Overheat!!!!!!!!!

[Jay03cobra]

So im driving my 03 today feel a lack of power. i right away noticed it to be over heating. i pulled over quick noticed leaking coolant passed the cap, alot of pressure. i let the car sit for about 3 hours started it up it ran fine, checked oil no coolant in oil, take it for a ride seems to have normal power. had heat on and noticed it to be hot when hammering on car but at idle cool, as soon as the gauge crept up past normal the car felt sluggish and a tremendous loss of power,by the time i got home it creeped up and pushed it in garage. i know of a few things that come to mind but want your opinion please everything is helpful thanks

 

[lowflyn]

First thing that comes to mind is check the thermostat and burp the coolant. Might be a good time to upgrade thermostat as well.

 

[MoKo_03SVT]

start the car with the hood up, and watch your intercooler resevoir. see if it is pumping/circulating fluid. it is possible your intercooler pump quit.

if you check it, with the car running, and it IS NOT pumping any fluid (then, more than likely, you found the problem)...crawl underneath there and tap on it a few times with a hammer or something. a lot of times, that will help jar something loose/kick it back on.

 

[Stalker27]

Lowflyn is right. This is the perfect opportunity to install the 170 thermostat. Also you might want to check the fan fuzes

Just in case you don't know how to properly burp the car go by this & you'll be fine. If the system hasn't been cleaned in a while now would also be a good time for some Prestone cleaner

step 1) put car on low profile ramps, fill resevoir an inch below add fill line with whatever you choose. Me i decided to add my 2 bottles of water wetter and straight coolant then

step 2) close resevoir cap & NEVER re open

step 3) open crossover plug & fill with funnel till you see coolant. Leave funnel in crossover

step 4) plug in sct, crank car & then select datalog on sct for ECT, turn heater on max

step 5) let car run and squeeze upper hose 3 times every know & then to release trapped air in hoses. Also rev the motor a few times as well. You will see little bubbles comming up into the funnel. This is a good thing

step 6) let car continue to idle but keep a watch on sct for the coolant temps. If you have the 170 stat when temps reach 172 shut car off. If you have stock stat shut car off around 182-185

step 7) after shutting off you will probably see large air bubble come to the top of the funnel which is a very good thing. Its burping the trapped air. At this time coolant may go down quicky but maybe not.

step 8) let car sit and cool off. Once coolant cools it will go back down into crossover but sometimes might take 10-20 min to do so.

step 9) once coolant is all the way down and out of funnel you can tighten the plug back on crossover take it out for a drive but i HIGHLY advise plugging in the sct & datalogging coolant temps. You will know if its gonna over heat or puke coolant. Actually using my method of filling an inch below add fill line i garantee it won't puke. Cause it leaves that room for expansion when coolant gets hot

step 10) bring car back to house & park overnight. Next morning open crossover to see if you need to add anything.

Also if your fluid isn't moving in the resevoir don't just be lazy & knock at it. Take the time to take it off. Take the multiple screw out of the top hat. Then take the lower half & gently bounce it on concrete for about 5min constantly rotating it. What causes it not to flow good anymore is black dust that is built up in there. Reasemble & put back on car & watch it flow like new. I'll post a pic in a sec

This is what came out of my H/E pump

 

[mysticsvt]

Take a sec and smell for coolant out of your exhaust. A blown head gasket doesnt always mean coolant in the oil. Lets hope this isnt the cause..as it was for me.-Shane

*EDIT* Electrical tape works good around the funnel to create a seal at the bottom.

 

[Dana]

start the car with the hood up, and watch your intercooler resevoir. see if it is pumping/circulating fluid. it is possible your intercooler pump quit.

if you check it, with the car running, and it IS NOT pumping any fluid (then, more than likely, you found the problem)...crawl underneath there and tap on it a few times with a hammer or something. a lot of times, that will help jar something loose/kick it back on.

Although the intercooler pump is important, it's failure will have nothing to do with the engine overheating. It is a totally seperate system and provides cooling for the incoming air only.
Higher than normal IAC temps will cause a loss of power though as the computer starts pulling timing as the heat increases, especially above 150 degrees.

 

[G04cobra]

You also might need a new coolant reservoir cap that's able to hold pressure.

 

[Dana]

You also might need a new coolant reservoir cap that's able to hold pressure.

What he said
Plus
Both the cap and the tank itself have been known to warp at the sealing edge causing the cap to not seal correctly.

 

[jm@ReischePerf]

Both the cap and the tank itself have been known to warp at the sealing edge causing the cap to not seal correctly.

Agreed.

step 9) once coolant is all the way down and out of funnel you can tighten the plug back on crossover

I see you're recommending the 'leave funnel in' burp procedure variation. I decided against it because for it to work properly you have to make a perfect seal with the funnel at the crossover which can be tricky and also there is the risk of actually adding air back into the system if you don't keep a close eye on it.

FWIW - I think that black dust in your pump is likely disintegrated impeller, might be time for a new pump.

 

[Stalker27]

Hey reische, honestly I have no choice but to leave mine in. Afte letting the car idle during the burp procedure my coolant is in the middle of the funnel and takes a good 10-20 min to go down. I haven't had a problem at all doing it like that either. Temps stay right on 176-178 cruising on the xpressway without the air going. I have monitored the temps for 3 days after the procedure and nothing bad has happened and I don't think will. About all the black dust. Yeah it was alot. Shortly after buying this car which had 75k on her and now has 79k I noticed it was barely moving the water. So I took it apart and shook all that out. Now runs like brand new but when it happens again I'll be getting a new one. Amazing that the little pump can hold that much crap lol

 

[mysticsvt]

Take a sec and smell for coolant out of your exhaust. A blown head gasket doesnt always mean coolant in the oil. Lets hope this isnt the cause..as it was for me.-Shane

*EDIT* Electrical tape works good around the funnel to create a seal at the bottom.

It's easy actually...

 

[jm@ReischePerf]

during the burp procedure my coolant is in the middle of the funnel and takes a good 10-20 min to go down. I haven't had a problem at all doing it like that either.

If there is still coolant in the funnel when you shut the car off you just have to dump it. If you don't put the plug back in ASAP the coolant will start expanding as it sits in the hot engine. After 10-20 mins the engine starts to cool and the coolant contracts and that's why it goes back down in your funnel. This is why my recommendation is to just put the plug in before the coolant even gets pushed out.

It's not that what you're doing won't work, it's fine as long as you keep an eye on the funnel and it is sealed well and don't let it get empty. Just a bit more work than I want to do personally.