Overheating help?!?

[slapnpop]

My SHO, after sitting for several summer months, needs to be resurected. I've been riding my bike all summer, so the leaking heater core was of no concern at the time. Now I need a car again.
I bypassed the heater core for now, cause I don't have the cash or time to change it/have it changed. When I started her back up again and tried to take her out, she is running very hot, about the o-n level on the needle. What concerns me the most is when it gets above the R or so, the oil light starts flickering at idle, and as she heats up it comes on steady. I've just changed the oil and filter. Also, when she's hot enough for the radiator fan to come on, it doesn't seem like any coolant is flowing through the upper radiator hose. I can colapse the hose with my fingers and it doesn't burn them. The water pump was changed less than a year ago, and the coolant resivoir is full. Any suggestions?

 

[projectSHO89]

Sounds like several problems.

1) Check the coolant level in the radiator (cold), not just the reservoir. Top it off. It sounds like it is low. Try a new radiator cap if yours is old. Maybe the coolant is not ciculating or you have a defective thermostat.

2) Low oil pressure is likely one or more of the following: 1) Bad pressure sender switch, 2) low oil pressure due to worn bearings, etc or 3) weak oil pump.

Steve

 

[93redATX]

projectSHO89:
Sounds like several problems.

1) Check the coolant level in the radiator (cold), not just the reservoir. Top it off. It sounds like it is low. Try a new radiator cap if yours is old. Maybe the coolant is not ciculating or you have a defective thermostat.

2) Low oil pressure is likely one or more of the following: 1) Bad pressure sender switch, 2) low oil pressure due to worn bearings, etc or 3) weak oil pump.

Steve

This man speaks the truth thumb . After checking the radiator and (if) ruling it out, I would check out the t-stat next. I had a t-stat go bad on me, and it stuck closed. Played **** on the engine, and I had to tear her down and replace every top end gasket. squint As for the oil pressure, I would guess it's going to be the rod bearings. These are a fairly high-wear part (by their very nature), and should be replaced every 100k at the latest IIRC. If I was in your position I would hope it is just the sender, which it could be also because the oil light only comes on when the car is running hot. Steve, isn't the oil pump a rare-failure item? Not to say it can't, but I thought those things usually lasted quite some time shrug

 

[slapnpop]

Would worn rod bearings cause a low oil pressure light even if there was a proper amount of oil in the engine? I ask because I topped it off and still had the light, and I changed the oil and filter, and still had the light.

 

[shobikes]

It could be the sender, which is a cheaper part. I would replace that first, and see what happens. It usually takes a pretty big hole to affect oil pressure that much, but a combination of hot oil, worn rod bearings, and old pump with excess gear lash could conspire to lower your idle oil pressure.

Unfortunately, it's a pyramiding problem. Hot oil loses viscosity - its ability to form a film, so bearings occasionally contact their journals, causing premature wear, which lowers pressure, which also can lead to an insufficient film...see where this is going?

Scotty, prepare for warp spending...NOW$$$$