Brett Jenkins

85.5 NS, just started running very hot, within 10 minutes of driving. It will peg the temp gauge, even when driving highway speeds, but will rise quicker in stop and go traffic. After it did this, i stopped and popped the hood, and there was a lot of hissing and steam that seemed to be escaping from the cam housing/cover.

I drained, flushed, filled, and bled the system, to no avail. I noticed when I was draining that there is NO thermostat, but this hasn't been a problem for the 1+ year that I owned it.

Also, since it ran hot, it has been idling rather erratically. After any acceleration, at any speed, when I push in the clutch, RPM's will drop to 500 or less and surge up a down a little, 3 or 4 times, and then idle will climb and hold steady at 1k to 1200, which seems a little high to idle.

Are the problems related, or am I just having crappy luck? I hate Indiana winters, cause me problems every time. I just got done replacing ALL the clutch hydraulics and now the clutch is becoming noise when it's pushed in.

Well anyway, how's about some help with the cooling system first, and then I'll work on the other problems.

divezic

Sounds like the problem I had but worse. Try this...

Heat up the engine then shut it off. DISCONNECT the fan harnesses so they don't turn on with your hand is down there. Feel all over the radiator. My radiator was clogged and I felt less than half of it getting hot. The clogged part of the rad was ambient temp.

Next, are you bleeding the air out of the coolant system completely? Air bubbles will kill the cooling efficiency of the rad.

Water pump going bad? I guess if all else fails, this will be the culprate.

Mike1982

With the thermostat out of the car, it should just run right though the rad. without a problem. With that, I would think you either have a hose that is plugged up or a rad. that is plugged up. Was your coolant full or very close to it? Also, that air in the system will cause it to go hot so make sure there isn't any air in there when refilling.

Brett Jenkins

Update, there seems to be some coolant dripping out of the cam housing/cover. From the water pump maybe?

TheCooler

Put a thermostat in there man!!

Mongo

hmmm...

is your waterpump knocking or noisy on the car? you could need a new pump for sure if the housing down there is leaking. I changed my pump one time and my car cooled off, then when i drove the car 3 weeks later it was still running hot, so I changed the fan switch and did a thermostat myself...still hot. Then the plastic castors separated from the radiator and gushed out all the coolant. My radiator was not only shot but even plugged according to my mechanic

Andy

ilikemy944

Real hot, strange idle, cam hissing?
Headgasket?

SoCal Driver

Bad water pump letting the system vent and not reach pressure.

Bad water pump letting timing belt go slack and jumping teeth.

Bad water pump letting system over heat blowing head gasket.

Soon dead engine.

Very soon.

PCMAX

So Cal Driver,
My car runs a little on the warm side. How can you tell if your system is making correct pressure?

billybones

with out a thermostat? how did draining it show you that? also with out the thermostat in subzero temps running the heater fan on high at the start could freeze your heater core. imediate driving in these cars could have froze the radiator. The Idea of a thermostat is to keep your coolant from reaching the cooling areas such as the radiator before the temp of the fluid is high enough to sustain a nice cool breeze.. did you have good antifreeze before this? sounds like a blown water pump..frozen water, and now a head gasket ta boot.. this applies to all cars... check your antifreeze every fall and spring... DO NOT DRIVE TILL YOU FIND OUT.. minimize the dammage..