STILL overheating, never been so frustrated in my life :(

I'm not sure i'f I've ever heard it boil, and I know it dosen't boil over. The overflow always seems to be empty though, but the radiator level seems to remain ok.

Ben

 

first post by ascension advises that radiator has been

rodded and that a replacement radiator has also been tried .... !!!!!

 

I normally run around 14 psi but up to 18 on occasion. Not sure about the egr stuff, it's still all there but not sure if it's working correctly.

The last few times it's overheated on me I was driving VERY gingerly and would have been only barely coming onto boost if it all. Most would have been 3 or 4 psi tops. Just enough throttle to maintain around 90 - 100 kph on the freeway.

lean fuel mixtures can cause overheating,
do you have a standard ecu or aftermarket/chiped ecu?

i am lead to believe (correct me if im wrong) running that much boost on a standard ecu with the supporting mods you have would cause it to lean out

if you do have an aftermarket or chiped ecu has it been tuned with the all of your mods ie. FMIC, POD, boost etc or was it tuned prior to any of these mods maybe the fuel map needs adjusting

in either case a dyno run could help you find a problem with your fuel mixture
dose anyone think this is a posibility? i have thick skin i wont be upset if you tell me im wrong

EDIT: incorrect timming can cause overheating to do yoou have a timming light?

 

good to see that honorable chinese gentleman still

visits us ... good 'ol tim ming ....

 

But he is not driving around on full boost which will

not support the overheating due to lean fuel mixture. At stardard or "NORMAL" drivinf there should be sufficient fuel in the chambers to not cause over heating.. Unless he has a blocked hose which will then lead to a cylinder(S) not firing correctly e.t.c.

I think Ben has gone to many extents to have this issue resolved to no avail... Ben have you had the Plenum Pulled? this may expose some issues? Further more it may be an idea to bypass your coolant hoses....

In the instance that this has all been done before. It might be an idea to have one of us come down and or you come up so we can spend some time on it.... Might be a good idea to arrange sleeping quarters as it may take a day or 2. It seems to me that it is something small and not as obvious.... Have you performed a holistic check on water hoses and cooling system to see if yo have anything leaking??? Some of the easy stuff that may indicate or point you in the direction of the where the parent problem lies?????

Food for thought....

Terry

 

sounds like youve pretty much tried everything

forget fmic.. not an issue
forget thermofan, would be worse temp rise at idle
forget EGR.. extra exhaust gas makes car run rich and cooler (only open at very light throttle anyway)
obviously not rad as its bin replaced
headgasket would make your coolant level drop
fuel mix would only be issue for high boost if you were at high boost
not themostat as youve removed it

you said youve double checked your AM guage for accuracy with datascan? does datascan show your car over heating? stock guage should hit the top when over 103, and stock thermo should kick in

you could have a blocked exhaust/cat converters but 280rwKW would say otherwise

check your timing against datascan (dont just use 15 degrees at idle please)
280rwKw is pretty high.. you running stock injectors and turbos? you should only be able to get to approx 270..

 

I'm with Minivan- have you checked the

ignition timing?

Also don't know if discussed before but do you have a radiator shroud?

 

Too early timing or lean a/f ratio causes knocking and cylinder temperatures are very high when it knocks. That's why knocking burns hole to the top of the piston..

One thing what wasn't mentioned in whole thread: What kind of oil you are using in your engine? If there's some low cost liquid, the friction could be horrible inside of the engine when driving in hot conditions.

And is your water/coolant liquid mixture 50/50? (or ready mixture)

 

Shite, thanks guys, where to begin,

Yes my ecu is chipped for the mods done, it was all done in japan, all I've really done here is add the fmic, which is now removed so back to the way it was.

I've had several runs on dyno's at different workshops and nobody has mentioned anything to me about it running lean etc. I would think if they would tell me if there was a problem. They told a friend on the day that he was running rich but never said anything to me.

I've got a timing light, might be worth a check.

To XTREME ZX:

Are you offering?? hehe
I would sincerely love for someone to have a look at it with fresh eyes. I was going to try to make it to the upcoming tech day but I don't want to tie up people on a large job when they could be helping alot of others with problems they know how to fix if you get my meaning.
If the tech day dosen't work out i'm more than happy to bring the car to someone cluey that wouldn't mind having a look see. Of course i'm more than happy to compensate them in whatever way I can (within reason haha).

Back to your suggestions, the cooling system has been pressure tested ok so there should be no leaks. I have not done a plenum pull but was planning it sooner or later to do the hose bypass etc.

MINIVAN:

My car has bigger HKS turbo's of unknown type, plus 555 injectors and ecu chip. From the way it performs on the dyno it should be able to smash through 300rwKW no problems but at 280 the EBC cuts in well below it's set safety point and the boost drops off instantly along with the power. Might just be a limitiation of the controller I don't know but i've tried a few different settings. (It's a Blitz Dual EBC btw)

I've double checked all the temp readings with several independant sources inc datascan and they all seem to back each other up. I've never seen the aux thermo kick in by itself unless the AC is on. I even tried disconnecting my main thermo at idle to let the temp rise to see if the aux fan turns on. I let it get up to around 108 and still no fan. I know this is a problem but I believe would not be related to my main overheating drama's.


Zed4life:

I'll have the timing checked out just to be sure, and i'm not running a shroud with the stock fan. I've been alternating between the stock clutch fan (no shroud) and a 18 inch thermo with shroud.

Mika300zx:

I don't know what oil the dealer put in it when the serviced it prior to delivery, but i've since put in fully synthetic Repsol oil. Engine now seems marginally smoother but no other difference.
Also i've tried a few different coolants, Nulon was one mixed at 50/50, at the moment i'm using some stuff I got in bulk which I was told was very good. At the rate i've been going through it it's saved me a bucket load of cash by now. By that I mean when i've had the radiator out etc, not loosing coolant due to overheating.

I'm goint to try to get the car back together for the weekend and see how she goes. I would like to join in on the Wollongong cruise but we'll see.

Thanks everyone again for your input, it is truely appreciated.

Kind regards
Ben

 

shroud isnt an issue if its not overheating at idle

i think youve comprehensively exhausted any cooling issues.. so you need to look as to why your car is generating too much heat rather than why she not cooling down

oh yeah.. i noticed someone earlier mentioned check your air con condensor is not blocked with shite... mine was full of dirt and leaves and giving poor air flow

 

On that note..

Could it be that the water galeries have filled up with shit?? Taking into consideration that there is a known issue with a water galerie being blocked off by the head gasket???

 

theres other paths for the water to take (stright up into the heads).. i think youd crack the rear 2 cylinders before it stops water flow totally causing temp to rise.. and if there was no water flow then the hot water wouldnt make it to the temp guage

 

HIJACK

ANy progress pics of the car Minivan???

Sorry Ben...

 

3 things...

OK...read your 1st post...

Only trying to help...as I have been through this crap on another car.

1. Did they actually pull the tanks off and rod it? or just reverse flush it?
There are some dodgy shops out there.

2. If they did it, has crap in the block come loose and re block the radiator. THIS HAPPENED TO ME!!! Radiator was rodded and fine for 50 km then it boiled again. I had the radiator re-roddod. This actually happened and is worth re-visiting.

3. A long shot. Top hose is being 'sucked' flat / closed by the water pump. Secure water clamps evey 15 mm along hose and very gently tighten to maintain a round profile. ( from speedway days)

Hope this helps.

It can't be much else because...

temp ok putting around, goes up when loaded, comes down when idle or cruise again. It is a heat transfer problem or something is blocking the flow only at high RPM ( colapsing hose )

 

yes.. but they on my computer

 

Do you know if your heater is ok becouse it might be blocked
If you think its the headgasket then do this to confirm warm up the car to the point where the thermostat opens so there is flow of coolent do this with the radiator cap removed and watch the coolent if you see blubles than its the gasket so get it checked out if its ok then maibe by along shot check if the exhaust is in good nit maibe there is a blockege there creating back presure under throtle cousing it to over heat its worth a try well maibe

 

No shroud on the main fan ... *BINGO*

try reinstalling the upper/lower shroud on the radiator and let us know how that goes ... also regarding coolant- all you need is one 600ml bottle of Tectaloy super cool per full cooling system. Costs $8 at Repco...

 

yep, the tectaloy "concentrate" is the way to go...!!!

.... .. no pun intended .. lol...!!!

 

Hello,

Yeah the radiator was properly rodded, when I got it back I could plainly see it had been taken apart. They even painted it for me. Best part was because they thought that was the problem, and it was actually quite clean inside they didn't charge me a cent!. Now that's service. (National Radiators at Oak Flats NSW if there is anyone in the area, top blokes)

Not sure about crap coming out of the block. When I had the radiator out I stuck the old garden hose in there and very little crud came out at all. Still a possabi.lity I suppoze, but radiator guy said unlikely.

I have a water temp adapter collar thingy in my top hose so it's also very unlikely that it's collapsing as the actual rubber part is now very short.

It's probably worth having the block properly flushed anyway, as it's the only part of the system that I haven't had done professionally so to speak.

Thanks
Ben