Author Topic: Cooling Questions (Read 8642 times)

phrekus · « **Reply #15 on:** July 13, 2009, 02:17:55 PM »

The radiator was replaced recently when I purchased the car (by someone too lazy to mount it correctly) but I was thinking about running water through it just to rule it out. I did cap off the coolant bypass during the mess under the intake mod.

monty23psk · « **Reply #16 on:** July 13, 2009, 10:45:02 PM »

Maybe the bypass has a blockage in the incorrect place. I havent done this yet to my car.

I guess one thing at a time. Also how is your fan clutch, even though this should be looked at later and has nothing to do with coolant flow.

phrekus · « **Reply #17 on:** July 14, 2009, 09:08:03 PM »

Well I put everything back together without the thermostat to try to narrow things down and I got the same results (car temp goes up and steam only comes out of the bleeder valve till the car gets so hot that I have to turn it off, all while no heat comes out of the air vents). I tried pushing torn cardboard into the fan and I was able to stop it from spinning. I would assume that means the fan clutch is gone but I was wondering if a bad sensor could cause the fan clutch not to engage while causing the circulation issue. The thermostat gasket housing and o-ring won't be in till thursday so I had to use the old ones to test with. I was also thinking that air could be getting in through the old gasket of the thermostat housing preventing circulation.

phrekus · « **Reply #18 on:** July 15, 2009, 12:36:25 PM »

Well I just placed another order with Pelican for the items below and had them ship it overnight. I already have the new thermostat plus the gasket and o-ring for it will be arriving tomorrow along with everything else.

11-14-1-439-570-M104 Kit PEL-WPSKE30-02N: Crankshaft Seal
11-23-1-469-235-M21 Kit PEL-WPSKE30-02N: Belt, Alternator
11-51-0-393-338-M59 Water Pump and Gasket
11-52-1-466-000-M38 Kit PEL-WPSKE30-02N: Fan Clutch
12-62-1-710-512-M323 Temperature Sending Unit (for temp gauge)
13-62-1-709-966-M323 Temperature Sensor, 2-prong, 20 Degrees Cel
17-11-1-178-412-M200 Kit PEL-WPSKE30-02N: Rubber Insulator for Lower Radiator Mount
17-11-1-712-788-M230 Bleeder Screw for Expansion Tank (Brass, includes one O-Ring)
61-31-1-378-073-M85 Temperature Switch in Radiator

monty23psk · « **Reply #19 on:** July 15, 2009, 02:01:08 PM »

cool and good luck.

Just to let you know, I started a small parts company and can get most maintenance parts cheaper than Pelican and I get them local, so from Miami to St. Petersburg, should only take 2 days from date of purchased. Just tyring to get business rolling so sell jus over cost.

phrekus · « **Reply #20 on:** July 15, 2009, 02:24:04 PM »

Congrats and great to know. I will run any new part orders by you first before paying to have stuff shipped from California again. Should I just PM you or do you have another method of contact that you prefer for your parts company? My next focus will be tires or maybe wheels and tires, suspension, and brakes. I also need to get a new sunroof panel and the hardware for it.

monty23psk · « **Reply #21 on:** July 15, 2009, 05:41:11 PM »

you can PM, I have a thread in the for sale section or my company email, amontoya@aemtechsolutions.com.

Just take care of one thing at a time, first cooling system to get car on the road. Also I would suggest once you have it working to flush system and then add BMW blue coolant, which I can also get. For now water would be fine but in the end distilled water only. Helps keeping clean.

phrekus · « **Reply #22 on:** July 17, 2009, 08:58:41 AM »

Well getting TO the water pump was pretty simple but I spent

two hours trying to get the damn thing out with no luck. I tried using the top

and bottom threaded wholes like in the instructions but the end result is a

broken bolt in the top one and I broke off a piece of the water pump flange

on the bottom. Tonight I will be taking the hood off to get a better angle, I

might have to build a tool to get this out.

JP 91iS · « **Reply #23 on:** July 18, 2009, 01:21:15 AM »

Wow, sounds like a lot of bad luck! I admire your calm persistence. Looks like you are replacing just about every cooling system part except the hoses and radiator -I guess with aluminum heads you can't be too careful. Good luck with the rest of the installation!

Oh and take care with that brass bleeder screw - when it's hot it is easy to ruin the threads in the plastic housing. I found this post with a good description on how to bleed the coolant : http://www.m42club.com/forums/showpost.php?p=56849&postcount=2

phrekus · « **Reply #24 on:** July 18, 2009, 08:15:05 AM »

Thank you, yeah I am used to the prices and labor involved in working on Z's so when I saw how much it would cost just to replace these parts the experience alone was worth it. I have been following your project since I bought the car and your progress has been a large motivator along with everyone else's.

Hopefully today will end with the car being back on the road but I have learned never to rule out another parts order. Thank you for the advice and I will follow the instructions you provided once I get everything back together.

ZeeGerman · « **Reply #25 on:** July 18, 2009, 06:19:36 PM »

I chased an overheating problem all the way down the to head gasket. Hopfully some of the grief I went through can help you out.

Fan clutch test:
As car starts to over heat, run cool water from a garden hose across the radiator. (Radiator is clsoed all you do is spray water across the fins.) If the water pulls heat out of the radiator and allows the car to cool down its your fan/fan clutch.

Aux fan test (worth doing but probably not your issue):
Disconnect the temerapture switch connector mounted on the side of the radiator. Use a paper clip to jumper the leads. Start the car turn on the A/C (compressor and cabin fan). There are only three leads (ie. three combos for you to jump with the paper clip). Try each: one will drive the aux fan at full speed, one will drive the aux fan at low speed, the other will do nothing. This will tell you your aux fan works and it can tell you if the temp switch is bad (fan works in the test but not at temperature with the AC on).

Easier bleeding:
Place an asprin in the T-stat before installing. This keeps it craked open a bit so you can fill the block easier. When the car heats up the pill will disolve and allow the T-stat to close normally. You can also buy them with a small hole in the top or drill one in yourself. Jacking up the car as you said also helps. Be sure to turn the heater controls to full hot when filling so coolant can reach and fill the heater core.

Is it your headgasket?
My car would over heat at low RPM. I rev it up to past say 2500 and it cools down. Huh??? Turns out gases from combustion chamber were getting into the coolant system creating an airbubble at the top of the system. Spinning the water pump really fast forces water up into the head to cool it back down. (Just got the head back from the shop and miraculously it was not warped). Another symptom was no heat from the heater core at low RPM but had heat at high RPM.

Easy coolant draining:
Use a 6" by 1/2' ID hose from the drain to your pan to reduce the mess when draining the radiator.

Water pump:
If swapping the water pump get the one with a metal impeller.

phrekus · « **Reply #26 on:** July 19, 2009, 03:54:57 PM »

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the help. Just finished getting everything back together and she started right up and the bleeding instructions worked flawless. Left it running for about 20 minutes before taking it on a test drive with the temps staying below half the entire drive.

My girlfriend came down to help me out, my hands were a bit large to reach the sensors.

Can you tell which one is the old one?

Beat, Happy, Sweaty...

DesktopDave · « **Reply #27 on:** July 19, 2009, 09:49:07 PM »

Which Z's? I alternate between the S14 240sx & BMWs myself. I have to get a Z one of these days...maybe a 240z? Nobody makes a decent rear-driver anymore...the Infiniti G35 isn't bad, just a bit too competent & feels too tame. The little Lexus has such a sterile feel, a bit dull & ugly to boot. New BMW 3s are ugly & seriously overweight.

monty23psk · « **Reply #28 on:** July 19, 2009, 10:46:17 PM »

great news. I guess the pump was the cause of all your issues.

phrekus · « **Reply #29 on:** July 19, 2009, 11:44:15 PM »

unfortunately I had a bad habit of buying z31 turbos... I have always wanted a 240z but would settle on a 260z for a v8 swap. I spent a few months looking for a good candidate but even in Florida everything I could find was rusted pretty bad.