3Bar_Mopar
02-27-2006, 02:22 AM
It's not that this really matters since the head will be replaced very soon, but this car has nothing but cooling problems since I first got it.
When I first got the car, the guy who sold it to me thought it had a blown headgasket and said that one day coolant started coming out and the temp gauge went to hot and he shut it off....that was the last he drove it.
When I went to get the car I filled the coolant and wathed for leaks. I saw none, so I drove it home. The temp stayed cold and nothing went wrong at all....until I pulled into my driveway and I noticed steam under the hood. I popped the hood and saw a small leak in the radiator.
I replaced the radiator, water pump, thermostat and fan. I still experienced some fluctuation and running warm witht he temp gauge, so I changed the headgasket.
Everything was fine until I started having to take the interstate to work every day. Then the temp would get hotter the faster I drove...and dropped to normal when I slowed down.
Shortly after I had a rusty freeze plug leak and I replaced that. The other freeze plug on the back of the block was a rubber temp plug and it was leaky, so I replaced that one too.
About a month later the freeze plug on the front of the block under the waterbox popped out and leaked coolant everywhere....this was in the midle of summer....I replaced that one too.
A little while later I had a leak with the heater control valve and then with a dented pipe on the heater core.
I blocked off the coolant to the heater core for the rest of the summer.
The car ran great afterwards, but still had wildly fluctuating temp gauge. The temp would always eventually settle and not move.
Also, the car would start very hard and run on one or two cylinders for the first few minutes before evening out and running normal. I usually had to keep the gas peddle pressed a little to keep it running until all cylnders started to fire.
One day I replaced the plugs and tha car started like normal again and ran fine.
The car sat for a few months because of no insurance and expired plates, plus I was driving my Mini.
I recently moved and needed to get my car back running. I drove it over 2 hours in the snow (with no heat) to my new place and had no issues other than fluctuating temp gauge.
My thermostat recently started sticking and would remain at "hot" longer than usual and then the temp would plummet to cold. I replaced the thermostat and that solved that problem.
I also had a mysterious oil smoking issue a couple days when it got pretty cold out. Taking my girlfriend to work, on the way home the car started billowing white smoke like crazy. I thought it was the headgasket until I smelled the smoke, which smelled like oil and burnt rubber. It happened that time and one other time, but the smoking went away while I was driving the last time it happened, and hasn't happened since. I think maybe the PCV valve froze up or something.
Now I hooked the heat back up and have had no real issues until I drove it back to my moms this weekend. The temp stayed hot...not maxed hot, but just under the last mark before the "H", and fluctuated between less hot and hot. I also noticed gurgling noise when I'd shut off the car.
I pulled off and popped the cap, which made coolant fill the overflow almost to the top. I ran the car and added some water until the level stabilized in the radiator. The temp remained rock solid one mark above "cold" on the gauge the rest of the way back to moms, and no gurgling when I shut it off.
Now I'm at moms now and the car is starting hard again and running on one or two cylinders again until it evens out.
The temp had been gradually getting warmer and now it's staying pretty warm again with the gurgling at shut-down.
I'm wondering if the issue is with the head or the heater core.
The heater core is not leaking that I can tell from the engine compartment, but the issues seemed to start back up when I reconnected the core.
I'm baffled with the hard starting thing and I don't know if the plugs are fouling, crappy quality, or the head is warped or cracked enough to let coolant into the cylinders.:confused:
I have a good head with Enforcer Garret turbo waiting to go into this car, but I'm waiting for my parts to get here first.
I just want to know what everyone thinks could be the problem with this thing....it's very frustrating and I absolutely HATE cooling system problems more than anything!!:mad:
The car is a '90 Daytona 2.5 T1 automatic.
When I first got the car, the guy who sold it to me thought it had a blown headgasket and said that one day coolant started coming out and the temp gauge went to hot and he shut it off....that was the last he drove it.
When I went to get the car I filled the coolant and wathed for leaks. I saw none, so I drove it home. The temp stayed cold and nothing went wrong at all....until I pulled into my driveway and I noticed steam under the hood. I popped the hood and saw a small leak in the radiator.
I replaced the radiator, water pump, thermostat and fan. I still experienced some fluctuation and running warm witht he temp gauge, so I changed the headgasket.
Everything was fine until I started having to take the interstate to work every day. Then the temp would get hotter the faster I drove...and dropped to normal when I slowed down.
Shortly after I had a rusty freeze plug leak and I replaced that. The other freeze plug on the back of the block was a rubber temp plug and it was leaky, so I replaced that one too.
About a month later the freeze plug on the front of the block under the waterbox popped out and leaked coolant everywhere....this was in the midle of summer....I replaced that one too.
A little while later I had a leak with the heater control valve and then with a dented pipe on the heater core.
I blocked off the coolant to the heater core for the rest of the summer.
The car ran great afterwards, but still had wildly fluctuating temp gauge. The temp would always eventually settle and not move.
Also, the car would start very hard and run on one or two cylinders for the first few minutes before evening out and running normal. I usually had to keep the gas peddle pressed a little to keep it running until all cylnders started to fire.
One day I replaced the plugs and tha car started like normal again and ran fine.
The car sat for a few months because of no insurance and expired plates, plus I was driving my Mini.
I recently moved and needed to get my car back running. I drove it over 2 hours in the snow (with no heat) to my new place and had no issues other than fluctuating temp gauge.
My thermostat recently started sticking and would remain at "hot" longer than usual and then the temp would plummet to cold. I replaced the thermostat and that solved that problem.
I also had a mysterious oil smoking issue a couple days when it got pretty cold out. Taking my girlfriend to work, on the way home the car started billowing white smoke like crazy. I thought it was the headgasket until I smelled the smoke, which smelled like oil and burnt rubber. It happened that time and one other time, but the smoking went away while I was driving the last time it happened, and hasn't happened since. I think maybe the PCV valve froze up or something.
Now I hooked the heat back up and have had no real issues until I drove it back to my moms this weekend. The temp stayed hot...not maxed hot, but just under the last mark before the "H", and fluctuated between less hot and hot. I also noticed gurgling noise when I'd shut off the car.
I pulled off and popped the cap, which made coolant fill the overflow almost to the top. I ran the car and added some water until the level stabilized in the radiator. The temp remained rock solid one mark above "cold" on the gauge the rest of the way back to moms, and no gurgling when I shut it off.
Now I'm at moms now and the car is starting hard again and running on one or two cylinders again until it evens out.
The temp had been gradually getting warmer and now it's staying pretty warm again with the gurgling at shut-down.
I'm wondering if the issue is with the head or the heater core.
The heater core is not leaking that I can tell from the engine compartment, but the issues seemed to start back up when I reconnected the core.
I'm baffled with the hard starting thing and I don't know if the plugs are fouling, crappy quality, or the head is warped or cracked enough to let coolant into the cylinders.:confused:
I have a good head with Enforcer Garret turbo waiting to go into this car, but I'm waiting for my parts to get here first.
I just want to know what everyone thinks could be the problem with this thing....it's very frustrating and I absolutely HATE cooling system problems more than anything!!:mad:
The car is a '90 Daytona 2.5 T1 automatic.