# Help with overheatin 89 240



## My240SXproject (Jan 8, 2009)

Well when i bought this car they told me the head might be blown. The water pump was shot and it had overheated. It would start but had excesive amout of white smoke out the muffler so i draind the fluids I got new water pump in it and we used water glass in it to fix the crack. The white smoke has stoped i mean there is nothing comeing out the back. It runs nice to hits highr rpms nice and everything(Drives like a fresh bat straight out of hell hehehe) But when i drive it it will start heating up so ill turn it around to get it home befor it overheats but it will heat up alot but as im still driveing it home will start going down and go back to normal. What do you think it could be im about to go pick up a new thermostat but im still kinda clueless of whats going on. I would think if the head was still crackd it would heat up and stay there and blow something not start cooling it self down. If you know or got any ideas what this could be i thank you lol.


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

what does your oil look like?
normal dark oil or creamy like chocolate milk?
it sounds like your thermostat is sticking or bad.
you could also have a partially clogged radiator.
hopefully, the head gasket isnt blown.


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## azRPS13 (Jun 7, 2003)

When is it overheating? in motion, at stops or all the time? 

Sup Jason when did you do the silvia conversion?


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

thats actually on the s13 i had before i moved to ny. you know the dude notchback on az240? hes got it now. i believe he put the nose into a pole though...


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## azRPS13 (Jun 7, 2003)

You guys have too many toys lol... sucks about the s13 though... Wonder if he will sell me the front thats not damaged


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

he might. hit him up.
you see the rest of our toys? lol
2 s13's, 1 s14, the altima and the mazdaspeed.
all turbo'd, except the s14, which is getting a single turbo ellis juan...


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## azRPS13 (Jun 7, 2003)

Holy crap... You guys hopping on the mullet train too?!?! Hope you know a good tire guy... Hows the Altima doing?


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

altimas running great. been running at 12lbs for a while now on stock bottom end. that jwt ecu is the shit. doesnt ping unless i go over about 7200 rpms. 
as far as the ellis goes, im trying to talk my brother (hes buying the s14 from me when he gets back from iraq) into ka-t for it since its a 96 and is going to be crazy hard to get past inspection here in ny. either way, the car wont have less than 300-350 at the wheels.


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## azRPS13 (Jun 7, 2003)

Droooool...


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## My240SXproject (Jan 8, 2009)

OK Asleep The oil looks fine and i replaced the thermostat today and its still doing the same thing. 

and to azRPS13 When i start it it will be under cold drive it around and it will start warming up not all the way to max but over first hot line so i will turn it around to start heading home so i dont mess something up but in the prosses of driveing home it will start cooling itself down back to normal range. Then when i get it back and its just sittin there running it will cool way back down. Then do the same thing the next time i take it out.
so now im going to try to find my buddys manual thermo gauge to check to see if maybe my gauge is messed up. Thanks for the help tho got any other ideas whats goin on. The wierd thing is is that i can start it and drive hard or soft and it will drive fine no problems but then it will start warming up and then cool off . Its really starting to make me wonder


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## azRPS13 (Jun 7, 2003)

Water glass? Is that the stuff you put into the radiator fluid to clog up any leaks? Is the oil fine now that you changed it or was it fine when you first drained it? Its not stumbling or vibrating is it?


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## My240SXproject (Jan 8, 2009)

Naw water glass is a liquid that looks like water in a glass lol but it it use to fix cracked heads we know a few people that have done it on a few different cars and it workd great. It was kinda just a quick fix so i can get back and forth from work to buy the new head. But im not for shur if it works sence the temp thing. Yeah was fine then and is now doesnt look or feel bad. There is alittle vibration in the engine i think a mount is loose or broken cause its nothing crazy just shakes alittle.


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## azRPS13 (Jun 7, 2003)

If the head crack or headgasket was still a problem it could and would be apparent in the oil i would assume... I would check your temp sensor then...


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## My240SXproject (Jan 8, 2009)

Ok well that will be the first thing i check in the morning i quess how would you know if it was bad, the sensor that is?


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

My240SXproject said:


> Ok well that will be the first thing i check in the morning i quess how would you know if it was bad, the sensor that is?


check the resistance on it.
Temperature Sensor


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

My240SXproject said:


> OK Asleep The oil looks fine and i replaced the thermostat today and its still doing the same thing.


Here are some things to check:
- The new thermostat should be a Nissan OEM unit, not an aftermaket piece of junk.
- The steam hole should positioned at the top.
- Purge any possible air in the system.
- The radiator may be partially plugged up.


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## fastfuriousnissan (Apr 4, 2008)

What type of cooling components are you running?


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## My240SXproject (Jan 8, 2009)

Ok well Thank you all for the help. I have done everything i can think of and checkd everything you have thought it could be and it all normal or fine and it is still doing the same heating up. So ive gottin my drivein in my 240(let me say omg love this car already, the custom catback the last owner did is just awsome for a magnflow lol haha) So now im going to start the tear down to get to the head(Yes so much fun for me). But so far for a 400 dollar car im loveing this even tho i have to replace the head it will all be worth it when im done.Ill keep you posted on how things turn out and keep em burnin


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## Guro305 (Dec 16, 2007)

My240SXproject said:


> Ok well Thank you all for the help. I have done everything i can think of and checkd everything you have thought it could be and it all normal or fine and it is still doing the same heating up. So ive gottin my drivein in my 240(let me say omg love this car already, the custom catback the last owner did is just awsome for a magnflow lol haha) So now im going to start the tear down to get to the head(Yes so much fun for me). But so far for a 400 dollar car im loveing this even tho i have to replace the head it will all be worth it when im done.Ill keep you posted on how things turn out and keep em burnin


Let me know man. I'm having a similar problem. When this happens, do you normally refill the coolant?


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## My240SXproject (Jan 8, 2009)

Yes every time it heated up i brought it back refilled the fluid and it cool down all the way took back off and warmd back up.


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## Guro305 (Dec 16, 2007)

Dammit man! See that's what happens to me. I gauge it at roughly 150ish miles.

After I run that long, it'll start heating up beyond normal. Never overheats but gets hot. It'll cool off and heat back up usually several times before it finally gives out and stays hot and begins to overheat. I never let it overheat but I always end up refilling it too. Do you smell coolant when it starts to get hot?


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## My240SXproject (Jan 8, 2009)

Well i can only drive for like 5 minutes if that ,befor it gets hot. so i know the head is cracked.


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## Guro305 (Dec 16, 2007)

My240SXproject said:


> Well i can only drive for like 5 minutes if that ,befor it gets hot. so i know the head is cracked.


Oh man, sorry!!!!! No, mine is not that bad. Today maybe because of the cold, finally I think I'm getting somewhere with this.

It seems that these damn cars overheat once really bad and it's a residual effect. Ever since the first time it overheated really bad because the radiator went kaput, I've had to replace three hoses, the thermo, the valve cover gasket and spark plug tube seals and none of them at once ever! All have been on separate occasions. Today I finally saw that dreaded puff of white smoke coming out of the back but since I can't look at my tailpipe, I don't know if it's out of the tailpipe or from being on the tailpipe.

When I saw that my first thought was "ah [email protected](k!" but it didn't last more then a few seconds and as soon as I decelerated to get off the highway it went away completely and I never saw it again. I figured at this point, I was gonna eventually start to warm up. After about ten more miles and two stop lights, it finally started. It went on it's usual state of up and down until I got home except for this time, I could finally hear a hissing noise and could smell coolant. However, I couldn't see anything. Not water squirting, no steam, no oil squirting, nothing.

My oil has always been nice and black and still was. My coolant low of course. Rather then let it cool of, I put more coolant and went for a drive to drop my wife off to work and back. By the time I got home although it didn't get hot, I could hear the hissing noise again.
This time with a flashlight and thanks to the cold, I finally saw what looked like some steam. Low and behold another cracked hose but since it's beyond the thermo housing, I'm thinking that is why it didn't leak during a pressure test and the crack was probably so small that that is why it's taken so long to lose coolant..

I don't know what this hose is called but I can take a pix of it. I know it's a small rubber hose behind the injectors that looks like it is between to metal hoses. Hopefully the spare hosing I have will be the right size and I'll replace it tomorrow and this will finally be the end for this bulls#!t for me!


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## My240SXproject (Jan 8, 2009)

O man i wish mine was like that i cant even drive mine really.
after u change out that hose maybe try bleeding the system also is the thermo u got a original replacement one or aftermarket. Ive heard the after market ones will freak out your temp.


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## azRPS13 (Jun 7, 2003)

Thats your heater hose. Good find. How bad did you overheat that last time? Do you smell radiator fuild in your exhaust?


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## Guro305 (Dec 16, 2007)

azRPS13 said:


> Thats your heater hose. Good find. How bad did you overheat that last time? Do you smell radiator fuild in your exhaust?


Nah! I could smell it under the hood not out the back. 

I never let it get superhot. Last time it got hot the needle was past at the top of the mercury illustration so it didn't get superhot.


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