Water pump or Thermostat?

[Chuck Laughner]

I am so sorry to keep bringing up questions but the SHO is my only source of transportation. And I want her to be in top running order. I shearched the forum but their was not alot to go on. The last couple days she has been running hot. The fan kicks on as normal,and I have good pressure. But the coolant does not seem to be ciculating. Im not mechanicly inclined but is the resevior soposed to go down at a certian temp? Need help on this one. Thanks for your time. And sorry for the misspelling.

<small>[ February 28, 2004, 02:09 PM: Message edited by: Chuck Laughner ]</small>

 

[BeautifulDisasterSho]

The resivior will go down only when the system cools down because of depressuring. How hot is it running? Does your heat work good? Check to see if there is coolant leaking from under the water pump, that's how you know if it's bad. You may need a radiator cap.

 

[yamahaSHO]

You could always replace the t-stat and find out. Yes, the water pump is designed to leak when they fail or start to fail.

The resivior goes down when you turn the car off because the coolant cools and contracts.... thus sucking in more coolant in place of air.

 

[Chuck Laughner]

At times it will get to the N before the fan kicks on. The fan is the only thing that keepes it from overheating. Their are no visable leaks from the water pump that I can see. I will do a more extensive check this afternoon. Im replacing the oxygen sensers anyway. Their mst be a leak somewere then cause the resevior does not go down.

<small>[ February 29, 2004, 02:42 AM: Message edited by: Chuck Laughner ]</small>

 

[yamahaSHO]

Are you sure you don't have water flow? If the fan comes on and cools it down(late) or if you were to run the AC and keep the motor cool... Then it may be your ECT.

 

[Chuck Laughner]

How do i make sure that i have water flow? When i turn the a/c on it blows out super hot air.

 

[projectSHO89]

The only way to know for certain if your system is running hot is to measure its performance with an external meter or thermometer. It is also important to take into consideration the conditions under which you observed your supposedly HOT condition. You did not mention these conditions, so it may very well be possible that absolutely nothing is wrong and the system is working as it is meant to.

Your water pump is working fine as is your thermostat. If you have strong heat, they are both okay, most likely.

Check the coolant level several days in a row when the engine is completely cold. That will give you the most accurate reading of the coolant level over time. If your coolant level remains stable, you do not have a leak.

Run the KOEO and KOER tests and observe the cooling fan. You should be able to distinctly identify the fan running at two different speeds. If so, then you do not have to worry about the fan or the power relays being of concern.

Steve

 

[BeautifulDisasterSho]

Another thing to keep in mind. If you check your coolant resivior and it remains stable while still running too hot, your resivior lines may be gunked up. This happened to me after I replaced my radiator with t-stat and still overheated. Cleaning out those lines and a new cap took care of that air seeping in. Could be a small amount of air somewhere in the system even though you said it blows hot air.