Hey guys, I changed out my timming belt yesterday and everything went according to plan except, now my 89' SE is getting hot and running considerably hotter that it was before. I don't know if it's just a coincidence that this has happened the day after my timming belt change, or is it possible that I screwed up somewhere? I can't think of anything that I did that would possibly cause this. Water pump wasn't changed (worked perfect before, 5 mos. old), all belts are new and tight, coolant was topped up, hoses are new and tight (no leaks). I can't figure it out.

Help please it's freaking me out!

 

if your timing is off you engine will run hotter. so double check your timing

 

Yeah, but it runs good and doesn't feel, or sound like the timming is out. When I changed my belt I drew lines opn the pulleys and belt with a paint marker and then coppied them over to the new belt, so it should be correct.

Any other Ideas?

 

It's possible you have a large air bubble in the cooling system somewhere

 

has the thermostat been changed recently?

 

Any air bubble in the system should have worked it's way out as of now, I'd think. But possible Any at home remedies?

I have no idea when the thermostat was changed last, but why would it just start doing this after I changed the timming belt?

 

If you haven't changed the t stat then do that.....Cheap and easy...

 

Yeah, but why would it just go? Why did it never heat up before the timming belt change?

I'm gonna change the thermostat, but I don't think thats the cause

 

Possibly when you emptied your cooling system, the t stat dried out and may have messed it up..........just a shot in the dark...But honestly, all the parts on a car are good........until they go bad....hence a thread is started.

 

What does that statement factually mean?
- Actually cooking, pushin water out?
- temp gauge reading =feeling only?
- fans workin?

Air possibly lurkin in the system still. Drive =keep engine one hour 2000rpm or over, one hose or bleed valve just little bit drippin, =leaking. Keep also fluid level up. Cabin heater valve has to be max heat (must have heat coming out).

 

you have an 89.
that means you need to jack up the front end to bleed the system completely.

 

I've driven this car around alot trying to work out the air (if thats the prob)
-and still heating up
The temp guage rises as far up as the last line before the end of the guage
Fans are working for sure! The wierd thing is that I can fill this rad up and it gets hot as , BUT there's never any coolant in the overflow bottle! Even after I've put coolant in there! Where's it going? I'm pretty sure it's not just the guage, because when the guage reads hot like that I've pulled over and popped the hood and the engine bay and engine are way hotter than normal driving conditions. And this is not happening on hot days either! The first time it happened, it was cool, and raining.

What are you thinking? Just drain all the coolant completly and try again?

 

Thats not the way its supposed to be. Seems youre never really fillin it up? If not, no wonder its overheating... There are level marks in the bottle, liquid leved is ALWAYS visible when its filled up.

Pry tubing open near TB coolant hosing, cause a minimal leak so air pocket may escape. Check overflow & tubing, keep topped. (I see no point in draining)

 

Here is most likely your problem.....air in the system...Jack up the front end as high as you can get it [2' to 3'] and run the engine while the bleeder screw is open .[i think its by the t stat housing somewhere] this should bleed the system out

Wiking page probably has more detailed instructions on this procedure...

 

39" to be more precise on the height

 

try that bleeding first,

if it doesn't work then your water pump is probably died,

replace and see what happens,

if your resurvour is never full when you feeled it then there probably a leak somewhere,

check around the area you work on and see if there any leak there,

 

Filling cold empty engine radiator (empty =w/o coolant, with closed thermostat) needs most often multiple fillups during warmup. Revving, prying hoses for air to escape in various points might be necessary. Check out the water circ and figure out:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/8

If no restrictions, air escapes on top. Here tilting the water system comes into pic. Depends on system complexity; in my RV 5.8L perkins D, I arranged a gallon collector where tube dripped via a bleed valve for hours after fillup. All heating related problems disappeared, I could even take out the noisy [always on] mech fan.

 

There is a bleeder screw on top of the intake manifold on the VG engine....

When i repaired my cooling system last winter the stealership told me to raise the front end of the car, and that it was the only way to bleed the cooling system....

they had a disbelieving look on their faces when i told them about a bleeder screw.....and their jaw dropped when i showed them

intake manifold, on top...close to the brake fluid tank

unscrew it, but if there are no vent holes in the bolt keep it close
start your car, let it run for a while and watch the bubble come up....
*** you may want to get some fabric around the hole to prevent the coolant to spill everywhere)
when it starts to flow steady (no bubbles) rescrew it....

it worked for me!

http://clubprobemx6quebec.ath.cx/kramax3.JPG

Since my signature does'nt work...My car: http://clubprobemx6quebec.ath.cx/kramax4.JPG

 

My 89 se started overheating last week and, after checking it out, I think my max may have a blown head gasket . I was wondering if anyone else in the Atlanta area knew of a good mechanic who could check my car out and give a reasonable price on a repair.


Thanks, and sorry for jumping on someone else's thread but I haven't posted enough to be able to create my own.

 

How do you know they are blown???

 

Coolant is leaking from the rear of the drivers side of the engine, where the head meets the block.... at least that's where it looks like its coming from...

 

you need to post pictures so we can help you more with your problem

 

did you have the water pump changed or did you buy the car and you were told that the water pump was replaced? I ask because its strange to change out the water pump on this engine and not change the timing belt. you have to take the timing belt off basically to get to the water pump. I would say its the water pump or the T-stat.

 

i'll take a picture of it tomorrow in the daylight and post it...

What I was really looking for was a good mechanic in the Atanta area, as close to downtown as possible. I go to Tech but I'm not from the Atlanta area, so I really don't know of any.

Thanks for the help

 

Got it!!! Parked the car on a hill facing upwards and ran it for a while without the rad cap on, water level went down and I topped it up. Good to go now, no more overheating. Thanks for all the info guys

 

It may be a freeze plug leaking......You might want to throw some stop leak in there until you can get it fixed properly.....

 

Well, I feel like an idiot, but I'm happy I was wrong...

when I was taking pictures of where the leak was I put my camera down into a space where I couldn't see and sort of just blindly took pictures. Turns out that the return line from the cabin heater core has a hole in it and is spraying coolant onto the engine. From the angle I can see it from it looks like the leak is from the engine but the pictures show me it's definately the hose; not the rubber hose but the metal piping out of the engine that the hose attaches to.

I would post the pictures but I haven't finished unpacking and can't find the usb cable for my camera.

The hole is in #12 on this diagram

 

#12 is the heater core pipe....Agh! Good luck with that.....If it is on the pipe end,you might be able to have it brazed by a radiator shop...If it cannot be brazed....Then you are

Edit: nevermind looks like a easy fix......