71-BEETLE-SEDAN Posted November 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2011 Soooooo, The cars running hot now. I wired up myself a switch, i like the car to run at around 1/3 of the temp gauge, so id flick the switch to the thermo fan on at about 1/4 and it would run at 1/3 all day, hard driving and stop start. Worked like a dream, for like 3 weeks. Now the car runs a fraction above half, with heaters on full, thermo on, and cruising at like 100 in fifth(for good airflow). Normally i could flick the thermo off and it would run at around 1/4 on the freeway. Now Ive drained the coolant, flushed the cooling system, refilled, made the mix of coolant, 33% water, to the specs on the bottle. What could it be or what could i test to see whats wrong. Could my thermostat be stuck closed? Cheers if anyone can help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corollaart Posted November 13, 2011 Report Share Posted November 13, 2011 If you thermostat was stuck closed it would boil its ass off ,as the water flow would be next to zero. May be its stuck open and not letting the water cool down enough before it returns to the engine. I would replace it for the cost of them ,shame you didnt do it when you had the system drained. Then you test the old one by hanging it on a bit of wire,dropping it in to some boiling water see if it opens. rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altezzaclub Posted November 13, 2011 Report Share Posted November 13, 2011 Sort the thermostat and if that is fine, the radiator is fine, (fins all good and not blocked) then look at the water pump.- any chance the pump's vanes are corroded away?? Put an ohm-meter over the sensor at cold and at hot temps and check the resistance against the stock figures. Then get a thermometer & check that the gauge is reading correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71-BEETLE Posted November 13, 2011 Report Share Posted November 13, 2011 (edited) Ones on order now. Be here this afternoon. It doesn't matter anyway. I buy my coolant and oils in bulk. Mainly cause I get really good deals if I do. Should my exhaust manifold have an outer heat shield? It's got one on the engine side but not the radiator side? This would be causing excess heat into the radiator wouldn't it? I will check the resistance. But don't know the stock figures and don't have a manual for it yet. Do you think I could post em up here and someone could check for me? Edited November 13, 2011 by 71-BEETLE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonboy Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 (edited) I ran headers with no heat shields whatsoever on my AE82 with no adverse effects. They were a copy of the factory design, so they weren't any closer to the radiator, possibly slightly further away due to a thinner wall thickness. I have just been through both manuals & I haven't been able to find figures as such for the thermoswitch, just that it should lose continuity above 90 degreesC & regains continuity when temperature falls below 83 degreesC. Edited November 14, 2011 by carbonboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickn5k Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 Haha I remember a problem the same as this in webers ae82 seca. We changed everything even put a new HG in it still the same. It was found to have a trashed radiator. Looked ok but the fins were not catching enough air to cool it properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71-BEETLE-SEDAN Posted November 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 Well i just got off the pone with the local auto pro, new thermostat, one to open at a lower temp, new water pump, valve seals, blowing a fair bit of smoke, timing belt, and already got a head gasket and new bolts. The radiators exterior looks in great nick, but when i open the cap there seems to be a brown goo on top of the coolant. Like an oily substance. Could i have oil leaking into my water, not the other way round like a normal head gasket failure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corollaart Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 Time for compression test. :yes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71-BEETLE-SEDAN Posted November 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 Thought so. Well lucky ive got a half built cylinder head here, ready to go on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71-BEETLE-SEDAN Posted November 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 So heads on its way off now. Thought id throw up some pics of the cai while I'm taking snaps of the bay. So here the view from inside the wheel arch, looking forwards. This is how much of the tubing you can see under the front bar. This is the view from above and inside the engine bay. No to the head, i took the rocker covers off and the front one had plenty of oil coating nce and wet. The intake or rear side had dry/baked on oil. Is this normal? Anyway to fix this? Front Rear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan G Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 does anyone look at the simple things first anymore? my 4k was going to 3/4 on the temp gauge when it normally sits on 1/4. first then i done was install a digital temp gauge. temp gauge shows a healthy 80 degrees! while the stock gauge shows 3/4!? i replace the stock send now i have two working temp gauges FTW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71-BEETLE-SEDAN Posted November 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 i was going to heck the water temp with a thermometer, but my radiator has a funny cap and sometimes wont open very easily when hot, so i put it hard against the core and it was around the 100'c. So definitely getting hot. Ive been reading up on some track drift cars for my own one and have read about a lot of people removing their heaters.Is this a smart idea for a daily, besides the fact i wont be able to warm the inside of the car up. But i often like to flick the heater to on while doing mountain runs etc to get that little bit of extra cooling. Would this be saving my ass r just making inside the car hotter then it needs to be. I am also borderline on getting an alloy rad with twin thermos, yay or nay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonboy Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 If you remove your heater core, demisting a foggy windscreen will be a bit of PITA wont it? :hmm: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru_kid Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 (edited) i was going to heck the water temp with a thermometer, but my radiator has a funny cap and sometimes wont open very easily when hot, so i put it hard against the core and it was around the 100'c. So definitely getting hot. Ive been reading up on some track drift cars for my own one and have read about a lot of people removing their heaters.Is this a smart idea for a daily, besides the fact i wont be able to warm the inside of the car up. But i often like to flick the heater to on while doing mountain runs etc to get that little bit of extra cooling. Would this be saving my ass r just making inside the car hotter then it needs to be. I am also borderline on getting an alloy rad with twin thermos, yay or nay? Leave the heater in otherwise it isnt roadworthy because then you cannot demist your windscreen. If you want gains, remove the A/C and its condenser which makes the radiator the first thing in line for some air other than the oil cooler. + moar fasts because less weight :cool: As Evan said, get proper guages... i learnt this the hard way on the track as i think i overheated and blew my gasket because of an inaccurate gauge. What did you get as the results for the compression test? Edited November 14, 2011 by Subaru_kid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71-BEETLE Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 Heater will stay for now. I didn't do a compression test on it cause my testers at a mates house. But instead of doing just tge head doing the whole motor. It'll cone out once tge heads off and sent away for skimming and porting and polishing. Ordered new bearings pistons rings etc. Thinking about cams but not to sure yet. Also Gunna clean the bay up. Hide wires and seam weld. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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