BoobSter-lt1-z

Not sure if any of you out there have encountered this problem but check this out....
months ago I replaced the stat with a 160* stat and the car would run at about 175-180* all the time (unless i came to a dead stop for a really long time). About 2 months i noticed my temperature would not drop under 185*
and this was on the freeway when before it would run at 175-180* on stop and go traffic.
Well heres the other problem, when i drive to work, about 15min drive, 2 min
later after parking you can hear a boiling sound around the reservoir and radiator and the radiator hoses and its really loud and you can see the reservoir shake but the temperature is only at 185* ..WTF????
- In park the temperature gauge will rise past the last white mark heading towards the red but if i rev the engine it will drop right under the last white
mark but as soon as i let go of the accelator it will begin to climb again
- Like I said, It makes that bubbling sound that it didnt make before
- My "low water" gauge does not come on
.
Also, before last week, the low water gauge light would come on after driving around for 15min...I flushed the radiator out this past week hoping the bubbling sound would go away and it didnt and now the light will not come on'
.
Possibilities
- TEmperature sensor
- Coolant level sensor
- Water pump (I HOPE THIS IS NOT IT)
.
Also, just wondering...is 1 fan supposed to be on at all times or neither? do they both come on at the programmed temperature?
.
I really appreciate the help and response ....THanks a lot!

hsyr

When the car is nice and cold remove the rad cap then start the car. If the coolant bubbles the whole time you may have a blown head gasket. Check that first

BoobSter-lt1-z

Thanks a lot... I will check that out right now and i will post my reply in about 10-15mins...sorry...it just scares me that one day ill forget and next thing i know i will be on the side of the road

BoobSter-lt1-z

Alright...here are the observations :
- i opened the radiator cap and the radiator was not topped off and this has
been happening for the last month and i dont know where the coolant is
going but i do not see a visible leak...I topped off the radiator with coolant
and ran the car for about 15minutes but it would not go past the last white
line which is at 240* but if i accelarate the car it will drop about 10* and
then slowly it will climb again
- while i was running the car with the cap off i would see 1-2 air bubbles
come up every 2-3 seconds ...at 200* evaporation(smoke?) started to come
up from the coolant and the water began to rise so i shut the car off...as
soon as this happened the water level began to rise and spilled over so i
placed the cap back on and the terrible bubbling sound began (only when the
cap was on)
- I took the car for a 2mile spin and was driving it fairly rough and got home
and placed it in part but it never seemed to go past 230*...placed the car in
1st gear (AT4) and the temperature began to rise...with the brakes applied i
gave the car some gas and the gauge dropped about 10*
- I let the car run and it went past the 240* mark but i never heard the fans
come on...placed the car in park and it cooled itself back to 230* but the
fans never came on...
.
I am puzzled and confused
dont know what to look for...dont know where that brand new coolant i
added last week after the radiator flush went...
.
Please help....

hsyr

Pull a sparkplug. If the end is white, you are burning the coolant which sounds more like a head gasket failure.

TigerWoodsJr

I have heard of people having overheating problems simply because the spring in the radiator cap was worn or not the doing 18psi or whatever its supposed to..sorry I have no idea how that works and stuff but just something to throw out there and maybe someone else can add on it.

BoobSter-lt1-z

Thanks for the responses..
I am going to try the radiator cap and purchase one at autozone and ill try the spark plug tomorow...will any spark plug work and do i turn the tool to the left or the right to loosen up the spark plug from above(over the engine not underneath the car) i heard lefty loosey and righty tighty which works most of the time....

slopokrodrigez

Don't waste your time with an Autozone cap. Also you have to remove the air you just put in the system. Take the protective plate off the top of the radiator and see if any debris is blocking the radiator. If you are loosing water constantly but it is not dripping anywhere externally then you have a major problem. You have a bad head gasket like several have already mentioned or a bad intake gasket. That's the first bit of bad news. Your low coolant light is no longer coming on so that is bad but when you burn coolant you usually waste the cat convertor and the O2's (but not always).

You can play with the cap and bleed the system all you want but if you are consuming coolant, that is a major task and needs to be adressed quickly. If the gasket goes bad to the point of letting a whole bunch of water in the block. You chance bending a connecting rod or worse, seizing the engine. I'm not being rude but if you don't know which way to turn something to remove it, you best rely on a shop to do it.

BoobSter-lt1-z

Thanks for the response...
I have checked the oil dipstick and there are no signs of water marks
also, when i turn off the car after the temperature has gone 1/2 way you can
hear bubbling throughout the hoses, on the cap and the reservoir begings to
bubble and the water rises and overflows in the reservoir..

944v8inDFW

To me it sounds like a headgasket or pressure problem, which may be one in the same. A common "myth" is that if you have a leaking or blown head gasket there will be water in the oil. Not true if it is just leaking into the cylinder.
A "bad" waterpump will not make a car overhead, maybe leak but not overheat. Only was a bad waterpump can cause that is if the impeller breaks off the shaft and then there is no cooling at all.
I would replace the rad. cap then blead the air off as per any number of sites and 100's of posts here. Check the weep hole in the bottom of the waterpump to see if it is wet and if neither one of those are true pull the plugs and have a look. I always bleed with the cap on at the bleeder near the waterpump. Just make sure you stuff some rags or paper towels under it to catch any coolant and protect the opti to some extent.
Higher heat may also be a because of a plugged cat. I see a lot of 160 degree people posting several months after install complaining of a plugged cat. The cat needs heat to make it work and lowering the engine temp may cause it to no heat up fully after startup and air pump kicking off. Just making and observation on the cat and 160 stat.

Jon97Z

You said you flushed your radiator earlier....did you bleed the lines that come from your radiator? Shoebox has a great tech site and has a section for this topic I believe. I wouldn't go through the hassle of buying a new radiator or other things until you narrow the problem a little more. Did you check the spark plug like mentioned earlier?

Dee94Z28

I have the same problem some what. I put a new opti waterpump 160 stat on saturday. A couple hours later the car started to overheat. Then I tried to bleed the system. Then the car started to spit coolant out of the reserve cap also I can hear a bubbleing sound out of the radiator please help us




94 Z28 A4 Teal
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1LE elbow
BMR strut tower brace
car sound hi flow cat
magnaflow cat back

BoobSter-lt1-z

Yeah...after the flush i bleeded the screw next to the t-stat and it continued making the sound and car continued to overheat. its weird because it can be
at 240* (white line before the danger red zone) and it will stay there and if
the car is in IDLE AND I ACCELATE THE temp will drop like 10 degrees and thats without the car moving....i feel the fans moving air through but i was wondering how i can check the fan relays cuz they look like small alluminum
blocks and i dont know how to check these...are they like the fuseS?

Jon97Z

Well, if your fans are indeed working, I doubt the relays are bad. You could check them though. Just swap a few, most of them are the same.

As far as your radiator bubbling...I don't know. I suppose it could be your water pump. You might check your weep hole at the bottom of the water pump. If the hole is black or corroded in some way. There's a chance your water pump is bad.

Have you checked the main lines coming to and from the radiator for blockage? Seems unlikely, but maybe worth a try. What year is your car?

Dee94Z28

My fans seem to stop working out of the blue then when they came on both fans were going strong and stay on with the check engine light on.