FOUND my coolant problem.

[Oz]

I posted on here about running hot, and took some heat for it. No pun intended.

It turns out my upper radiator hose had split badly. Had I ignored my gut feeling and listened to some people on here, I would now have one working sho, instead of two.

Bottom line, ask SDPATT or some others on here. There is an operating temp range for the SHO. NOT the whole N-O-R-M-A-L range. If youre swinging up and down through that entire range, theres problems. CHeck them out before you suffer the consequences.

Just my 2 Cents.

 

[91 SHOplus]

Dude, I'm glad it was something that simple.

Just for curiosity, what is normal? Mine is regularly between M and A, which I know is fine. I was just wonderin', that's all.

 

[BeatDaSHO]

dang you and ur easy problems to fix . Mine ran just as hot as yours yet i replaced everything with no change at all. My upper radiator hose is fine. grrr.

Greg

 

[93MTXSHO]

EVERY Guage is different. They aren't all the same, and furthermore they can be installed in just slightly different places giving you a different "reading." No two guages read identically alike, but just to answer your question, mine runs A-L, and I personally believe that anywhere in the M-L range is correct. You can tell where your guage is going to read by starting up the engine cold and letting it run until the thermostat opens and you feel the coolant flow through the upper radiator hose. That will tell you exactly where your guage is supposed to be at operating temp. And of course if the guage bounces up and down, you're looking at a problem. Mine is currently bouncing or not reading at all. I've narrowed it down to Temp Sender because the engine is at normal temp and the thermostat is less than 3 months old. Just my personal thoughts and opinions.

 

[Oz]

My problem is NOT fixed. I repeat, false alarm. not fixed.

Today it was 91 out, and the car was running between N and R, with me babying it. If i Turn on the AC, it goes skyrocketing. I wish i could figure out what the problem was because I dont have time to deal with this shit.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

I had asked in the previous thread before it got out of hand, but have you had it pressure tested to verify that there are no other leaks or restrictions?

Many places offer a coolant 'power flush' that might help, and can usually test pressure & flow as part of the service.

Presuming the rest of the 'plumbing' is clear (and I recall you saying you had bypassed the heater core), it would really narrow it down to the radiator (either internal corrosion/restriction, or a lack of airflow), the water pump (dying, or maybe the belt is slipping on the pulley), or a CCRM/fan issue.

 

[Oz]

im going to be adding water wetter and following that, i will have it pressure tested. thanks for the input.

 

[rangerj]

****,

Stick to your gut instincts with this. If you aint pullin a 2500 pound bass boat and trailer up a 20% grade, then any temperature reading above the M is to high.

If the guage is OK, then you have a coolant flow problem, or a heat transfer problem. Coolant flow can be restricted by a bad thermostat, a radiator blocked by mineral deposits, or a blockage somewhere else in the system. Is your bottom radiator hose collapsing.

This would be unusual, but it could happen. Did you, or any one else, ever add a "stop-leak" product to your cooling system? If yes, has the product gathered somewhere in the system and caused a blockage?

A reverse flush, that is flushing the system out in the reverse of the normal flow, should help. This is also referred to as a back flush. You can do it with a garden hose, but be careful not to excede 20 psi of pressure. You do not want to get caught by the local authorities doing this. The FINE could be very nasty, especially in CA.

If the system is getting air in it, this would cause a heat transfer issue. Is the hose that connects to the overflo bottle on tight, and in good shape? Is your radiator cap in good shape? The system can suck in air at a connection, or get air in the system if there is a head gasket problem.

Try letting the engine run with the radiator cap off. Watch the fluid cycle when the thermostat opens. Is there a lot of air in the fluid, and/or is it foamy? A minor amount of bubbles is normal.

If you suspect a head gasket problem you can confirm it with a compression test and/or a chemical test kit that you add to the coolant. The chemical will tell you if there is exaust gas in the coolant by its color.

Another thing that will cause an engine to run hot is dragging brakes, such as emergency brake cables that will not completely release. Just a thought.

The NORMAL range on the guage is dependent upon the driving circumstances and the load put on the engine. In normal driving, not being agressive or towing anything heavy, the guage should be no higher than the M. (closer to the A) It will be lower when you are rolling, and will rise a LITTLE when in stop and go traffic.

In spirited driving, and/or towing something, the temperature will rise. If you are driving normally, and your temperature is up at the N, then you are at the edge of disaster.

I do not have an easy answer for you, but I can tell you from more than 40 years of experience that you are right to continue to try and resolve this problem. Stick with it! rangerj

 

[Oz]

Rangerj, I appreciate the response greatly. Much obliged.

Heres a thought: I am beginning to suspect my exhaust may be suffering from some kind of restriction. My Cats gutted themselves not too long ago, so I opened it up and cleaned out the debris. I think I got it all, but then again, Shit Happens Often.

I would not normally think that it might be an exhuast issue, except that the car doesnt seem too comfortable at high Rpms any more. So Im starting to wonder if there is a minor blockage in my exhaust system, from when the cats shredded themselves.

Lets see. I plan to add redline water wetter, and if that fails, I will back flush the system. Following that, i shall tear apart the exhaust, and if THAT fails to work, I shall "suicide" the car.

Thanks again,
Oz

 

[SHOLOVER]

I feel your pain pakisho i am going through the same problem funny thing is I used to hear my fans come on at about the middle max and would bring it down pretty quick then all of a sudden it wants to run at N-O range and I know all you guys say it is normal and I would be content with that had it not been for the fact my car always ran cool heres my list of new stuff t-stat180, radiator, hoses fan relay box both temp senders. today I was trying to figure out if I may have lost my loww fan circuit (auto has two) dont think its functining right fans only stay on for about 30 secs and dont move the temp much use to stay on much longer so I checked the resistence of each fan got 1 ohm on each at there relitive connectors that seems low?? checked the cnnection from the box to the fans got 1 ohm??? any way I am going to buy a autometer water temp gauge tommorrow. hey pakisho e-mail me your number so i can call you maybe we can help each other out my e-mail is [email protected] SHO U LATER beer shoot

 

[Millersho]

I'm one of those ******** that would have made you have 1 running sho instead of 2. wink

And sure enough, after your ranting about people like me that have been down your road 2 fold, you were wrong.

BTW, water wetter did absolutly nothing for my coolent temps. But 7 bucks isn't that big of a lose, so try it, you will reguardless of what someone who's done this before says.

 

[AutoSHO]

Pakisho:
I posted on here about running hot, and took some heat for it. No pun intended.

It turns out my upper radiator hose had split badly. Had I ignored my gut feeling and listened to some people on here, I would now have one working sho, instead of two.

Bottom line, ask SDPATT or some others on here. There is an operating temp range for the SHO. NOT the whole N-O-R-M-A-L range. If youre swinging up and down through that entire range, theres problems. CHeck them out before you suffer the consequences.

Just my 2 Cents.

Pakisho, I am experiencing the same prorblems as you: constant fan, high running temps, AC causes it to go through the roof. My question is this: Have you tried removing your AC Condensor? I installed a thermocouple in my car, and found that it is not flowing air through the radiator. As far as I can tell, nothing is out of place or not working. I am NOT running a thermostat, and it still heats up pretty well, and the fans have to run to cool it. Even when driving down the highway. I think that either I am getting a Pressure buildup somewhere behind the radiator, or my AC condensor is blocking airflow. This is all I have left to try, as my car has a BIG radiator in it (approx. 2" Core thickness) and the coolant is fresh. The only other thought I had was to change the water pump, but after seeing the readings from the thermocouple, I know that I have an air flow problem, not coolant flow. One more thing to try!

 

[Oz]

Autosho, no, I have not removed the AC condensor. Your problem is exactly like mine. im assuming you have the oversized Shoshop radiator? I cant run the AC because it goes through the roof. And after further testing, I am not suffering an exhaust restriction of any kind. Redline water wetter has improved operating temperatures for the moment, lets see how long that lasts.

 

[AutoSHO]

Pakisho:
Autosho, no, I have not removed the AC condensor. Your problem is exactly like mine. im assuming you have the oversized Shoshop radiator? I cant run the AC because it goes through the roof. And after further testing, I am not suffering an exhaust restriction of any kind. Redline water wetter has improved operating temperatures for the moment, lets see how long that lasts.

I was going to try water wetter, but with the temmps here dropping I figured it would be a band aid, and I want to just fix the problem. I don't know for sure if my radiator is the SHO Shop one or not, but it is extremely big, and when sitting still, when the fan turns on it would drop the coolant temps 20 degrees across the radiator, almost instantly. As soon as the fan went off it would start to climb slowly. And this is to be expected while sitting still at idle, but when driving down the road you would think (hope?) that the car would cool down, especially with no thermostat. I can tell which direction the wind is blowing based on how warm my car runs! If the A/C condensor doesn't solve my problems, I am going to buy some water wetter, let the temps get a little lower, and sell the &%*$ car.

BTW: Congrats on the 1/4 Mile of posts (1320) thumbs_u

<small>[ October 08, 2002, 07:29 PM: Message edited by: AutoSHO ]</small>

 

[Oz]

lol. didnt notice that.

incidentally, i also have a bypassed heater core. no matter how much i tell myself this couldnt be affecting things, i wonder.....

 

[BIGSHOMIKE]

I haven't read everything on this so I might be wasting space here but my 95 did the same thing, I have it flushed regularly but I guess that just replaces coolant. My coolant was still green even but on advice of a mechanic friend I pulled my radiator and took it to a radiator shop for a different kind of flush. They pulled the tanks off the sides and boiled it to loosen up things, then blasted some kind of chemical through it to clean it out. 117xxx miles on my car guy said my radiator had so much shit in it it cracked one of tanks. Now I can sit in 101 heat with max AC in traffic and doesn't go past the R.They said I had to take the radiator in because whatever they used would have ruined my water pump if I'd done it on the car and it had gotton through the whole system.

 

[shojuan]

AutoSHO:
I was going to try water wetter, but with the temmps here dropping I figured it would be a band aid, and I want to just fix the problem.

Water wetter isn't just a band aid. It improves heat transfer. BTW, heat transfer and temperature are not the same thing. It is possible to have two completely different heat transfer values at the same temperature.

Rick

 

[AutoSHO]

shojuan:

AutoSHO:
I was going to try water wetter, but with the temmps here dropping I figured it would be a band aid, and I want to just fix the problem.

Water wetter isn't just a band aid. It improves heat transfer. BTW, heat transfer and temperature are not the same thing. It is possible to have two completely different heat transfer values at the same temperature.

Rick

I just meant that it didn't need water wetter from the factory to keep the engine within operating temps. It shouldn't need it to cool now, which is why I said it would be a Band-Aid. I understand it is a very good product and does what it advertises, but I don't want to put that in, and have it almost cool... its like a Band-aid on a broken bone. There is still something wrong with my car, pakisho's car, and beatdasho's car.

 

[AutoSHO]

Pakisho:
lol. didnt notice that.

incidentally, i also have a bypassed heater core. no matter how much i tell myself this couldnt be affecting things, i wonder.....

Well, mine is still hooked up and very functional, so you can pretty much rule that out. I know I have an airflow problem, and I bet you do too. I have tried a lot of stuff to get it fixed, and I have pretty much gotten it down to AC condensor, or FOR SALE! thumbs_u

 

[SHOLOVER]

I had one of the techs today hook up his scanner to my sho I wanted to see what temp the computer was reading and guess what it saw 190 to 212 at which point it turned on the fans just like it is supposed to do I guess its normal but high from what I was used to seeing I have decided to add my own temp gauge and install a relay to turn on the fans at my discretion thought it would be nice to keep the car cool between runs at the speedway I still cant figure why the temp sender decide to read what it may have been all along?