The car keeps loosing water/antifreeze and I have no idea where it goes. Does not smoke just starts over heating. Put a new rad in it and still does it. I know when my 2.5 did the same thing it was the head gaskets I'm assuming it the same for the 2.2. If so can the heads be removed in the car or do I have to remove the whole motor?

 

thanks

Joe

Are you sure you don't have an air pocket stuck in the cooling system? Did you check the hoses to make sure you don't have a hole in one of them? Heater hoses too? Have you flushed the heater core to make sure it's not stopped up?

 

Let's check those before jumping straight to head gaskets.

Air pocket was the first thing i checked.

How did you check for air pocket? did you properly bleed the radiator through the bleed screw?

 

Is it loosing any coolant, overheats every time 100% of the time?

 

EJ22's don't blow headgaskets unless they were run hot. They aren't problematic like the EJ25's, so the bent towards assuming head gaskets isn't quite the same here.

I had a 91 Leggie that my wife drove. One day, the radiator sprung a leak, so I replaced the radiator. A couple of weeks later, it started over heating after about a 5 minute drive. It turned out to be a bad HG on the 2.2 motor. So, yes 2.2 motors blow head gaskets. I don't know if the leaky radiator caused the over heating problem, or a bad HG caused the over heating problem, and the added coolant pressure caused the radiator to leak.

 

If you can't find any radiator leakage anywhere under the hood, then it is a good assumption that a bad HG is causing the coolant to exit out the tail pipe. You may want to look for added wetness or water (coolant) coming out the tail pipe.

 

I gotta think you have burped any air bubble out of the cooling system by now.

What is the condition of your radiator cap?

As pointed out here 2.2 HG's are rare.

 

The only 2.2's I've ever purchased with HG issues have burn't white - like a traditional HG issue but they often need warmed up first. Not the "classic" 2.5 issues like you seem to be having.

Might be worth having a shop put tracing dye in the coolant to see if you can find an external leak via a UV light.

Might be worth having a shop put tracing dye in the coolant to see if you can find an external leak via a UV light.

 

You can buy those kits yourself at some of the chain stores. I bought a nice complete kit (oil, rediator, AC), light 12v w/clips, yellow glasses, etc for 100.00. Seems to me a light and enough trace to do a one time diagnosis was like 20-25.00.

 

I use it for SOHC 2.5 HG diagnosis mostly.

Might be worth having a shop put tracing dye in the coolant to see if you can find an external leak via a UV light.

 

The car keeps loosing water/antifreeze and I have no idea where it goes.

 

not likely to be external, those problems didnt start till the 2000 2.5

I've seen bad 2.2 headgaskets. But they were always due to something else, usually a cooling system problem where it overheated or improper installation when the engine was apart previously. I've never seen 2.2 gaskets just go on their own. But I have read about it happening.

Car has a New radiator and cap. Did the normal fill upper hose and burp through vent screw. System 100% full. Drive for 5-10 min starts overheating, looses water and no sighs of a water leak.

Time for a block test.

Time for a block test.

 

Never done one. Can I do it or do I have to have it done?

You can do it yourself:

 

http://www.toolfetch.com/Product/LIS75500.htm

 

I think NAPA has those available in their stores

 

Some prefer the electronic gas analyzer, but I don't have any experience with those

Yes you can do it yourself. There are even how-to videos on Youtube you can watch.

I have seen the kits at Autozone for something like $25. They sell the test kit and the fluid separately. The fluid is usually less than $10. Napa has a kit that comes with everything for about $45.

 

Some prefer the electronic gas analyzer, but I don't have any experience with those

They do work well, but are expensive, and shops usually charge about an hour labor to do a test.