[Mk2] [Turbo] mk2 92 overheating

[Grazzy]

Good afternoon all,

Wondered if some one may be able to shed some light on this for me please. I bought a turbo this weekend. but on the way home from the aera of purchase it started over heating. did about 80 miles when i was in traffic was sitting under half. Got it on the motorway about 65-70 mph temp gauge started climbing fast. So i pulled over and got it towed home (the other 130 miles)

The next morning I opened the radcap started the engine filled the missing coolant. Left the lid off the rad cap & started the engine. The water is bubbling so i dont think there is any issue with the water pump. Also kept my nose over it for about 5 mins could not smell any exhuast gases in there. also noticed when the rad cap is off the heaters work. which was intertested because i also removed the thermostat. Putting the rad cap on causes them to cold the moment it starts moving.

Everytime its starts to overheat the engine cooler lid pops off like there loads of pursure in there.

When it over heats the passenger mental pipe going to the rad is mega hot, but the rad feels cold and the return pipe is also cold.

When its also is hot bleeding the heater & the rad bleed also came out cold. which was stange also because it over heated i was filling it with hot water out of the kettle both bleeds water was coming out cold for about 6-7 kettle fulls of water.

Refilled very slowly took about 3-4 litres to fill, but before it was taking about half kettle full before it was over flowing. Is there any other bleed points? All engine fans are spinning & the rad at the front looks about 4-7 months old.

After the bleed i took it out for about 1-2 miles temps were looking stable then shot up again. popped the back hud making the blubbling noise lid poped off the plasitc bottle again.

bit about the car. no smoke seems to be running really clean. starts up first turn of the key. not grumpy at all. Does not feel tight like the head is gone. boost is great spins up fine and gains speed as expected.

I cant find a leak anywhere. anything ive missed or i need to check, any advice guys?

[Grazzy]

cars pretty much standard, single exit, 3"dp, turbos running 12psi on boost

[martinking6]

If the radiator is cool when ur inlet pipe from the engine to the rad is hot then you are likely to have a circulation issue, possibly water pump impeller come loose on the shaft or simply thermostat is stuck closed hence stopping the circulation, you mentioned you tried bleeding with the stat out did you run it up with the stat out ?

Martin

[Grazzy]

Yeah with the thermostat out it still happened. got a replacement one of those turning up tomorrow. but ill have a look into the water pump impeller. if there weather is good tomorrow ill have a look

[Grazzy]

put in thermostat in there still doing it, looking at the water pump thing that looks a b1tch of a job. Ive got it booked in a garage on Friday they said there going to have a look at it for me & tell me what the fault is.

[Mike N]

If the car has had a recent new rad, I would guess that the previous owner knew about the fault.........start with an reverse coolant flush to clear the system. Then do a proper fill up & bleed. Try the car without a thermostat to see if the results are the same as when one is fitted.

I would also suggest from what you have said that it may be either h/gasket / pipe leak (normally much slower) which still allow normal running until under higher pressures or dare I say a cracked block, the latter if it takes ages and ages to cool down after just a very short hard blast (but you can also run for ages with out a hard blast, but not after) this is due to a crack heating up & opening under boost conditions, this puts whatever boost pressure your running into the cooling system causing very high coolant pressures & temps which take ages to cool down.

Get the car to an honest garage (eg IMOC traders) or someone that knows MR2 cars well and do a pressure test on the cooling system at over boost pressure with a hot engine.

If water spills out over the filler cap when you rev the engine, the impeller is probably working.

Let us know how you get on...............

[bobhatton]

That sounds just like the head gasket has gone, take it back and get your money back

[Grazzy]

I think its the head tbh, car is too far away to take it back. how much does a head cost to get replaced? few hundred on parts and 5-10 hours labour? or is this going to be more extreme than that?

[bobhatton]

I think its the head tbh, car is too far away to take it back. how much does a head cost to get replaced? few hundred on parts and 5-10 hours labour? or is this going to be more extreme than that?

It should only be the head gasket

[Mike N]

Its still a tricky job to do, especially if your new to working on these cars.

I would get a straight edge on the head and most probably re-face it.

Use a Rev 3 Head gasket.

I would still do the pressure test.

Good luck.

[Grazzy]

cheers im sure ill have some news on friday

[Grazzy]

Head-gasket was the issue

[ashley]

Head-gasket was the issue

That's good news- it's an easy fix!

[HighwayStar]

I'd still be taking it back (or trailering it back in this case) as unfit for purpose. To be fair you should have turned round when you first noticed it bringing it home though.

R

[HighwayStar]

Ooops. DP.

R

[ashley]

I'd be negotiating for some money back off the purchase price, then fixing it myself. If I couldn't get money back then returning it at cost to the seller, but they'd have to agree to pay first otherwise it's the painful process of legal action etc....no fun

[Zentral]

For the record, This was my car.

I had it a month with no issues other than a boost problem.

IT never overheated, never failed to start.

On purchasing the car, buyer was taken out in it, left to look around it as it idled itsy our meeting point, upon view and inspecting the car, the buyer was happy to follow me home to seal the deal.

The oil was changed 24 hours prior due to leaky sump gasket, the buyers garage see that as me masking contaminated oil, I beg to differ and urge him to chat with the garage that did the work,

The car was A1,

Sometimes bad things happen, that did sadly for the buyer, I had already lost £500 on the price I paid 4 weeks prior.

I strongly believe any underlying issues laid dormant in the time I used the car,

I bought the buyer to my home and was very hospitable, Frankly anyone hiding anything would not do that,

I suggest previous owner of a year is contacted, details upon request.
Chris..

[ashley]

I suggest previous owner of a year is contacted, details upon request.

That won't achieve anything at all

If I was the buyer I would be annoyed- it's difficult to believe that the head gasket suddenly failed on the drive home from picking the car up....but that said, strange things do happen!

I'd suggest you guys talk to each other and come up with an amicable agreement in private, offering to split the repair cost would be a good start...a head gasket can be done with the engine in situ, and at the right specialist shouldn't be that expensive.

That's what I'd do anyway

[Grazzy]

Thanks for your replys to the thread & thank you Chris for coming into the disscusion also.

Well Ashley I already did what you advised in your post, i requested help with the cost of the repair which will total about 700 pounds for the gasket and other items that need replacing along with coolant service and oil drop,
it just seems from his reply that a wall seems to be being built between us, which i really dont understand.

As Chris said the deal itself went very well, me and my friend sat with him talking about the car for some 30+minutes, we left in very good spirits, headed into cardiff through traffic (steady small Frequesnt stops) and it was not untill we jumped onto the 1st open road for more than 10 minutes that the issue started, the 1st recovery mechanic could not initially find any problem other than all the coolant had gone, then when he came to recover a second time, ( we broke down on the seven bridge"fun fun" ) he advised there was something more amiss, which is when i had a full tow home (136miles), Ive spent the last weeek hoping it was something less important than the head gasket as chris was so genuine and assured me that the car was A1 and would get me home without isssue, i do feel that i am being more than fair keeping the vehicle and just asking for a small donation towards the cost.

This was suppose to be one of the best days of the year for me and it did start out that way, but as u can tell it has turned into the worst day this year so far instead I was a phonecall away from selling my other Mr2 that morning, if that had of happened i would of been up the creek without a paddle and a big hole in my boat!

I really dont want to go down the legal road and would ideally come to some sort of mutual agreement, this should be no problem if everything and everyone were as genuine as they say! wouldnt you think.

Thanks Ade

[ashley]

Are you at all mechanically minded, or got any mates who are? If so- do the h/g yourself- I'm guessing ~£100 for the h/g set (from memory- can't remember exactly), and a day's spannering....you'll get lots of help on here to talk you through it, it's really not that bad a job....the hardest bit is getting the head back on the block in the right place, but there's a useful trick for that as well

You'll learn loads about your new car on the way as well