more over heating issues

[djalkyd]

i have done a lot of research in this forum due to the overheating problems these cars have.
i just bought a 87 turbo 2 days ago. the guy i got it from was the 2nd owner, the first owner was an old dude.
the 2nd owner had the head gasket replaced and upper end of the motor rebuilt (head and block decked and machined to make sure everything fit right).
he drove it for more than 6 months and blew out the lower radiator hose so he parked it.

i purchased it knowing the lower hose was blown.

here is where i am stumped.

i replaced the lower hose and i also replaced the thermostat just to make sure. i ran the car for about 15 minutes and noticed that the upper radiator hose is not getting any water as if the thermostat is not opening when it gets hot.

i also notice that there is a line from the housing where the lower radiator hose goes to, the line that cools the turbo seems to be leaking when the temp gets pretty high. steam comes from that area but i cant truely tell if it is the turbo cooling line.

i am wondering 2 things:

1) maybe its the water pump not pumping and preasure is backing up causing the steam to come out of the turbo cooling line because the upper hose is not getting any water through it when the thermostat is opening.

2) since the head gasket was replaced (i saw the paperwork from it) could the head gasket actually have been put on backwards and block coolant passages?

i know on mustangs you can accidently put them on backwards and cause this problem.

there is no water in the oil or oil in the coolant so the head gasket is safe. the car has great compression and runs very well with the exception of the coolant problem. i am trying to catch everything to save the head gasket.



thanks for any help.

[Bullz_EyE]

Well #2 is definitely not the issue. Possibly a faulty gauge or sensor/sending unit? I'm not sure if our car throws a code for that. It's quite possible that it may be the water pump, causing the lower radiator hose to blow in the 1st place.

[djalkyd]

yea, thinking about it, the coolant light never turns off even when the car is cool and full of coolant.

i wanted to do a preasure test but auto zone did'nt have the adapter for their preasure tester and napa sells the tester for over $150, so i never got to actually test the system to see where the preasure is leaking from.
thanks for the help, i will check into the pump more.

[j3pz]

water pumps are relatively cheap, i replaced mine during the summer in like maybe 2 hr and it only cost about 30 bucks i thnk

[mrnickleye]

The coolant light is only telling you the overflow bottle is low on coolant. Did you put the thrermostat in with the spring towards the engine?

I have seen a few water pumps go bad and not pump water (or very little).

No, you can't put the head gasket on backwards, only one way.

[djalkyd]

yea, the thermostat is in with the spring towards the motor.

i will get a new water pump tomorrow and try that out.

thanks for all the help, i hope to have this coolant problem fixed so i can enjoy my new toy.

[suprra_girl]

you don't have air locks in the engine do you?

was the radiator checked for clogging when the hg was replaced?
try replacing thermostat first
then pump (very rare for pump not to work... hell it's mechanical it can only but go round lol)

[djalkyd]

well i found out today that the water pump was no good. got it replaced and everything is working great. the mechanic ran some kind of dye through the system and said the head gasket is fine along with everything else but the water pump.

now on to better things like clutches and power upgrades.

i thank you all for the great help, i really do appreciate it.

[Bullz_EyE]

That was great. Just out of curiosity, how could you tell the water pump was inoperable?

[suprra_girl]

i guess teh bearing must have been flogged out?

or there were no blades left on the pump on the inside?

can only be so many things hehe... and i would assume removal and inspection is what verified