Coolant temp sending unit.
Coolant temp sending unit.
Swapped out the sensor but no luck... the cooling fan doesn't come on either. Luckily the service manual I bought came today cause I obviously need it. Ugh
Originally Posted by lsm71
Did you change the sensor (2-wire) or the sender (1-wire)? The sensor is for the ecu. The sender is for the gauge cluster. If you disconnect the sensor with the engine running, the fan should come on.
Ed Kelly - KMPerformance.com
If you ground the actual temp gauge wire it should peg the gauge. If not yo have a problem between the gauge and the sender potentially including the gauge itself. If that checks out then just replace the sender.
If the fan won't come on the jump the fan relay and see if it works. You can also run direct power and ground to the fan to test the actual fan.
Ok that's fixed along with a few other things now on to the next challenge.
Still working on the car... most of the little things are fixed, now its time to tackle the bis stuff: engine smoke and rocker panels. I've read a lot about the valve seals failing but it was supposedly fixed on 91+ model engines. Is it still likely to be the valve seals or could it be another more serious problem? As for the rockers I've read bad reviews on the aftermarket versions so I'm looking for a set of used ones if anyone knows of any. Thanks again
Yes, it's still likely to be the valve seals. Regardless of whether chrysler fixed the valve guides dropping out of the head, there's no valve guide that's immune to just wearing out and letting the valve stem move too much inside the seal.
There are a couple guiding rules to go by when diagnosing engine smoke:
Does the engine smoke immediately upon startup? If so, the oil is being burned in the combustion chamber. Rings or intake valve seals.
Does the engine take a few minutes to really start smoking? If so, the oil is being burned after the chamber. Exhaust valve seals (or turbo on a turbo car).
Does the engine smoke worse under deceleration than under hard acceleration? Intake valve seals (because high manifold vacuum in the intake port makes them leak faster and low vacuum under load makes them leak slower).
Typically, it's intake valve seals (exhaust dont tend to cause as much smoking problems even if they are bad). Usually after the car has been sitting a while it will blow a good cloud of smoke upon startup and then slow down and puff a little smoke steadily. If you rev it up from idle it will shoot a big cloud but when you're driving and under load you'll notice the big initial puff will clear up and it wont smoke much as long as you stay in the throttle. Once you let off and let the engine decelerate (which is when it develops the strongest vacuum) it will trail smoke again.
Dont push the red button.You hear me?
Excellent explanation Vigo
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However, the engine seems to have other quirks that makes valve seal smoking worse. In my experience it seems to get slight positive pressure under the front valve cover, this can be the result of two things.... one is the PCV passages in the front valve cover getting sludged up. The other is the top PCV hose that goes over the engine sucking flat, may look fine when cold, but the damn things can go soft when warm, particularly in city driving, and suck flat, then you're blowing huge clouds of blue... then you get home or wherever, probably have something to do, pop the hood 15 minutes later and it's returned to shape....
Anyway, preventative for the valve cover sludging and top end sludging in general, NEVER EVER EVER run oil thickeners, bardahls stuff, lucas stuff, whatever thick gloopy stuff no matter if it costs $100 a dose, DO NOT put it in there.
For remedial action, to clean valve cover PCV ports, at oil change time only, first, give it a blast of WD-40 into there, if a lot foams out, leave it sit for half hour, try again, then leave it soak 15, otherwise just leave it soak 15, then give it a quick blast of brake cleaner also. Shine flashlight through filler, see if you can get rid of any real black gooky bits with quick bursts. Drain oil, and while draining, drop a pint of kerosene in through the filler to help rinse the crap down.
Replace top PCV hose connection with high quality thick thick wall fuel hose, not the basic 10 psi carb fuel hose, the thick/rigid injection hose.
How to stop it getting so nasty, and clean it up while you drive, reduce smoking, make valve seals last a lonnnng time..... use 10W30 "High Mileage" oil in it... Pennzoil and Castrol are the good ones, the Mobil one is horrendous, avoid like plague... Anyway, either of those, it will start cleaning up, after a week or two it will stop burning and using oil, consumption will reduce A LOT. Change it out on schedule for the same stuff, it will keep everything sealed, but this H-M stuff, it goes "bad" quick after a change is due, so don't push your change intervals. It might seem expensive, but you are seriously going to use half to a third the oil you would otherwise be using in these motors. Also due to being semi-synth, you get the lubricity boost that synth gives you and slight mileage and power improvement.
Anyway, check/do that stuff and you might not need to replace valve seals yet...... and when you do, still do it, and you won't have to again.
DD1: '02 T&C Ltd, 3.8 AWD. DD2: '15 Versa Note SV, replacing.. DDx: '14 Versa Note SV << freshly killded :( ....... Projects: '88 Voyager 3.0, Auto with shift kit, timing advance, walker sound FX muffler on 15" pumpers wrapped in 215/65/R15 H rated Nexens.... and a '95 phord escort wagon PnP head << Both may need to go :( ..... I like 3.0s ... so??? ... stop looking at me like I've got two heads!
Why do you need rockers?
I should have some used ones. PM me.
Ed Kelly - KMPerformance.com
Wow thanks for this great post! Now I just need to decide between buying some rebuilt heads ($250ish online) or have the seals repaired in place. Thanks again!!
It'll be cheaper to have the seals replaced than the heads by a mechanic. Not to mention, who knows the quality of parts/craftsmanship of rebuilt heads unless from a reputable source.
Yah the trouble with the rebuild industry is that they're fighting for survival, when most engines have improved enough that by the time a rebuild is needed the car is worth $500 or less, not like back in the day when ppl ran them hard and needed a rebuild every 60-100k. So they are trying to keep costs wayyyyy down so you even consider a rebuilt head etc, and to do that they are using the cheapest parts they can get their hands on. Parts suppliers are complying by producing parts that are less than original spec, for example, plain cast rings, when the originals were moly coated. (Have been in 90% of motors since the late 80s). Anyway, upshot is, the good valve seals are viton, unless that is specified as used in the rebuild, they could have something made from recycled chewing gum or something.
DD1: '02 T&C Ltd, 3.8 AWD. DD2: '15 Versa Note SV, replacing.. DDx: '14 Versa Note SV << freshly killded :( ....... Projects: '88 Voyager 3.0, Auto with shift kit, timing advance, walker sound FX muffler on 15" pumpers wrapped in 215/65/R15 H rated Nexens.... and a '95 phord escort wagon PnP head << Both may need to go :( ..... I like 3.0s ... so??? ... stop looking at me like I've got two heads!
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