Overheated motor

[Mike Kopstain]

I picked up my SHO finally. Honestly, I'm up in the air as to what it's problem is. First off the history:

It was being driven to the guys house when it overheated. He pulled over, saw that it was low on coolant, and filled it up with water. Kept overheated... So he wouls stop every mile or so and let it sit for a bit to cool down. By the time he got the car home it had a rough idle.

So I pick it up today, start it up, and it sounds like it's missing a cylinder. It rols right up onto the trailer under it's own power and actually doesn't even sound that rough. It also held cold idle fine. (I didn't want to see if it held hot idle )

On further inspection I see that the radiator is bone dry. So I know this coolant is going someewhere. I'll determine that tomorrow with a pressure tester. For now though, I'm curious to hear what everyone here thinks before I tear it apart. There is no coolant in the oil and there was no white smoke indicated when the car was being crippled to the guys house. I'm almost wondering if he burnt a plug or melted an electrode. First thing I'll be doing is swapping out the plugs and wires. Is this wishfull thinking on my part or has anyone been here before?

Hopefully the vacuum gauge will tell me good things tomorrow.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

IIWM, I'd do a compression test first...

 

[Mike Kopstain]

SHOooo:
IIWM, I'd do a compression test first...

Definetly. I just want to see what everyone here thinks.

BTW, I still want those heads, regardless of what happens here.

 

[luigisho]

Is this your SHO or a customers? If the coolant isn't going into the oil, or out the exhaust where else is there unless there's a pool of stuff nobody noticed.

You may want to check the heads for trueness. Won't that be fun?

BTW Did you get my email Mike? and what's the deal with the web server junk?

 

[Mr Anonymous]

Mikeys_Taurus:

SHOooo:
IIWM, I'd do a compression test first...

Definetly. I just want to see what everyone here thinks.

BTW, I still want those heads, regardless of what happens here.

A compression test is going to tell you pretty quick if you've lost a head gasket or warped the heads. From your description of what happened, he prolly sprung a slow coolant leak somewhere that evap'd fast enough that it wasn't really detectable, and of course straight water would evap even faster. But, as you know, a lack of coolant is bad, regardless of where it went, and the high temps were not likely kind to those squishy aluminum heads.

Pressure testing the coolant tract may help you locate the leak, but if the coolant never penetrated the cyl's you wouldn't be likely to see the telltale signs of a typical HG failure.

Just let me know on the heads. They're not going anywhere.

 

[SHODWN]

Mikey, it looks like I might be getting back into the v6 work, So Ill respond to your email tonight.

 

[Mike Kopstain]

SHODWN:
Mikey, it looks like I might be getting back into the v6 work, So Ill respond to your email tonight.

lol Four months later! squint The drivetrain swap is not out of the question if you have one hanging around.

Lou, I don't think I got the email. As for the web host... Apparently the database server went down and we all know what sound a falling tree makes when there's no one around to hear it.

I suspect that one of the coolant lines, water pump, or radiator is gushing coolant. If the car was burning all of this, you wouldn't be able to see it through the smoke.

 

[luigisho]

Mike do you think you would get a pm? It's in regard to my brake post on the other board. Don't want to highjack your post too much.

<small>[ August 08, 2003, 12:39 PM: Message edited by: luigisho ]</small>

 

[Mike Kopstain]

send me the email actually. Everything should be working again.

 

[luigisho]

Sent. LMK.

 

[Mike Kopstain]

Well I'm taking a break. I found the coolant leak... It looked as if the heater core hose had been cut. It was really that bad. It was about a 2" slice.

So I got that switched out and the engine is running weird. If I wiggle stuff around it seems to go from a state of misfiring to smooth running, and back, but never stays smooth.

I am in the process of replacing the plugs and wires right now and I am going to do a compression test while I'm in there.

Things aren't looking good for this motor and that makes me the opposite of happy. frown

 

[DougLee25]

Any other word on the situation Mikey?

Doug

 

[Mike Kopstain]

DougLee25:
Any other word on the situation Mikey?

Doug

Yeah,

I swapped the plugs and wires on it, which helped a lot to take care of the dead cylinder. So now it idles fine and runs as strong as it ever did. In fact with the new plugs and wires, it's actually a lot nicer than it was.

The crappy part: there is a knock. It sounds like a bottom end knock, although it doesn't sound like it's coming from the bottom end. I'd sure hate to do rod bearings on the car only to find out that a head gaskets is bad or visa versa. So I think I am going to opt for a complete drivetrain swap.

Maybe I'll trailer it to the track in it's current state and put a huge shot of nitrous on it.

<small>[ August 10, 2003, 04:09 PM: Message edited by: Mikeys_Taurus ]</small>

 

[BlackOnBlackATX]

Mikeys_Taurus:

Maybe I'll trailer it to the track in it's current state and put a huge shot of nitrous on it.

oh man, if you do, take LOTS of video!! i wanna see this when it explodes! boink

on the other hand, sorry to hear about the misfortune Mike. good luck getting the car back together and everything. out of curiosity though, did you get to do a compression test? what kind of results did you see?
Bob

<small>[ August 11, 2003, 06:55 AM: Message edited by: BlackOnBlackATX ]</small>

 

[Shoman594]

Mike as i told you on the phone, stop goofing around with where you "think" the knock is coming from and find it! Get your self a good auto stethoscope or a long solid rod and find out where its coming from, stop making all these crazy plans untill you know.

 

[Mike Kopstain]

Shoman594:
Mike as i told you on the phone, stop goofing around with where you "think" the knock is coming from and find it! Get your self a good auto stethoscope or a long solid rod and find out where its coming from, stop making all these crazy plans untill you know.

You didn't say that you dolt! You told me to drive it with the knock!

 

[Shoman594]

Mikeys_Taurus:

Shoman594:
Mike as i told you on the phone, stop goofing around with where you "think" the knock is coming from and find it! Get your self a good auto stethoscope or a long solid rod and find out where its coming from, stop making all these crazy plans untill you know.

You didn't say that you dolt! You told me to drive it with the knock!

ok ok... ill use your excuse.. "I'm drunk and I didnt say that"!!! oh wait... wink