sticking thermo? bad water pump? clogged rad?

[NemeGuero]

K so driving to work this morning (7miles) 45mph roads, baby shifting at 2.5k rpms.. my car temps jump to hotter than they were during ASB in the middle of summer in the desert driving on htm.

I was hitting 230 F. I pulled over and shut the car off. Then I could hear a gurgling and swallowing of water by my engine..

turned the car back on and temps instantly shot back down to 160 F.

Once I got to work the car sat cool in the parking lot.

The problem is intermittened and will come and go. Out of nowhere temps climb even with air flowing through the radiator and little to no engine load.

then randomly the car will cool itself down.

There is water in the rad and in the over flow so I'm not empty/low.


COOLING STUFF:
1/2 bottle water wetter with distilled water
nismo thermo
nismo rad cap
altima fans
greddy mss ( with digi temp readout)


I'm thinking it could be a failing water pump (because the problem comes and goes, and once its gone it mostly stays gone...)

Or a thermostat thats sticking and not opening when it needs to be.. (thing is fucking a month old) and then open when it feels like it.. or some shit.

Lemme know. I got an event next weeeeekkkend.

[Sileighty_85]

sound more like the thermo

Water pump dont stop pushing water just the seals go out or the bearings fail , unless the there is FOD in the system and breaks the fins (but they're pretty beefy so I doubt it)

Flush the system and check the thermo

[joefresh]

my car would do this same thing. are you reading this from the stock guage?
if my car was sitting at a red light it would be at normal operating temp...for my ka atleast lol then shoot to beyond in like 2seconds. turn on heater and it would shoot down to normal really quick. i replaced the thermo and re-bled the system with the front jacked up like 64' and held the engine at 3500rpm for a few minutes. super shady. goodluck dude.

ps- i had a hole in my expansion tank that im pretty sure let air into the system might check that old plastic out

[burnsauto]

yeah i second the thermostat.

im guessing you bled the system completely? ..car on jackstands and all that jazz..

[NemeGuero]

yah bled properly.. did that shit months ago and this problem just started happening..

No, I'm not reading from stock gauge, I have a digital temp meter..

[drift freaq]

flush your whole cooling system. Replace your thermostat( you have done this). Possibly replace your radiator as it may be getting clogged with rust and whatnot. Make sure all hoses including the one that goes underneath your intake manifold is not leaking tiny amounts. Check your clutch fan as well.

Have seen this symptom in several S13's in fact have driven around with it for ages with no adverse effects beyond getting momentarily jarred by watching the gauge shoot up. Though then it drops back down. In the end I would say follow all the suggestions above. Its most likely related to your getting full of crap due to age. Flush that baby. Radiators are notorious for causing these kinds of problems, oh and heater cores can contribute as well.

People if you run straight water in your cooling system it requires a lot more maintenance because water promotes rust and corrosion without coolant in it.

[NemeGuero]

its not straight water.. its water wetter and DISTILLED water.

and it was all flushed 2 months ago... when I installed the thermo

[japslapsilvia]

you may have a small pin hole in the system somwhere. you can try and pressure test teh system.
take ur thermostat out and put it in boiling water to confirm that it opens all the way. and re-flush the system.

[KoukiRydr]

I had a similar problem. I put in a new radiator fan clutch, hasn't overheated yet. I have a stock KA and stock fan. I noticed you have Altima fans, so not sure if there's a difference in the fan clutch.

[NemeGuero]

If I'm pulling it out.. I'll probably just buy another one anyway so I can just swap it if its bad

EDIT: it has nothing to do with the fans.

I've been running this setup for a while now.

the problem just started this week. My cooling system is the shit. the water just isn't circulating.. probably thermo like everyone says.. FUCK this shit is 2 months old..

[SoSideways]

Originally Posted by NemeGuero

If I'm pulling it out.. I'll probably just buy another one anyway so I can just swap it if its bad

EDIT: it has nothing to do with the fans.

I've been running this setup for a while now.

the problem just started this week. My cooling system is the shit. the water just isn't circulating.. probably thermo like everyone says.. FUCK this shit is 2 months old..

When you put the thermo in, you could have got some RTV sealant on the thermo itself, making it stick or something.

When you take it out, do what the FSM says and put the thermo in a saucepan or whatever and boil some water in there, then stick the thermo in it and see if it opens.

[pwr-adr]

Run it untill it starts to overheat then feel the radiator hoses and make sure they both are pretty hot. If the one doesn't feel warm then its thermo for sure. I could even be headgasket.

I have had the same issue before in my old SOHC and even though it didn't smoke or show any in the oil, it was still the headgasket causing it to not flow and eat it all away causing it to overheat.

[Simon_K]

I had the same problem and I changed radiator and rad cap, water pump, thermostat(4 times), after that it still overheats so I fucked up my old KA and swap another in. "Luckily" it still overheats. I was frustrated so I try run the car without a thermostat and it's finally running cool.....but the problem is still not solved.....

If I get a event next weekend, I'll try to run without a thermostat.
Hope it helps...

[NemeGuero]

I don't think its burning out.. cuz it cools fine randomly.

and like I said.. if I'm already taking out the thermo I'm just gonna get a replacement so that I don't have to do it 2X.

[SoSideways]

Originally Posted by NemeGuero

I don't think its burning out.. cuz it cools fine randomly.

and like I said.. if I'm already taking out the thermo I'm just gonna get a replacement so that I don't have to do it 2X.

Why blindly spend money when the thermo could just as well not be the culprit of the problem?

I'd say test it to rule it as the culprit before you buy another one, or else you'd be buying a lot of parts that's not needed and still have the problem.

[NemeGuero]

because if I rip my car apart and it ends up being that the thermo is bad.. I'm out of a car till i can get a ride to go get one.

Thats fuckin why

[jspaeth]

Originally Posted by NemeGuero

because if I rip my car apart and it ends up being that the thermo is bad.. I'm out of a car till i can get a ride to go get one.

Thats fuckin why

Why do some people not get it that SOME of us actually daily drive our cars around....

[GSXRJJordan]

Evan, if u need a ride/etc, you've got my num from a few PMs. It could be the thermo, and new ones (OE replacements) are like $10. Bleeding it again is the biggest concern.

[ESmorz]

What kind of thermo?

Nismo?

[ManoNegra]

pressured test the system
had similar issues once and it turned out to be a bad cap
thermos usually stick open when they fail
you could also use a laser thermometer to pinpoint the problem spot

[Def]

It sounds like it could be a pinhole leak that's letting out just enough water to cause air pockets in the system, randomly causing temps to spike as there is no coolant flow then coolant hits hot parts and gets really hot(which is bad for the engine of course). But you'd see that there was a slow leak if you monitored the coolant level over a few days.

If it's not that, my vote is a sticking thermostat OR a messed up stock sender.

[tanks13]

well you living in socal this is how i use to run my 240 water wetter distiled water altima fans and no thermo but when it stated over heating it was the thermo ripped it out and ran perfect nothing when wrong ever atleast with overheating problems

[NemeGuero]

Originally Posted by ESmorz

What kind of thermo?

Nismo?

yes. nismo, jeeze, it says it like 5 times in the thread...

Originally Posted by ManoNegra

pressured test the system
had similar issues once and it turned out to be a bad cap
thermos usually stick open when they fail
you could also use a laser thermometer to pinpoint the problem spot

Dude, I'm gonna drop you a PM cuz I want to do some of this stuff you're talking about but dont know how. What you doing this weekend? hahaha

Originally Posted by Def

It sounds like it could be a pinhole leak that's letting out just enough water to cause air pockets in the system, randomly causing temps to spike as there is no coolant flow then coolant hits hot parts and gets really hot(which is bad for the engine of course). But you'd see that there was a slow leak if you monitored the coolant level over a few days.

If it's not that, my vote is a sticking thermostat OR a messed up stock sender.

its not the sender, i'm not reading OE gauge.

Originally Posted by tanks13

well you living in socal this is how i use to run my 240 water wetter distiled water altima fans and no thermo but when it stated over heating it was the thermo ripped it out and ran perfect nothing when wrong ever atleast with overheating problems

I'm gonna bleed the system and see what happens. if it still does it then I'm gonna swap thermos.. well pressure test and thermo thingy test and then swap thermos.

[SoSideways]

Originally Posted by NemeGuero

because if I rip my car apart and it ends up being that the thermo is bad.. I'm out of a car till i can get a ride to go get one.

Thats fuckin why

If you did it over the weekend I'm sure you could at least have someone drive you to a dealership or auto parts store to pick up another thermostat.

Geez.

I have been stuck home rong time cause my own 240, which was also my daily driver, is still down.

So I feel you.

But still, buying things left and right without actually pin-pointing the problem and fixing it is only for the ones with the wallet to support that type of "elimination" game, I am too poor for it lol

[NemeGuero]

Oh well see, I'm a baller.

[SoSideways]

Originally Posted by NemeGuero

Oh well see, I'm a baller.

Yeah yeah... moving out to LA for the baller job, I remember...

So did you figure out what your deal is?

Thought you were supposed to work on your whip last night?

[drkidd22]

Originally Posted by NemeGuero

Oh well see, I'm a baller.

I remember when I had my Altima 2000 SE with the KA, My temp would rise occasionally and then drop back down. I though it was an electrical problem and didn't pay too much attention to it. So after a while my headgasket blew away and when it was replaced the mechanic found out that the thermo was stuck and was the cause of my problem by not letting water flow. So my head was worped and it had to be sent out to get it flat again. I put my money on your thermo. My SR that I have on the 240 is overheating too and I'm replacing the thermo next week. If you need a ride just remove the thermo, put some water in that biatch and you can take that drive to the shop as a test to confirm your thermo is the problem.