86'928S MeteorGrey

Got a problem that parked my car last night.

Coolant warning light came on, (top of coolant needle gauge light) but temp gauge still read centered between the two white lines. Was close to home so I turned her around and got home in a couple of minutes. Upon popping the hood, I see boiling water in the coolant resevoir, some slight steam comming from (i believe) the TB cover (WP?), and some moisture on the TB when viewed through the intake breather hole. There is no oil in the water, and oil level and condition looks good. Car was running fine with no noise or loss of power. I'll tear into it this weekend. I'm hoping the WP seal went and allowed the pressure to drop in the system allowing the coolant to boil which tripped the pressure transducer which activated the warning light. I'll also be checking for leaky/ruptured hoses and cracks in the coolant resevoir...

Any other guesses or ideas for me to use during inspection? Was wondering when I would get to start wrenching on this one... Had to drive my Durango to work today, and I'm already having withdrawls...

Mrmerlin

It would also be helpful if you posted the year of the car your working on...
To verify temperature use an IR gun to see if the gauge is close IE 185 should have the gauge in the center of its travel.

before you start taking things apart if any of the water bridge hoses are old there is a chance that one of them has a small hole on its inside from the tabs on the hose outlets,
this can eventually hole the hose from inside out,
if any one of the hoses have this damage then it would be wise to replace all 3 of the hoses that connect to the water bridge.

Note a failed seal on the waterpump will look like coolant running down the center of the top of the oil pan.
If the coolant is leaking anywhere else then it may be a hose.
If it is a hose it would also be wise to replace the heater control valve and short hose at the back of the engine,
and replace the coolant cap

m750rider

It seems that your temperature gauge must be bad. If it was indicating center of the white lines, the coolant temperature would be about 180, well below the boiling point regardless of the system pressure.

nc_growler

Any signs of coolant leaks preceding this event during your drive? No signs of your car marking territory previously? My last water pump failure was confirmed by pulling the driver side cam cover and observing coolant running out the weep hole immediately upon start.

James Bailey

Possible that the "boiling water" was from a head gasket leak ...... also might have been a siezed water pump not circulating water and the steam from behind the cover was SMOKE ! Be real careful about trying to start the engine since the rubber belt can vulcanize itself to the pulley and next time you crank it the belt breaks ! Son in law did that on an 84 ....a none intreference thankfully.

86'928S MeteorGrey

This is an '84. Thanks for all of the input guys. I'll remove the TB covers and turn the crank by hand before restart. I'll report my findings this weekend.

Mrmerlin

after thinking about this some more,
I think JB is on the right track the WP may have seized and or a blown headgasket

mark kibort

middle of the temp sensor, but boiling over is odd. head gasket? and make sure temp sensor is working right.

86'928S MeteorGrey

Didn't have as much time as I thought this weekend. Had some family duties to tend to, so I only got a small window of time in today.

Moved the car to the garage by hand. Motor turned fine along with cams. Got the passenger TB cover off. Belt is VERY loose. Belt condition looks good. Going to go ahead and tear down the front of the motor. Does the power steering pump hose have to come off to allow the driver side TB cover to be removed? I don't remember having trouble getting the driver side cover off before... hmm.. Very curious to see if there is oil in the belt tensioner. I think this calls for a Porkensioner, probably a new water pump, and maybe a head gasket set...... I love these cars.


I'll consult the WSM to check coolant gauge operation...

86'928S MeteorGrey

OK. removed belly pan, cooling fan and shroud. Timing belt extremely loose everywhere. I don't believe the belt skipped, as the car ran fine when I got it home. Going to go back and pull the radiator as I'm going to be in here a while. I will post some photos once I get her all torn down.

danglerb

Loose belt, something like idler or tensioner must be flooey.

If the water pump stops turning, or sort of stops, coolant at the bridge and sensor might not be that hot, while the stuff in the heads is boiling?

I just ordered a Stant radiator pressure tester to start messing on my 83, but hasn't shipped yet, so might not be here until after next weekend, but if your still working on it let me know and I can drop by with it.

Which water pump are you thinking of going with?

86'928S MeteorGrey

I havn't determined if the pump is bad yet, but if it is, I'll definitely be leaning towards an engine guardian, but maybe just a new Laso would be enough. Since my engine is non interference, I'm struggling with the decision. Of course I'd love to go with the guardian, a porkensioner and a new gates racing belt but the financing of my family of 6 dictates most decisions around here... We'll just have to see how my November bonus looks...

Mike Frye

Loose belt, coolant leak that was on the belt when viewed through the hole.

I'm going to go with a water pump impeller shaft/bearing issue with a side order of bent shoulder bolt.

If the shaft had seized I'm sure it would have heated up the belt enough to skip or melt or more likely break, but if it was turning, why the overheat?

Glad it's a non-interference and I'm hoping that you got it shut down before the overheat condition caused any additional problems.

Please keep us posted.

For the PS hose, I don't think it's required to disconnect that in any MY. Should be able to disassemble the bracket and move it out of the way.

fraggle

+1 just remove the brackets. No need to break into the system.

mark kibort

if you lose the pump, it will overheat at the sensor, just as it would if the pump was working. that part is puzzling.