Help STILL OVERHEATING
 

Hello -
I just had my oil pump, timing belt, crank and cam seals (I think) and thermostat done. I am wondering why the car still over heats ?!?!?
When driven softly - gently - it is not much of a problem . Most of the time. However on occasion I can see the guage creep up and then go down as it gets closer to the H - generally I have the A/C running (even though I have no blower motor) - to keep the engine cool.

When I drive it hard - I get the same thing - except that the guage may even go to the red area and it does not come down as fast.

Any insight will be appreciated. Do you think the mechanic did not change the thermostat?

Also the coolant resevoir look like it is 'steaming'? Commuter SVX will verify this last part as he came by and looked at the car.

There is no smoke coming out of the exhaust - so I am not sure if it is a head gasket leak.
ALL HELP IS APPRECIATED.
Thanx

running the A/C will NOT keep the engine cool. on the contrary it makes it work harder, and the heater is your best bet from drawing heat away. maybe drive with your hood popped.

what about your water pump? has it been checked? the svx water pump is notorious for leaving people with a ruined timing belt among other things. better to get it fixed before it actually breaks down.

dont drive so hard.
the thermostat should not overheat the vehicle.
your getting steam because the coolant is boiling.
no smoke from the exhaust means your head gaskets are fine.

a thermostat stuck open can cause a car to overheat. not sure on the svx, but some cars can be checked just by looking in the radiator when the engine is cold (maybe somebody can confirm/deny). If the thermostat hasn't opened, i.e., engine cold, there should not be circulation in the radiator.

you might want to drop by a professional radiator shop and see if they can do any sort of flow test through the engine and through the radiator. IMO it has to be thermostat or impaired flow in one of the above.

We had an Outback at the shop a wile back that was occasionally overheating. The guy brought it in so we could find out why it was overheating. We first changed the T-stat then filled it up with coolant and let it run to make sure it was circulating and the cooling fans where working. We even checked for a blown headgasket with a chemical reactive tester (very easy to use and availible at your local NAPA for like $20)and it said it was OK. Told the customer what we did and that it seemed good to go but he was skeptical and let us keep it for a wile to drive. So we drove it around town a few times and it was fine, so I finally took it home one weekend (about a 30mile trip) and nothing, then on the way back to work on Monday it finally overheated, I pulled over and popped the hood to find that the overflow jug was full to the top but the lower radiator hose and radiator was cool to touch, I took the cap off and added about a gallon of coolant and the temp came back down and I got it to work. We then decided to change the waterpump along with the T-belt and camseals. After we did that we took it down the road again and it did the overheating thing again, pushing all the coolant into the overflow jug. We stuck the leak tester back on it and left it their for a long time, it just barly started to turn the blue liquid to yellow indicating a blown headgasket. So we ended up doing headgaskets on it and it fixed the problem. Turns out that on that motor the head will get a low spot in it around the exaust porst and allow coolant in to the combustion chamber.


Short version: Go get a block tester, just because there is no smoke out the tail pipe dosn't mean the headgaskests not blown, and your rapid gauge action is usually consistent with a blown headgasket. Sorry.

So Subafreak, it's just a teeny weenie itsy bitsy head gasket leak that lets hot exhaust gas into coolant and the coolant burns up in the exhaust. Not enough coolant to have white vapor clouds coming out the exhaust yet. If it gets bigger.... there she blows...by by radiator.:(

Ya, the don't always smoke, and as much trouble as they can give you with a small leak, hopfully you have it fixed before it becomes a big leak.

Sounds like what happened to mine guys. I found no significant distortion of the block or heads and new gaskets have cured the overheating.

Best of luck to you.

Todd

hmm interesting. not at all like the xt6. oh well you live you learn. makes sense since it was only slight overheating over a long period. im smarter today as well good job kids.

Over Heating
 

My car was having over heating problems a few months back. I decided to do my own "Back Flush" to clean out the radiator and heater core. Also while I am at it, also replaced my thermostat in water pump. You can do a Back Flush with a Prestone Kit from a auto parts store. Prestone offers a tee fitting that goes in line in one of the coolent hoses. When hooked up, just attach a garden hose, run water, have the raditor cap off while your engine is running and the heater blowing on full blast. I flushed it several times to make sure. After awhile, clear water was flowing out from the top of the radiator. Before I did that, I also directly squirted water in the "top" of the radiator and have water come out from the bottom. Did that to the engine block, having water come out of the water pump, with all the hoses copletely off as well as the thermostat. In any case my over heating problems are solved!!!! Oh yea, while you are at it, you might as well, buy new upper and lower radiator hoses along with a new thermosat. My old top hose kept on collapsing while I drove my car. Its like you trying to suck on a straw and nothing is flowing due to dirt and rust build up somewhere in your cooling system. So flush your colling system on your car!!!!

I had the same problem. I had the head gasket replaced and it fixed the problem for a year. It came back and I had the system flushed and it was good for about 6 months. I'm driving about 140 miles a day now and it's back. I guess I'll do the block tester and see if the head gasket needs replacing agian.

Thanks for everyone's input, I've been trying to resolve this problem for awhile.
Ps - When overheating starts use econ mode and cranking the temp to 85 really helps bring the temp gauge back down if you get stuck in traffic.

I saw an XT6 at the auction once that actually had antifreeze coming out the tail pipe! Dumping the green stuff right on the ground .

yeah mine was almost at that point. just had clouds of vapor coming from the tailpipe.

heres what 10.1 compression looks like on an xt6:

Your main cooling comes from the radiator
Have you installed a new one yet..?

WOW!!! This is usefull
 

Again, the board proves its usefellness. I've had this problem (overheating) for close to 6 months now and noone can find what it is. I guess ui'll have to replace the head gaskets. How much does that cost anyway? Approx. ?

Well thanx alot guys. Before actually changing the head gaskets i'll flush the whole radiator, i might be lucky and save me some money if its clogged up or whatever.

I had the heater core flushed out - and I have no over-heating since then. And yes - I do have a head gasket leak - but it is very small and if you don't push the car - it is doable. She drives FYNE now.
New tires, oil pump, water pump, wheel alignment, racing rotors, ceramic pas - but as COMMUTER SVX said - The SVX is an exceptional highway cruiser - and of course a NYCE car.