86 Tintop 1.3L 128K miles . . .overheating . . .

[DiJiTWRX]

I was given this little gem with the following information . . .

1986 Tintop 1.3L (Carb) 128K miles ?

It's been parked since 2004 due to overheating, (reportedly a blown head gasket, the head was removed, rebuilt and reinstalled. Overheating problems continued so the Samurai has sat ever since. . .

I have replaced the thermostat and water pump, freshened up the coolant, oil and gas and have since gotten it to run. The overheating continues however it is erratic . . . the temp gauge rises and falls depending upon engine speed, keep the RPM's at 3-4K and the temp gauge reads in the normal range, let it fall to high idle at 1500 RPM and the temp gauge pegs out hot.

At one point for roughly 10 minutes the gauge went stone cold, and the Samurai sat at high idle without compliant, then right back into the cycle of hot/warm depending upon engine speed.

I'm suspect there is blockage somewhere . . . is the radiator the next logical item to yank out, check and/or replace ?

Thanks for any help . . . DiJiT in S.C. CA

[grats]

Could it be the temp gauge? My son bought all new gauges (auto meter) for his drifting car, four out of six didn't work and he thought it was my wiring but low and behold his gauges were defunked from the factory, he replaced them and now all is well. Moral: Even brand new can be broken.

[DiJiTWRX]

Certainly its possible the gauge is faulty, however the engine is overheating. If left unchecked at idle it starts blowing steam out the overflow tube . . . I think its time to pull the entire cooling system out and check/replace everything . . .

Thanks for your input. DiJiTWRX