R34 Gtt Overheated Due To No Water/coolant, Now Engine Light

[Alien]

Hey guys

Long time since I've been here as I havent been driving my 34 for months now. Due to this, after taking it for a drive yesterday, after driving for about 20 mins, the car started going a bit sluggish and lost all power and had engine light on. I pulled over and as I thought, overheat. There was no water/coolant left at all and wat was left was extremenly hot and boiling. I let the car cool off a bit while I waited to get some water bottles delivered to me and then filled up around 5 litres of water into radiator and the water/coolant tank. The car started up fine, runs fine and everything but the orange engine light stays on in the dash. Its not coilpacks as I've installed Splitfires already and the car still runs fine.

How can I get rid of this engine light now? Is it meant to stay on until somebody manually clears it with a diagnostic tool? Or is there something or some parts that stuffed up due to overheat? Also, should I go get a full radiator flush and who is a good mechanic these days for skylines around Sydney west?

Thanks guys

DarkZ

[vidospace]

Yes you should flush the radiator.

You shouldnt have filled it with water only, it needs coolant specifically.

The bigger issue than the light on the dash is why it ran out of coolant at all? Was it blowing smoke? You might have a blown cylinder head too!

Re the light though. Yes you can reset it with a consult cable.

[noone]

As above I would be just as worried about where the water went

and probable head gasket damage

On most cars disconnecting the battery overnight or disconnect than stand on the brakes for 30 seconds

tends to clear engine lights, resets the computer

however will come back on when it starts if the fault is still there?????

Have not tried this on a skyline but works on nearly everything else I have tried it on

[Flargh!]

Run a test and see what error codes pop up.

[West]

RB's are tough nut when it comes to the over-heat thing, i once left my radiator cap out, drove the car for 20km or more until i see steam coming out of the bonnet. Shat myself but the bloody thing still going even after 3 years later.

[666DAN]

Yep best to run the diagnostic and see what it says....could be anything from a damaged sensor to coolant water shorting something out. Until it's rectified the light won't go.

Saying that though, I do recall a something about the ECU needing to be reset after logging an overheat code, but yeah follow the thing below and it shows how to reset with a paper clip

Diagnostic

Edited December 11, 2009 by 666DAN

[Alien]

thanks for the info guys

I havent driven the car for a long time and maybe from recent heat the coolant just evapourated, if thats even possible. I will flush it out asap, just need to find a good mechanic specialising in lines.

Cheers

[JonnoHR31]

coolant cant evaporate out of a sealed system. you have a leak somewhere

[TriniGT]

Ensure that there is no air leftin the coolant system otherwise the coolant will disappear. There are two coolant bleeding points on the GTT one to the front and one to the rear.

[Alien]

hey guys

I havent had a chance to take the car to a mechanic so I had a look just before and its still spitting out water from underneath the car. So I had a look at engine bay and found a fairly high pressured leak - I'm assuming a crack at one of the pipes. Its all the way at the back of the engine so I can't really spot it.

Is this just a matter of replacing the plastic pipes or is it something more serious?

Cheers and happy new year!

[DECIM8]

I know what it is.. Its the part sitting behind the firewall. Exact same issue I had with my car. I made a thread about it ages ago.

The part corrodes over time as its metal, I figure its the same thing.

P.S the car doesnt need coolant thats just to stop it rusting. Good to see you back thought you might have written off the car/sold it as I spotted it for sale on st george website. weird.

Position of the leak is drivers side about 10-20 in from the side of the engine and about 30cm down and in the worst spot you can imagine.

Edited December 31, 2009 by DECIM8

[Jezza-gtR]

P.S the car doesnt need coolant thats just to stop it rusting. Good to see you back thought you might have written off the car/sold it as I spotted it for sale on st george website. weird.

A car does need coolant, the main function of coolant is to raise the boiling point of water. You won't get far with 100% water in your system.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

+1

[Alien]

I know what it is.. Its the part sitting behind the firewall. Exact same issue I had with my car. I made a thread about it ages ago.

The part corrodes over time as its metal, I figure its the same thing.

P.S the car doesnt need coolant thats just to stop it rusting. Good to see you back thought you might have written off the car/sold it as I spotted it for sale on st george website. weird.

Position of the leak is drivers side about 10-20 in from the side of the engine and about 30cm down and in the worst spot you can imagine.

Hey dude long time no speak

Are you sure it was my exact 34 that was on sale as I never had it up for sale on any classifieds site. Which St George site?

As for the leak, how do I go about reaching for it and whats the replacement part I need and where could I grab it from? Do you have a link to the thread?

Thanks man

[Ding]

Ooft, yeah do what has been advised and, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH COOLANT IN THERE!

[l_uk3y]

Now someone feel free to correct me if they want. But to my knowledge the coolant actually increases the waters boiling temperature above 100 degrees. (besides other tasks). Either way I've never heard anything good about running water only.

That said I ran water only and lost my radiator cap on my old pintara about 6 or so years ago. Had no issues driving around like that (with no cap) for a week before I got a new cap (I don't condone this at all though). I babied the car the whole time though

[NA_Goodness]

The coolant does a few things, but raising the boiling temp is the main one. Radiator cap helps as well.

[JonnoHR31]

water transfers heat a little better than coolant but its not a good idea in a RB, alloy head doesnt like corrosive water. the pressure of the system raises the boiling point higher than 100 with straight water and coolant is higher again

[Alien]

I found the leak... it is in the worst part of the engine bay, right behing the engine. Its the metal bit where you clamp on a thin hose to a bigger hose. No idea how I can fix this or anybody else as it is practicaly unreachable with tools etc. I was able to get my hand in there and touch the crack to stop the leak but how can I actually repair it? Can I just change the whole hose somehow?

[illusiVe]

just remember the 34's have 2 bleed valves =)