Keep OVerheating! arh! Help!

[bryanlee38]

alright, yesterday i was driving, my car temperature went up to HOT ... right up there. Therefore I stopped and saw a little steam comin out from the engine bay, on the left where the water is. I waited and then opened my radiator valve, and it was totally dry. I didnt have any coolant on me so i just put in some hot water. My car cooled down then i eventually drove to the coast. Did about 600km's soo far, and i checked today, open the radiator valve and it was dry again! TOTALLY DRY! However car hasnt overheated, because i havent driven it since. I thought it was a leak, however there was no water on the ground. What is happenin, please help

bryanlee38

[Cubes]

Possible head gasket?

What sort of tune do you have it in and have you been using a 98 RON fuel?

[bryanlee38]

sort of tune? - newbie (i dont getcha). Car's was dyno tuned by previous owner. I've had the car for a month soo far. I've filled up my car 6 times soo far. I've used ULtime and Optimax mainly, however i did use Mobil Premium unleaded once when i was desperate as i was on very very low fuel.

[Cubes]

tune.. boost mods etc...

[bryanlee38]

running stock boost. only mods r bov, pod, TT, 3 inch cat back, THATS it. nothing big. the radiator isnt leaking, no drips on the floor. THe water/coolant is meant to keep filtering back and forth Correct? ANy chance its just evaporating? I've only done 500km's and i have to top up. It has overheated once, but after the 500km's I check and the below the valve cap was DRY. but car hasnt overheated, I've refilled it with water. But will get coolant asap.

[rev210]

car hard to start?

Check the entire engine over for any sign of leakage whilst you run the engine from cold till warm. At this time check that the fan is working.

If you don't see anything then check your oil for signs of milky-ness.

When cool start the engine and run with the cap off.As it warms look for bubbles and signs of fuel contamination.

Take out the plugs and check condition for signs of water, (whiteness)

[bryanlee38]

the car is a little hard to start, but I'm 99% sure its the battery. I'm gettin a new one on thursday. I've checked (well look at the floor) and there's no leakage onto the floor, can it leak onto anywhere else? the fan is working fine for sure. I checked the dipstickm, looks normal, however i did get my oil change yesterday, put in castrol magnotec

WHAT do u mean run with cap off - the radiator cap? What should it look like. currently where u r meant to pour the coolant in, i just have water in there. lastly, when u say take plugs out - what plugs

sorry. I'm new to this. only had the car for a month, slowly learning.

[Busky2k]

Check your oil for water.. Does it look sorta cloudy at all? That could prove that ur headgasket is gone..

Or perhaps ur head is cracked, or your hoses leak very slowly under pressure (ie engine hot). There are many possibilites...

[fatz]

dude fill her up and take here to a recognised mechanic

could be tones of things

pete

[JimX]

If the coolant definitely isn't leaking out of the radiator, pump, hoses, etc (ie not leaking onto the ground through the engine bay) then it's going into your engine, simple as that. But check all the above again, as has been said it could be a leak that only happens under pressure.

I had a similar problem on my Commodore because it had a leak around the rear water jacket gaskets. Fortunately this meant it was a fairly slow leak (lost maybe 1 litre per month) and it was going straight into the rear pistons rather than the oil and simply burning off immediately as it seeped through.

I don't know if Skylines have a similar potential water jacket gasket problem, but if they don't then it would have to be the head or head gasket.

Whatever the case, it's time to visit a mechanic.

[blind_elk]

What colour is the water pump? If its gone a bit brown, then its likely the pump has sprung a leak - they have a 'breather' on the underside that tends to crap itself.

[Jay95R33]

Yepp, could be the water pump.

How many KM's has the car done?

When they are on their way out, the water can seep out of the breather on the underside of the pump.

Usually they only leak when the temps are up and it's got presure behind it.

This mean that when the water leaks out it will evaperate straight away and just turn into mist, so you won't see any water on the ground and you'll be scratching your head for ages trying to find where the leak is....

Take it too a radiator place like RatRad etc. They can presure test the hole system and find out if it's the head gasket or water pump etc.

Good luck

J

[rev210]

It sounds to me like the head gasket or a cracked head if the engine is hard to start, turns over a little slowly. Water in the bores means the compression will be significatly raised for cranking.

I might suggest that you don't try to drive the car around until you have sorted the issue ,or risk bent rods or bearing issues which will make the whole deal very expensive.

If your battery is on the way out (as mine is) every morning the radio will have lost its presets and you will find that the power windows will go slower than a wet weekend. A battery that is not holding it's charge etc is VERY obvious so I would be pointing at head issues.

The spark plugs are what I'm reffering to, if you are a newbe then it would be time to have a mechanic look at it alternatively hook up with a local skyline australia forum member or two who is technical and offer a few beers to have a look. I'm sure there are a few guys in your area.

[cyrius]

Had the same problem with my mates R32, only had it for a couple days then suddenly started overheating, It was the water pump, was leaking like a tap. You may only have a small leak under high temperature and pressure so maybe you won't notice anything while stationary.

We managed to get a brandnew water pump for $70. So the problem was fairly easily fixed.

[predator]

well here's my 2c.. csounds like your radiator or hoses just have a small leak, probably down the bottom where you can't see it.. check your radiator overflow bottle - is it full, empty?

otherwise any of the above..

[Cubes]

I had a funny thing where i started to hear a really loud screeching noise.. I could see a little bit of steam forming on the windscreen. I opened the bonnet had a look around still hearing the screeching and couldn't see anything

It turned out to be a pin hole in the top radiator hose that due to the size you couldn't even see the steam.

[cyrius]

Its so relieving once you find the problem.. just glad its nothing expensive.

[darkhalf]

if you want to check it at home.... fill it up with distilled water and then run it warm. to check for external leaks (hoses etc) squeeze the radiator hose (it should maintain pressure when the engine is warm). see if you can see any radiator fluid coming from anywhere when/after you do this. i had a pin prick hole in one of the plenum radiator hoses under the inlet (couldn't see it) and lost a lot of coolant that way

other thing is that internal loss of coolant can be caused by various things but it all comes out at the end (exhaust) so see if steam coming out and could be crack in head or gasket problem. also had this prob and was corrosion hole in head

[bryanlee38]

so far I've done 1000km's since that overheating problem, car has been running smooth as. temp is goin strong. Since that 1000km's back and from the gold coast. I've put 300ml's of water in the radiator cooling system. I was thinking of just putting the coolant in and just see how the car goes for now, DO U THINK THAT's WISE? Like I've done 1000km's, if something was to go wrong, it would have (wouldn't it). But like i said it currently has tap water in there, should i just put coolant in and see how it goes ??? I know i should invest in a mechanic .... I think i will actually.

[JimX]

Don't waste your money on the coolant until you're sure the leak is fixed. You can get by with tap water, as long as you don't get caught in a lot of heavy traffic and don't go into the snow or something (for the boiling/freezing aspect).

Water will corrode your engine faster than coolant, but in the very short time you'll be using it until you visit a mechanic the amount of corrosion will be insignificant.