eh!?

So, I think my next step is to somehow get a definate on the failure and crack on with the Cometic's and the ARP's and get the heads skimmed. I'll replace the pump while im at it...

Bighead - How did you solve your head gasket failure and how did you diagnose it for sure?? I know you used ARP's so what was the cause in the end?

Phil..thanks for the advise...really helped...