REDnGOLD Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Hello Ratsun, So, last week, I got my suspension finally done. After my car didnt run fr 2 months, (no crank for over 5 weeks), I was happy to get her on d ground & on the road. I had a bad battery so i kept the car running for at least, 30mins to let it charge. As i was parking the car in my garage, I noticed my heat temp is all the way to d top. I immediately turned off d car. I also noticed a lil white smoke coming out of the tailpipe & the engine was running hot. I let it cool down so i can check to see if the water pump was bad. No start. Battery was dead. Took it to pepboys for a charge. They advised me to get a battery soon. Today, I dropped d same battery (was prolly good fro a few cranks), started the car to see if the waterpump was bad. Reved the car up a few times. Nope, it wasnt the waterpump as the water inside the radiator was spinning. Reved the car more & left d car running fr 30 mins to see how hot the car would get up to. Nothing. Also, no white smoke. The temp stayed between the 2 lines. I didnt want to drive the car around the block as I dont have any help pushing the car in case it stopped. Question(s): Could it possibly be a stuck thermostat was stuck b/c i didnt start the car for over a month? Could I possibly be just imagining it? Your thoughts? Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 If there is any question replace the thermostat. They don't last for ever and a test in hot water may indicate it's fine but in fact might be randomly sticking. Spend $10 on a good one, this isn't something you can go cheap on like a tail light. Next time the gauge goes up that high pull the yellow wire off the sender. If it drops to cold it's likely working fine. If the gauge still reads high the wire is pinched somewhere and is grounded. Is the charge light on? Fan belt tight? Fan shroud on? Quote Link to comment
MikeRL411 Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 What car? What engine? Quote Link to comment
REDnGOLD Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Belt was tight. Datsun 610 on L20B Charge light? Also, no oil in the radiator & no water mixture on oil. I figured i will have to replace the thermostat very soon but i want to know if its another thing Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Your battery was not charged. Is the alternator working? Was the red ALT light on in the dash?? Turn key to ON and red ALT buld should light. Start car and it should go out. Quote Link to comment
REDnGOLD Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Your battery was not charged. Is the alternator working? Was the red ALT light on in the dash?? Turn key to ON and red ALT buld should light. Start car and it should go out. all the lights came off after the car is started. everything looks normal. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Well presuming the alt. is charging maybe the terminals are dirty. If you put jumper cables on the battery terminals does it turn over ok? Quote Link to comment
REDnGOLD Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 The terminals were dirty. I did clean them up prior to taking the battery to pepboys. But that shouldnt have any affect on the temp gauge or faulty thermostat, right? Quote Link to comment
REDnGOLD Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Tested the car again. Started the car & let it ran for 20 mins then drove it around the blocks for another 10-15mins. The temp stayed w/ in the 2 lines on the temp gauge. Turned off the car & decided to wash her. After 15-20 mins, started the car again. & this.... I emmidietely pulled the car into the garage. The fan is still running & the engine doesnt seem that hot & no white smoke. Could it be a faulty wiring on the temp gauge or faulty temp gauge? Even w/ stuck thermostat it shouldnt be that hot right away especially after the car cooled off while being washed, correct? Quote Link to comment
dr.feltersnatch Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 i would just spend the 10 bucks and buy a new thermostat. a friend had a fiero a couple years ago and he was having trouble with overheating. we pulled the thermostat out and it would overheat within minutes. my understanding is you dont want too much or too little coolant flow. too little and your not removing the heat, too much flow does not allow time for the heat to transfer to the coolant . spend the few bucks, replace the coolant with the proper ration of coolant and water and replace the thermostat. then move on to a faulty gage. if nothing else its good preventative maintenance. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Every car will overheat once the motor and fan are turned off. The heat will rise for 10 min or so and then begin dropping. If you restart the motor the pump circulates cooler water through the motor and the gauge will drop right away. Or should. All my Datsuns run about 1/3 the way up between the two run lines. The hottest they ever get when driving is just under half way between the lines. When I shut off in the summer for a few minutes it goes to about 2/3 up the run range but drops like a stone when the motor starts. If there is any question replace the thermostat. They don't last for ever and a test in hot water may indicate it's fine but in fact might be randomly sticking. Spend $10 on a good one, this isn't something you can go cheap on like a tail light. Quote Link to comment
REDnGOLD Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 thanx guys. Replacing the thermostat is definitely a must & its in a plan. very very soon Quote Link to comment
REDnGOLD Posted January 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 So, as i was replacing the thermostat, I found out the my 610 isnt running any. So, that rules out the possibility that the issue here is my thermostat. I know w/ this car you can run the car w/o the thermostat. But who knows how long this car is running w/o one. Could it be the sensor then? Also, all the coolant are gone now. I dunno if its normal but all the coolant came off the thermostat housing instead of the hose? I cant remember the last time i replaced a thermostat. Mustve been 10+ yrs ago but is that normal? Need a lil help? Thanks Quote Link to comment
REDnGOLD Posted January 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 ok. So, i found out that i may have a bad radiator. NAPA auto does not carry them. Where can i order a radiator for 74 610? Quote Link to comment
banzai510(hainz) Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 I will assume the radioator was full before you notice the over heaat proplem. to test the gauge I think you just grond the wire(while key is ON) and thr gauge should read full. does you gas gauge work ok also? sometimes the volt reg unit can be flacky and make both gauges misread. Since the stat was revoved I assume previous owner knew soemthing was going on. refill with water and ck the temp again and see if over heats. maybe rad is plugged up Quote Link to comment
REDnGOLD Posted January 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 My gas gauge is working. I have asked around & we also have ruled out the water pump as the there was a flow when i tested it last week. That leaves us a clogged or bad radiator. Quote Link to comment
banzai510(hainz) Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 water pumps really only go bad when the bearings wear out thus causing a leak or total failure.It dont take much to get the water moving as most time the stat is mostly closed. Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 You are doing a lot of guessing, but so far have not identified a cause. Stop guessing and test the radiator. Radiator blocked? Do this simple test of the radiator flow: * take off the lower hose of the radiator. Block it with your hand, and fill the radiator with plain water. Take your hand off and the water should gush out in as big a stream as the lower opening. If it runs out in a smaller stream, the radiator has blockage inside and should be replaced or repaired. If it runs out in as big a stream as the lower opening, it's not blocked. Quote Link to comment
REDnGOLD Posted January 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 So i just found out from Steve (owner before me) that the waterpump is fairly new. The owner before him rebuilt the engine in 2009 & had replaced the waterpump & timing. So far he has used only 10k miles & me less than 1k. The radiator, on d other hand, is original. So i think its time to replace it. Quote Link to comment
REDnGOLD Posted January 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 You are doing a lot of guessing, but so far have not identified a cause. Stop guessing and test the radiator. Radiator blocked? Do this simple test of the radiator flow: * take off the lower hose of the radiator. Block it with your hand, and fill the radiator with plain water. Take your hand off and the water should gush out in as big a stream as the lower opening. If it runs out in a smaller stream, the radiator has blockage inside and should be replaced or repaired. If it runs out in as big a stream as the lower opening, it's not blocked. yeah. this is what i had planned nxt Quote Link to comment
REDnGOLD Posted January 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 yeah. this is what i had planned next Quote Link to comment
REDnGOLD Posted January 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 soooooooo, its the water pump :( Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 You got nothing to loose if contemplating replacing the rad.... so lay it face down with the rad cap on and fill with CLR to dissolve any crusty scale deposits from using hard water. Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 > soooooooo, its the water pump How did you determine that? Unless it's leaking it is almost for sure not the water pump. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 Just noticed this... In this picture.. what's that threaded thing behind the plug wire?? There should be an outlet that goes to a small metal pipe that goes down the front of the motor and connects to the water inlet to the pump. Quote Link to comment
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