25 replies to this topic

[kingbobdole]

Ok. So no matter what I do my Rx serves only one function:
Transporting coolant to the place it's going to dump it all over the ground....
ohh, for no reason...
It has had a cooling issue... never got overheated, but close.. like 1/8" down from over... so I decided to go through it today, put in a new rad, old was filled with rats nest in the fins, and had been resoldered like 4 times.. got a new single core aluminum, also put on a known good crank fan and made sure the ele fan worked.. So I roll it out (car has no Tstat, so no real burping issues I did run it and burp it tho) and its doing great... I even turn on the AC and the car barely gets over half on the gauge.. drive it to work and let it cool for a minute... shut it off, no problem... walk awa.... psssshhhhtttt. damnit! took a big piss all over the ground, same old issue. car did not get hot, but still drained the reserve on the ground. BEFORE I put the new rad in when it got up to 3/4... you could hear the cap trying to escape you can hear the gurgle, and the moan.. then the pssshttt...
Question one: WTF?!?!?!
Question two: is the reserve cap supposed to hold pressure?
Maybe its just me, but when it comes to cooling the EA82T is the worstest:mad: Any other thoughts are welcome

[baccaruda]

I'm not clear on where the leak is coming from, are you saying that it's leaking from the radiator cap?

[kingbobdole]

no, sorry... its spraying out the reserve tank cap... the reserve tank gets really pressurized and when its shut off it just loads up and either the cap blows off (once) or just shoots the coolant out from under the reserve tank cap

[Turbone]

I would say, put a t-stat back in it. Not sure, but it might help with the backpressure.
My RX runs cooler that any EA series I've ever had. The reason? No condensor/cooler in front of the rad. Mine gets to just below a 1/4 and never goes higher. Thats been verified with 2 engines.

[kingbobdole]

I just thought of the rad cap... but I put a different one on it today too, not a new one... I might try that

[GeneralDisorder]

It sounds like the system is over pressueizing - and that usually means head gaskets. Yuckies. I'm having the exact same issue with my EA82 sedan. I'm going to do the head gaskets on it soon. I've tried everything just like you have.

On the whole, I really hate the EA82 cooling system, and the weak OEM head gaskets. All the EA81's I've owned this has never happened. Fel-Pro's are going in this one fo-sho.

GD

[kingbobdole]

It sounds like the system is over pressueizing - and that usually means head gaskets. Yuckies. I'm having the exact same issue with my EA82 sedan. I'm going to do the head gaskets on it soon. I've tried everything just like you have.

On the whole, I really hate the EA82 cooling system, and the weak OEM head gaskets. All the EA81's I've owned this has never happened. Fel-Pro's are going in this one fo-sho.

GD

Awww... dont tell me that.. this car just got HGs a few years ago according to the old man... plus that means the death of this car.
Also if it was that.. wouldnt it do it while the car was running? I also checked for air in the rad, since I kinda wanted to know that too....

[GeneralDisorder]

Yeah - sucks I know. I've seen some bad rad caps, but usually not. I replaced mine, and the radiator, and the t-stat. But on mine it's a little more clear cut - 227k miles - original HG's. I overheated it one day about two weeks ago when the AC belt broke, and popped the alt/WP belt off while in a construction zone. That led to the original water pump failing about a week later and another overheat. Replaced the pump but it's too late for the HG's I'm afraid.

The fact they were replaced actually points suspicion at them - cheap parts, and or shoddy labor, and a tendancy for that engine to blow them already (ie: what prompted their replacement last time?) all sugests they may be at fualt again. All too often bad mechanics fix the symtoms and not the problems that caused them.

GD

[kingbobdole]

Guess I'll give the oil the ol' "taste test" tomorrow.. damn this car.

[amk]

Damn i got the same prob too with my Ea82, i made a hole on reserve tank cap it would boil and all the coolant would come out, i have changed the head gaskets twice i think the radiator is chocked up and the cooling fan works.

[daeron]

why would failing head gaskets pressurize the cooling system? i am having all the same symptoms, have new rad, no thermostat, replaced aftermarket fan (which was turning the wrong way.. blowing the right way but inefficiently) with stock fan, new rad hose (blew it) and new water pump (blew it) and still occasional heatups (i drive pizzas full time, so it happens with AC on in so. florida summer sometimes, nothing major) but the constant bubbling into my overflow when i cut the car off... ungood. but i need to do seals, and may be swapping a fivespeed in soon anyhow, so we shall see.. if i do this i just might do a thorough head job on the motor. depends on the compression check, and wet test, and leakdown test results, i guess.. if the bottom end is worth another 100K without any major work, then i might just give it the full 60,000 mile. the t-belts have 30K on them, put them on when i got the car.

oh yah to clarify, ive changed the oil, no coolant in oil.. changed the coolant, no oil in coolant.. but water does disappear.. and more (i would think?) than what bubbles out... so headgakset bad, coolant leak into combustion chamber? i remember hearing something about a carbureted vehicle with water jets into the air-fuel... my uncle had that sort of set up at one point. isnt it supposed to help?? i dunno, could that be the point of HG failure?

the list is getting longer and longer...

[mikeshoup]

It sounds like to me the rad cap isn't holding pressure. It may be as simple as a new rad cap.

Another thing worth trying, is maybe a higher pressure rad cap. Stock on these is 13lbs, and I've seen caps these size at 16lbs. (Cuz I accidentally bought one ) Though, I don't know how safe that is.

If it was the head gaskets pushing compression into the radiator causing this, wouldn't a compression test show this?

[Jerry DeMoss]

Well guess if all of that doesn't work,you could build a high comp ea82t or just go with the ej22t swap which would be so nice in that car!

[kayakertom]

One other thing to do if you haven't, is to turn your heater valve on and see if you need to top off the coolant tank. Also, I make sure that the plastic recovery overflow tank is clean along with the rubber hose, so that coolant can flow easily to the radiator.

[kingbobdole]

ok, the saga continues.. it was a bit cooler today, like 92 not 98 like yesterday. drove to work, not even at 1/4 on the gauge... awsome. drive it back, again AC on, its a bit hotter out... not eve to 1/2.. great, park it in the garage, run it for about 30 seconds to let it cool, temp drops slightly, awsome... shut it down pop the hood (gonna drain some oil and put seafoam in to quiet the lifers a bit more) and you can hear the intake gurgling, so I pull the reserve lid and watched.. it was push fluid out, then pulling it back in... but it didnt get to the top, so it stayed inside... you could hear it boiling or what ever and you could feel it in the upper hose...
Ideas?

[GeneralDisorder]

Check to see how the mating surface for the radiator cap looks - I've noticed on the metal tank ones the surface gets pitted, and the rubber seal on the cap may not seal down tight. A little sandpaper will clean it up. Don't forget - there's two sealing surfaces.

I think half the time people replace radiators thinking they are "clogged" when in fact the filler neck is just a mess and and cap can't seal.... New radiator is nice and clean so problem goes away and their assumption is "proven" in their mind.

GD

[jeffast]

i'm beggining to be happy i didn't buy that car:banana:

[kingbobdole]

ok, i think its fixed... hopefully it will be ungodly hot tomorrow so I can make sure. I got a new rad cap, and a slightly higher pressure one... Turned on the AC and flogged it and it only got up to a bit over 1/8th... and it didnt makes its gurgle gurgle sound... I'll keep you up to date... Mines a plastic rad (now) but I did check the mating surface, it looks fine.

[Caboobaroo]

i'm beggining to be happy i didn't buy that car:banana:

yeah cause it would still be sitting dead in your driveway!

[jeffast]

no it would have been stripped, the frame junked and i would have a dual range xt-6 with an lsd:headbang:

[Caboobaroo]

no it would have been stripped, the frame junked and i would have a dual range xt-6 with an lsd:headbang:

so then you would have had 2 dead cars!

[jeffast]

the xt-6 runs great it made it to red rocks no problem today:headbang:

[kingbobdole]

Not to get this thread back on topic but.....
New 16 lbs Rad cap FTW... car runs nice and cool now... little less then a 1/4 on the temp, and I drove it all over today. mucho happier with it now:banana:

[GeneralDisorder]

Very interesting - might have to try that myself. Give us a geads up if you blow some cooling system component apart. I would imagine it would be fine tho.

GD

[kingbobdole]

Very interesting - might have to try that myself. Give us a geads up if you blow some cooling system component apart. I would imagine it would be fine tho.

GD

10-4... I've actually been running a 16 lbs one on my XT-6 for years... granted the cooling system is a bit bigger, but I see no issues... I'll keep you up to date if it heads south.