Good morning gang,
I am at my wit’s end (and wallet’s had it too) with this overheating issue and was hoping to get some advice and a second opinion. Back story: Disco had about 140k on it w/o new head gaskets when they finally went: Couldn’t bleed the air from system, hard hoses & an eventual visible leak on the passenger side far rear in the engine bay-

I did the stupid thing by adding some “mechanic in abottle” (K&W nanotechnology for the reservoir) which did nothing but slowthe leak. After about 300 miles, I brought her to my indy after I noticed the idiot temp gauge creep up a bit (not toomuch) when I turned the AC on one afternoon.

He said he could do the HG for about $1200 but wouldn’t guarantee it would hold, so he found a used engine block for me with 60K or so, out of an’02 for $1300 with all new seals, etc…he flushed the old K&W crap out ofthe heater core and brought radiator to a specialty shop for flushing and put it in for $1500 after new mounts, HG, thermostat, etc. He used all the peripherals off of my engine,as I kept it in top shape- He put it all back together and drove it for a day and all was well he said-

Took it home and still had waterfall behind dash and hoses seemed as hard as before- brought it back and by the time I get there,the waterfall behind dash sound is gone-

He said to keep an eye on things and let him know- So thenext morning, I followed the proper bleed process myself, but still had gurgle.Then the temp started to creep again on the highway that morning- blasted theheat and brought it back to him. He keptit for 2 days and claims he flushed the system again and installed newthermostat. He said there was a ton of that KW junk in there when I picked itup. But should be good this time- Not the case!

This went on 2 more times and now he wants to put in new heater core for $1000 to see if that’s the culprit! I still have good heat coming out of thething, so wouldn’t that exclude the heater core as “bad”? He claims the radiator is still good (He installed a brand new one last March after a fender bender) UGH! This guy has been my Indy for about 10 yrsnow.

Fan clutch is good- Aux fan runs and is good…I’m guessingthe first thing I should do is check to see if the HG’s are good? (Neither Advance Auto nor Autozone have a vaporblock tester for rent in Tampa)

Should I just get a new radiator and thermostat?

Thanks a ton guys and apologies for my lengthy diatribe!

 

if your hearing air; it is low on coolant, first thing to do is find where the coolant is going.

You can preasure test the cooling system and you can do a CO2 test on the system, one of the two should give you a place to look for your leak.

If he got you a used motor and flushed the heatercore and radiator, where is the KW coming from? If everything was flushed properly there should be no trace left, never mind flushing it two more times? It not like it can hide anywhere.

Your heater core is not causing your overheating, if you said you had no heat after using the KW I would agree it was your heater core.

I would suggest you have the first two test done and fear that the used moter needs head gaskets.

 

Agreed. the exhaust gas in coolant test should be done. It changes color if exhast is present. Coolant loss from a sealed system that can run a up to 15 PSI has to go somewhere. A coolant pressure test may reveal a new leak.

With a little hose you can bypass the heater core for testing. You can also reverse flush it.

Get out you infrared thermometer and after truck has warmed up fully switch it off and check radiator top to bottom on the fins. More than a 10F spread usually indicates clogged lower rows. The stopz leakz comes in a big bottle. You poured it in. A quantity the size of a match head found the HG leak and tried to stop it. The rest of the material sunk by gravity to the lower rows of the radiator, where those pesky nano molecues may have decided they needed to do some more work. A fairly new radiator can be clogged. No fix for that, just replace.

And your thermostat should have been replaced with a 180F one, as the last thing, becuase the work can make gunk float around and clog up the little holes in the top of the stat, that impacts when it operates.

 

Thanks guys, can't tell you how much i appreciate the support. I'll report back with results...

 

Quick update: grabbed some heater hose and with a curve in it and bypassed the heater core, (pain in the *** to get the hoses off), bled it and took for a spin in stop & go- Idiot gauge never moved, but Aux fan was running after about 15 mins of driving. About 3 blocks from home I put the AC on and the needle started to move slightly, so i immediately turned off the AC pulled into driveway and popped the hood for it to cool- Needle went back down very quickly.
Does this rule out Heater Core Savannah?

 

You’re heater core was never the problem.

You bypassed the heater core and still have the same problem, and then I guess you have ruled out the heater core to yourself.

While it’s disconnected why don’t you drive over to your mechanic and see what he has to say now.

Then have someone do a pressure test and a CO2 test on the cooling system.

 

Roger that Drowssap- conveniently he is out of town until next week. Im going to hook the heater core back up and take it to get the other tests done.

 

I'd buy an ultragauge if you don't have one. You could easily cook the new motor if you are depending solely on the idiot gauge.

The waterfall sound can be caused by air that never got bled out of the system. It's not necessarily a sign of impending doom.

The mechanic does know how to properly bleed the system, right?

Besides the heater core, what has not been replaced since the overheating started?

 

Thanks for helping out dr mordo-

Ultragauge is on the way-

Waterfall sound has since stopped, so I beleive between his bleeds and mine (sitting overnight, raised exp. tank, bleeder screw out...)
The only other thing not replaced is my radiator, which I am HOPING is the issue, versus HG, etc.
While in there today bypassing the heater core, I removed thermostat top hose and inspected the 4 openings..they looked clear, then at the hose "T" i un-hooked the portion that goes into the top of the radiator and held it up high expecting water to gush from the top of the thermostat- it did not! I then blew into the hose and water slowly pushed out of the thermostat- hmmmmm! What would you make out of that?

Thanks again pal!

 

Fluid shouldn't pass freely thru the thermostat unless it's hot.

I'd bleed the **** out of it and do what Buzz said. Check the radiator temps, do a pressure test (advance auto has a good test kit they'll rent you), and check the coolant for exhaust gas (which I've never done [yet]).

And you're saying that the only thing in the cooling system that hasn't been replaced since the overheating started is the radiator?