shadman

Fixed my overheating problem. Turns out, it was the radiator this whole time!!

The title says it all. Is it do-able?

The engine is an ea81. Rad shop wants $85 to rod and flush. If I can get the one for the ea82 to work, I will go that route...

The picture looks different; the bottom hose outlet is slanted up. I guess I couild get a flex radiator hose. Wonder if it will mount to the chassis correctly?

Don't feel bad. Most days I do well just to remember where I am...LOL:D

It's an ea81 engine, but should still hold more than that...

Brief history: car was getting hot. turned out radiator fan was not coming on. In the midst of trouble shooting this, wound up filling the radiator with water. Went to drain radiator and the drain plug was clogged; had a bunch of gunk (looked like gray clay) in the drain screw. Did a prestone radiator flush. Followed all instructions. The question I have now is when I filled up the radiator with antifreeze, it only held about 1/2 gallon before it overflowed. Is this normal? What is the radiator capacity on an 84 gl hatchback fwd? Thanks! Shad

I am guessing that the thermoswitch might be out. I wired the fan up direct and all is working well.

Well, turns out that it was a cooling fan that was not working right that was causing my over heating issues. Fixed the fan and she seems to be good to go. Let the car idle for 45 minutes and it never got over second temp line!!

Anyone know the the correct head nut order for removal and installation of the heads on a EA81? I need the torque specs as well... Thanks Shad

LOL!!! Any other suggestions then? Shad

Did you follow GD's write up? If so, what finishing paper did you use?

Looks like the hose is connected directly to the water pump. No extra pipe that I can see...

Ahhh. At a glance, it looked like the hose went directly on the water pump, but I will verify that.

I did a quick look this morning. The only hoses coming from the radiator are the two main hoses. One connecting the water pump, the other to the t-stat. There is another smaller hose from the water pump that goes under the alternator. I will chack that one out later this afternoon. Is that the hose that will connect to the pipe with the o ring? Shad

There is not any coolant leaking anywhere on or around the engine. I will look for the pipe you are talking about. Can I use an O-ring of a suitable size from a hardware store? What does this pipe do? Why sould it cause the problems that I am having? Thanks!! Shad

the previous owner set the fan to stay on permanently. It is always getting hot. If I just start it up and let it idle, it takes about 15 minutes til it gets close to the red.

I read that thread today. I also thought it was a great write-up. I will be trying this. Wish he had a video of it... Originally the engine woiuld get hot, so i changed out the t-stat. Then the heater was not working, so i tried to burp the system. Lots of bubbles came out. It would sometimes spurt out coolant, so I would fill as it was running. After awhile, it looked like an alka-seltzer was doing its thing...the heater now works... There is no milky oil or white smoke. Just the car will get too hot....Any suggestions before I rip into the heads???

Well, my little 84 gl Hatch is blowing little bubbles with the radiator cap off. From what I have read, that means it is a bad HG....CRAP! Are these heads hard to get resurfaced? They are so small, youwould figure it would not cost as much as a regular head...

Well, the oil pressure sending unit is gone. Looks like Some plugged the access hole with a drain plug. What color should the wire be that goes to the unit? I need to test out the gauge... Now I need to change out the t-stat.

Thanks for the info. Was looking at drilling the hubs to fit a 6 lug rim. Is there a template anywhere as a guide as to where to drill? Shad

One more question. It needs an oil change, any particular weight/viscosity oil that the ea81 requires? is 10w30 ok ot use? Shad

Hey All, I have never had a Soob before and I have some questions. 1. where is the oil sending unit? 2. How difficult is it to change out the clutch? 3. What is the lug pattern size? 13's are getting hard to come by. Might want to chage to a different rim size.. 4. I may have some cruise control questions later..LOL This is a really cool little car! Thanks in advance for any info and guidance!! Shad