over heating

[arod_12]

My sidekick is a 1992 with an 8valve 1.6liter, 4x4. Its been over heating for the last few months. I thought that it was the temperature gauge. but I swapped in a new dash and it still seemed inaccurate. The gauge would shoot up almost to the red but would never go in, it would stay there for a few seconds then it would drop down below medium temperature. I am thinking it might be a coolant temperature sensor but am not 100% sure. I thought that it was just over heating because of a dirty cooling system so I got it flushed and then cleaned. Now it doesn't over heat as much but it the gauge still does shoot up once in a while. Tonight when I was coming home front work I walked in front of the truck and heard water running. I bent over and there was water dripping from the engine compartment on the driver side. The water that was dripping was cold, I popped the hood and opened up the excess holding tank and the coolant in that was also cold but the radiator was hot. I was told over and over that it is possibly the head gasket, I am now thinking that I should replace it, but hoping that it will be something a whole lot easier to fix, but it hardly ever works out that way, lol. Any help would be great. Thanks

[jtgh]

the over flow tank sucks fluid when engine drops to cold temp at night.
takes a good cap and tubing to do that.
it also can collect hot fluid if the head gasket blows.
yours is cold and that is good.

first, did you ever have signs of real overheating or just the needle.?
coolant blasting into overflow tank, or steam?
Knocking of engine (detonation , pinging due to too hot engine) can rattle. ?

ok the gauge can be bad the wires and the sender
also the sender can lie if the fluid is too low. ( it will cycle up then down then up...)
no sender works correct sitting in air. so it will lie if fuid drops 4 inches below thermosat unit.

each day in the morning check the level of the radiator directly.
is it full ?, no then keep it that way each day.
if that keeps happening (the dropping), then you have a leak or a bad head gasket.
look for leaks on the ground , at Pump, below cab heater box.

all can bet tested , guage, wires, sender,
and engine, and rad.

cool water was dripping from what , you did not say.?
please clarify that drip statment.?

do you mean the coolant over fill tank was cracked and leaking.?

be aware (usa ,?) you can buy a cheap IR thermo gun from Harbor freight for $10
and never guess again, the remainder of your life.
point and shoot, instant answer, cold, hot or too hot.
cool huh?
I point this gun at wife, learn how to avoid , rolling pin. LOL.

just point it at the thermostat housing, and cheer, gee my Gauge in the dash jiving me.
1/2 problem solved in under 5 mins.
mine reads 170F now.
over-heating-why?

never trust a dash guage, they are junk. and subject to (above and below)
not until you know it is working and have proven it with my IR gun.
this gauge can have 2 bad grounds , one at the gauge and one near the tank.
but id not worry the guage until you know the engine and coolant loop are AOK.

the old mercury thermometer test has worked for 100 years.
(but the procedure is ,can i say drippy)

[arod_12]

first, did you ever have signs of real overheating or just the needle.?
coolant blasting into overflow tank, or steam?
Knocking of engine (detonation , pinging due to too hot engine) can rattle. ?

No I never did have real signs of overheating I just would see the needle go up and the I would wait for it to drop.
Once I was letting it run because I thought it was air locked with the cap off, then water started blasting through the radiator filler. No there is never any steam.
There is a sound when I am driving but I think it was coming from inside the cabin, sounds like something is loose, but last night when I was bent down in front of my truck there was a sound of water gushing inside the radiator, and pipes

each day in the morning check the level of the radiator directly.
is it full ?, no then keep it that way each day.
if that keeps happening (the dropping), then you have a leak or a bad head gasket.look for leaks on the ground , at Pump, below cab heater box.

Checked the radiator this morning and it was full, and the ground was dry

cool water was dripping from what , you did not say.?
please clarify that drip statement.?

I couldn't really tell because it was dark out but I am pretty sure that it was coming from the fill tank, but it isn't cracked or leaking

[jtgh]

im not sure what to think about strange sounds.
could be air in the system but that comes out easy
cap off cold start (rad cap) will be ok ,as it warms up you will see green start to
dribble out a cup will leak at that point put back the cap fast. so more dont spill
the hot coolant just expands naturally. (the reason for the overflow tank there)
but is will not shoot out, gurgle out yes, not shoot , no steam, no air, no foul smells of exhaust, carbon , oil or other foul substances , typical of a blown head gasket.
Antifreeze smells sickening sweat. as they say.
smell a fresh bottle , so the rad smells the same.

if you read my link above there are many cheap tests that can be done.
overheating why? above, lick it.

compression test, rad leak down test and the really good RAD combustion gas contam test.
all these tools can be rented for next to nothing from any autoparts store.
no need to buy them. rent them.

for about 1/10 of 1hrs shop labor. too.


we are working 2 things here, sounds and a needle.
i would never in my life trush any 92 car temperature gauge.
sure use it as a suggestion but never trust it.
get a reading from a IR gun.

Let me explain the guage.
it has 6+ common failure points,
2 grounds.
sender has air pocket.
sender leads corroded
sender is bad
gauge is bad.
power to gauge is bad.
all common as nails on 92's

seen posters spend $600 on coolant system , to find a bad sender. or a bad ground.
kinda sad .
never ever trust it , just like your DR. get a second opinion.

[raygu3]

i had same situation with overheating
the thermostat is stuck closed try new thermostat
if problem persists look at replacing radiator

[jtgh]

the funny sounds, ?
the cold water dripping is strange, where, what water, coming from what?
it was dark , so idle it and get it hot now , in the sun. and look !
The natural system pressure is your #1 best free trouble shooting aid. !!!


could be lots of things.
could be dizzy loose and gross retarded timing.
sticking thermostat. loose belt and shreaded (sounds) or pump bearing wobbling all over the place.
could be just a bad gauge.(sender, wires ,etc)
with out a thermometer or IR gun ,it is all speculation with no real symptoms of overheating.

I'd not drive it , if those were the symptoms, why risk wrecking a block or head. why?
car rental is far (vastly) cheaper than any engine block. (here anyway)
park and idle it , and try to over heat it.
look for the leaks that show up under the pressure of a full rad and brand new cap.
(try replacing the cheapest part the cap) ( are the rubber seals under it cracked, look )

then you know you have full pressure.
idle it get it good and hot and then if the gauge gets too hi, IR GUN the sucker.

if the gun says its NOT hot, stop troubleshooting hot and start trouble shooting
a bad dash gauge.

$10 IR Gun
$5 cap
and the answer is forthwith.

id kill for an IR GUN 30 years ago !

use technology to your advantage, and stop guessing and throwing parts.

most don't even realize they can rent the tools dirt cheap too.

[arod_12]

Originally Posted by raygu3

i had same situation with overheating
the thermostat is stuck closed try new thermostat
if problem persists look at replacing radiator

I ran mine with out the thermostat and it was still "overheating" and also When I put in the new radiator I replaced the cap


I was driving it today and it ran great it only spiked up about 2 times during the 1 hour drive, no water was dripping from it, it seemed to have lots of power, so I guessing its somewhere in the stupid wiring.

[jtgh]

wll that proves it.
the gauge is bad or the ground or the sender
if you want the sender resistace values , i have them , easy test.
there is a factory guage test this is simple as pie.

if those check out then i need to show you where the ground bolts are.

dont drive runing cold like that too long.
ecu stays in cold start mode fore ever like that , rich and will burn a cat conv, in no time.
cheers.

[jtgh]

dont worry ,we can find it.

[arod_12]

Today I picked up a coolant temperature sensor, at NAPA and put it in and it seemed to do the trick, drove around for about 20 minutes and it stayed between the Cold and warm not spiking up once. So the gauge is saying it's not over heating any more, I don't have any symptoms of overheating, so lets hope that solved the problem. Now it's on to replacing the valve cover gasket because it is leaking like crazy. Thanks for all the help jtgh