Todd951968

Recently, my '92 6sp coupe started overheating with no warning. Luckily, I was arriving at home. I got the car towed the next day to the dealership and they said it was the thermostat and I authorized them to replace it. Then, driving the car home the same thing happened. It ran fine for a few miles then, all of a sudden, it started overheating again. Back to the dealer. They said they put in a bad thermostat but , after having it a week and putting in another, said they are getting the same overheating while checking out the car. No coolant in the oil, no smoke, no outward leakage. Just overhearting and loss of coolant.

At first they thought they hadn't bled all the air out when re-filling but assured me that its not that now. They are doing a leak down test to see if its a small head gasket leak.

Does this make sense? WHere could the coolant be going to? It seems like it should be bellowing out as smoke or filling the oil sump if its leaking enought to overheat like that. I've been very cautious and not let it run hot for long at all but want to get to the bottom of it. Any suggestions? Thanks

Jason Judd

There's another test to see if coolant/oil is contaminated...and it's pretty simple, too.

Somebody did it for me when I had a 951 and it had blown a head gasket.

I forget the name of the device that's used, though. But, it's quick and simple.

Jason

Todd951968

FYI all: I talked to the dealership and they performed a leak-down test and said the HG is OK; which I thought. They now think it could only be a clogged radiator or bad water pump and gave me a choice on which one they should explore. I chose the water pump; car has 63k on it w/ 5 years and 20k on the timing belt so I told them just replace the pump and timing belt, anyway. I had planned on doing it within a year or so.

Does anyone know if the impellers are plastic? They think something may have broken off and is causing the pump to not work properly. I got the impression from them that it isn't frozen but may not be flowing efficiently.

I'll keep posting as this develops, for anyone intersted.

Todd951968

Turned out the problem was the waterpump. The impeller broke. I'm going anhead and getting the belts done too, they had 5 years on them but only 20k miles. I'll need to drive that thing more when I get it back.

flash968

change the rollers too and don't forget the balance belt retension 2k or so down the road

also, since you had a cooling system pressure issue as a result of the pump, it would be a good idea to change your radiator hoses

this would also be a good time to install the low temp fan switch if you still have the stock one