Riddle me this..... my cooling system and I have been going rounds! little background- 1986 lifted ea82 non turbo. Replaced rad, water pump, thermo, hoses, all but heater core. So the problem! One its intermittent. my motor will start to over heat and then cool down. sometimes it will over heat and not cool down. last night i pulled over too see what was up. rad cool, heater core hoses cool thermo hose warm not hot. kicked motor up to 4 rpm and it would cool off, under 3 rpm heat up!? so a flow issue? but pump is new. and he has been burped. any ideas? HELP!

Have you done a block test to see if its a seeping/leaking head gasket? Any gurgling noise from the heater when you rev the engine? It could also just be a bad thermo, ( seen them bad right out of the box!)

 

Ed

kinked hose from the lift?

there was a bit of gurgle the other day.... hmmm. slow head gasket leak? the hoses are fairly straight

Thermostat put in backwards?

Well turns out its the head. Sad day. Well el toro will be down for a while. Any advice for a first time head repair? Clutch needs replacing so xt6 clutch upgrade ? Any other thoughts

Best advice, clean, and clean. The threads in the block, the head bolts, and the gasket surfaces! Use Fel-Pro head gaskets installed dry. NO Sealer/RTV, ect.. And in case I've missed something there are a lot of other posts on the same subject, head gaskets, over heating, (search). Its also a good time to flush your heater core, and get that nasty little hose under the intake too. You'll need to go to the dealer to get the rubber coated copper O-rings for your cam towers.

 

Ed

 

BTDT, 86' EA82

I was going to suggest cracked heads, but you've already found the problem, or a result of the problem at least. Have you checked to see if your elec. fan turns on?

 

My car gurgles every time I drive it.

I wonder if I'll ever care enough to put another motor in it.

My car has gurgeled off and on for 7 years now so u might have some more miles than you think left . Is presure washing the funk off a bad idea?

not if you plug all its orafaces, or at least do it with battery disconnected with everything still on the motor. that's what I did. (just avoid the oil cap and dipstick tube lol)

Well in a turn of events a motor from a 88 gl was donated to me that,was pulled from a running car. One thing.....its fuel injected. So I figure pull intake and all attached and swap it with my webber setup . Noticed the distributor had a 4 prong plug on it Mine is a 2 wire no plug. Can I just use my distib? What else can I expect

That should be it. Differences are on the distributor and the intake manifold.

Yeah - swap on your disty and manifold (use dealer gaskets only - torqued to 12 Ft/lbs). Also the SPFI block will not have the AIS ports drilled out on the heads so ditch all that gear if you haven't already.

 

SPFI block is also 9.5:1 instead of 9.0:1 so you may have to change your timing slightly to avoid pinging. Not much but it's worth noting. That block is 90 HP instead of 84 HP so you are getting a slight performance boost. It also might need a slight rejet on the carb and the idle will have to be readjusted for sure.

 

GD

Edited October 16, 201015 yr by GeneralDisorder

Cool thanks! I have ditched the ais long ago when i did the weber . New motor is preped and just about ready . Why subaru only gasket? Will take them a while to get the part they said.

the aftermarket gaskets are cardboard and saturate with coolant and fail. they are just plain ol junk, like many have said, look like they have been cut from the side of a cereal box

Ok... new problem . So I clean up the 88 donating motor that had a good clutch on it and drop it in. Set tdc drop in my distributor. Turn it over and vroom! Sounds great ! Then I,put it in gear........or try to put it into gear. With the clutch all the,way in it will not shift. It's like a wall. I kill the car and manage to put it in first with some effort . Start the car and it lurched forward . What did I do now ? Ugh

your clutch is

 

a: misadjusted and not disengaging

b: something is wrong inside

 

adjust the clutch (tighten the cable) first and see how it goes from there

The cable seems good. Snug. But now I wonder since it was out side for 6 months under some cover that it might of rusted together .....

that didn't happen to be a 2wd clutch into a 4wd car? or vice versa? I don't know the difference because all mine have been 4wd, but I KNOW the cluches are different somehow

No it was a 4x4 would some wd40 be a bad idea?

yes, wd40 on the clutch is a bad idea...

 

how does the clutch pedal feel, super weak, only stiff near the floor? hard as crap? barely any resistance? let me know...

yes, wd40 on the clutch is a bad idea...

 

how does the clutch pedal feel, super weak, only stiff near the floor? hard as crap? barely any resistance? let me know...

 

it feels.... well .... normal. so on advice from a bud i jacked up the front end and started the car ( kids don't try this at home) now the car would shift fine. however as soon as i pushed in the clutch and started to put it in first the tires started to spin. again under advice to free the clutch i revved up the motor pushed in the clutch and hit the breaks. ( took some finagling ) sadly this did not free it. so i think im doomed to yank the motor once again. :dead:UGH:dead:

Your clutch cable isn't tight enough.

 

GD