It's been a while since i have had a question but...

I'm having a problem with my reservoir, coolant will flow into it (even filling it up to till its coming out of the top) but wont flow back into the radiator, so the coolant just runs out of the radiator, the coolant level gets below the fins and the overheating begins.

Visibly i see nothing wrong just wondering if you guys have had a similar problem and if so what was wrong.



oh and i think i busted the head gasket today... a little more fyi.

 

oh... minor detail.

https://www.zdriver.com/forums/other-cars-223/damn-freaking-metro-29223/

Check your radiator cap first... also check the mixture. Once coolant exceeds it's protecting limit, it won't ever protect as well again. Also when it gets too watered down. Also get a digital thermometer & measure the coolant temp @ the thermostat coming out of the head, and the lower rad hose going back into the motor. There should be a significant drop.

EDIT... do you have coolant in your oil? Oil in your coolant? White exhaust?

 

will do, and for the digital thermometer do you mean one of those lazer ones?

another thing i noticed that was weird was that when im usually sitting at idle it begins to overheat, but today after i (like you) stopped at the gas station let it cool then put some fluid in it it never over heated, also noticed when i cranked it up the coolant circulated for a while, then the thermostat closed and the circulation stopped and never started again, yet the car didn't overheat...

is it possible the water pump it taking an ish and not allowing the coolant to reach the temp sending unit and the thermostat?

there are just so many possibilities... oh and i do have white smoke, doesn't smell strongly like coolant but its not that cold outside sooo.... its coolant

 

no coolant in oil, no oil in the coolant, i do have white exhaust...

thinking if it is blown its just a coolant passage...

and i did a comp. test last friday, 150psi in all 6.

 

Fill it w/ coolant & leave the rad cap off while you warm up the car (while parked). When the thermostat opens, look in the rad neck to see if the coolant is flowing & if it has lots of bubbles. That will tell you #1 if the water pump is flowing, and #2: if you are getting compressed air from the cylinders pushed into the coolant (which in a closed system will eventually create a huge pressure bubble & force coolant out the overflow). Sounds like a common head gasket... but do some more checks before you pull the head.

And yeah, digi laser thermometer.

 

thank you nismo... do you know if there is any other way i could be getting coolant into the engine besides the HG or am i due for a head job... gigety gigety

 

280zx2by2, are you saying that the car is overheating only when it is sitting still, but not while driving?

 

well its very inconsistent, at times its while idling at a light, at times it while going down the road in fresh air

i let it set for about 15 mins this afternoon at idle and it never overheated

 

Oh, okay. I was wondering if it was the fan clutch, but it doesn't sound like it with those symptoms. BTW, does having the A/C on have any effect on the temp. while sitting still?

 

dont think so, i haven't run ac or heater in a while...

 

Well i finally got some time so i decided to crank up the car today and do some tests...

problem was the car cranked fine, no smoke, ran the best i have heard it run in a long time

drove it around the block 1 time... then let it idle for about 10-15 mins... then pissed off that it wasn't smoking i went on another trip around the block (but i made it back in half the time if you know what i mean) still no smoke... let it set for another 10-15 mins, nothing, no overheating, no smoking, radiator not too hot nor the engine.

i did notice is that the coolant never really started flowing well in the radiator.

I'm thinking that i may possibly have a collapsed radiator hose or my (semi new) thermostat is stuck open but not open a lot.

But since its running right im going to be driving it...