overheating

sendeth

Registered User
my radiator blew recently, so i replaced the radiator and thermostat and it still overheats. there are no signs of a blown head gasket other than overheating. nothing coming out of the exhaust, noyhing in the oil. i revved it up without the radiator cap, and it didn't look like it was leaking into the coolant system. i ffigured it should have pushed quite a bit out. anything else that could be causing my car to overheat??? also a new water pump.

also, if i switch my head gaskets, what are the best mods to do on a budget??? i planned on doing a lot to the heads when i took them off, but that wasn't planned for a while. i was planning on getting head studs. what about porting??? a maching shop close by said it is a pain in the ***.
 
cap

yeah, i forgot to metion that. brand new vented cap. i changed the timing gears a few months ago also, which included the water pump. did i also mention that the car runs great??? runs great, but only for about a half a block, then boils over. isn't there a tool to test for combustion fumes in the radiator??? what is it called??? i need the actual name since the people at the part stores in this area are morons. they tried to sell my mom a resevoir cap when she went to pick up a radiator cap at autozone. that's bad when my mom (ignorant about cars) knows more than the guys at the parts store.
 
Is it a 16 psi rated cap?
Is the thermostat installed correctly and does it open?
Is the serpentine belt new/correct length? It may be slipping on the water pump pulley.
Have you flushed the cooling system with radiator flush (or whatever it's called)?
 
Is the fan working?
Has the system been pressure tested?
Ask a radiator shop if there is a combustion fumes tester and a cooling system analyzer.
 
Are you sure it's overheating? There is a cold line in the overflow tank and if you over fill it it will come out of the car looking like a mess but not overheating at all.
 
the tool

The tool is called a block tester I know you can buy one for 50.00 bucks from the snapon guy and he carries a tester that is completly enclosed to for aroun 100.00 look on ebay too
 
Check engine temp option

Are you running an antifreeze/water mix or water....mine runs hot with straight water.

When you changed the water pump did you pull the lower left side stud out? This stud goes into the water jacket. If you did it will leak if you did not pipe dope it back up and let it set before filling the system.

Please consider checking all the claps to make sure they are tight. Did you burp the system?

Do you have any exhaust leaks?

An option to check the cooling temp is to use a multi-meter with a temp wand. Harbor Freight had one on sale for $20 model P37772. It reads in celius and confirmed the stat openning and fan on temps and referenced the dash temp gauge position.

Hope the helps
 
I would think the opposite - an exhaust leak will open up the exhaust causing the engine to run cooler.
 
Consider the following

Consider the following on exhaust leaks;

Where the leak is in the system and where your O2 sensor or sensors are inline respect the exhaust leak, resulting with an O2 reading back the EEC.
 
I agree. So a leak before the O2 sensor would mean that the sensor reads a lower O2 value. In other words, the EEC would think that the air/fuel ratio is rich and so would compensate by supplying a lean mixture to the engine. Does a lean mixture mean that the engine will run hotter or cooler?
 
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