[ELDORADO2K]

This morning I took a drive in order to show how my car performs with a blown head gasket. Part of the reason for doing so is because everyone said the symptoms are a bit odd and I’m trying to get a better idea of what to do next or whether I should just leave it be for right now.

Either ways, lets begin. It’s pic heavy.

I reset the trip odometer. I also set the timer on the DIC for this test. I took a pic of the instrument cluster every 5 min.
Normal City driving in Los Angeles.

Cold Start.

5 min.

10 min. mark. The car’s been up to temperature for a couple of minutes now. 2.9 miles

15 min.

20 min. mark. Temperature holding steady at the halfways mark. This is when I turn back around. Halfways point.

Normal city streets. More stop lights than I can count during this trip.

26 min. mark. Temperature holding steady.

I decide to give it a little speed up to 50 mph.

30 min. mark. No change in temperature.

35 min. / 12 miles in. Temperature holding steady.

Continued…

 

[ELDORADO2K]

40 min. mark.

42:30 I’m back home now. I put the car in park and let it idle.

43:14 only 45 seconds idling and the temperature gauge moves for the 1st time.

44:30 mark. 2 minutes idling in Park and the temperature has risen higher.

45:01 mark. Only 2:30 idling and the temperature has begun to rise significantly enough for me to turn the car off and end it here.

Thoughts?

 

[basscatt]

you might not fully understand the "failed head gasket" issue -
I'll briefly explain -

the primary duty of the head gasket is to seal the combustion chamber -

that brief instant that a cylinder FIRES -
the internal pressure of that cylinder might hit 50,000psi -
BUT only for a millisecond -
as the piston goes down - the pressure dramatically reduces -

starting with the 2000 Northstar motor -
they lengthened the head bolts but still used the fine threads -
the threads in the soft aluminum block stretch - crack - and break loose -
thus loosing gripping/clamping power -
the cylinder head "lifts" at that/those failed head bolts -
the head gasket can't completely seal the combustion chamber -
a tiny amount of exhaust gasses leak past the head gasket
and get injected into the cooling system EACH time that particular cylinder(s) fire -

the HOT - high pressure - exhaust gasses getting pumped into the coolant does TWO things -
1) it raises the temperature of the coolant - depending on how big the leak is -
2) it injects air bubbles into the coolant - again - depending on the size of the leak -

trapped air in the cooling system is a MUCH bigger problem -
the ONLY way to eliminate trapped air is through the PURGE LINE -
IF more air - exhaust gasses - is injected into the coolant than the purge line can eliminate
you get an AIR LOCK - the water pump can't move air - (symptom is sudden loss of heat)
coolant doesn't flow through the engine - engine temp spikes/over heats -

USUALLY - idling the engine in NEUTRAL
will slowly purge the air from the cooling system - you'll get heat back -
the engine will cool back down as the coolant circulates -

SOMETIMES - there is SO much air trapped in the system
that you'll have to shut the engine off -
wait 15 to 30 minutes for the "air" to work its way to the highest point of the engine -
the HOLLOW BOLT - then restart the engine -

your other issue - engine temp increases at idle -
several things come to mind -
1) when driving around there is sufficient airflow through the radiator
to cool down the coolant -
sitting still there is NO AIRFLOW so the coolant gets hotter -
the electric fans don't kick ON low until coolant temp hits 224 - and HIGH around 234 -

the other factor could be the thermoweld you added to the cooling system -

it is basically a "liquid glass" that puts a coating on everything the coolant touches -
it might be a layer of insulation between the coolant and the actual metal -
this holds true for the engine block and the surface of the radiator -
in other words - the coolant isn't in DIRECT contact with the aluminum block or radiator
so it is harder to transfer the heat between the metal and the coolant

 

[dogbiscuit]

When you used thermoweld did it cure the overheat you were having or is this just ongoing? It may be that you have more headbolts pulling due to losing the clamping force of the 1 or more that already pulled. I used that thermoweld once in an old K-car where the headgasket was so bad that every time that cylinder fired it would shoot coolant 6ft in the air out the radiator. It sealed that leak and I ran that car in a 100 lap enduro race and it never overheated so I was impressed. No idea of the longevity of it though as the car was junked the next day. Sounds like it is time to bite the bullet and fix it or dump it, any luck finding anyone to work on it?

 

[ELDORADO2K]

When you used thermoweld did it cure the overheat you were having or is this just ongoing? It may be that you have more headbolts pulling due to losing the clamping force of the 1 or more that already pulled. I used that thermoweld once in an old K-car where the headgasket was so bad that every time that cylinder fired it would shoot coolant 6ft in the air out the radiator. It sealed that leak and I ran that car in a 100 lap enduro race and it never overheated so I was impressed. No idea of the longevity of it though as the car was junked the next day. Sounds like it is time to bite the bullet and fix it or dump it, any luck finding anyone to work on it?

Yes, it did cure the overheating. These recent symptoms didn’t occur until I developed a hole in the radiator and ran it low on coolant for 1 day. My gut tells me a different headbolt has come loose and is causing these recent issues, but of course there’s also a chance the original hole that was sealed has opened up again. There’s no way for me to know at this point.

I do know that the initial head bolt didn’t take much to lose grip and cause the head gasket to fail in the 1st place.

@Basskatt. I got a brand new radiator installed a month ago. There’s no Thermalweld that ever came in contact with it. The coolant had been flushed twice before it was installed and 3 times if you include the new coolant that went in the same day the radiator did.

 

[Submariner409]

That temperature gauge indication after extended idle time is nowhere remotely even somewhere close to "overheating" - matter of fact it's perfectly normal and isn't quite enough warming to cause fans to go to SLOW.

IF idle times allow fans to go to SLOW at 224 degrees the system cools to 213, fans turn OFF, the cycle repeats. NORMAL.

When that gauge gets to the red mark at 1 o'clock THEN you get a tiny bit - a tiny bit - antsy.

Read - and comprehend - the fine print.........

 

[Harry Yarnell]

Note where the fans come on in Sub's picture. When your temp get up to the yellow and/or the red dots , do the fans come on?

 

[RON93]

I have had my gauge go to the one o'clock 1st bar on occasion after idling in warmer weather even after my head gaskets were done. Never a problem to this day.

 

[ELDORADO2K]

That temperature gauge indication after extended idle time is nowhere remotely even somewhere close to "overheating" - matter of fact it's perfectly normal and isn't quite enough warming to cause fans to go to SLOW.

IF idle times allow fans to go to SLOW at 224 degrees the system cools to 213, fans turn OFF, the cycle repeats. NORMAL.

When that gauge gets to the red mark at 1 o'clock THEN you get a tiny bit - a tiny bit - antsy.

Read - and comprehend - the fine print.........
View attachment 634899

This isn’t the 1st time it’s happened. I knew 100% what was about to happen and that is it was going to continue to climb until it got to the red. I wasn’t going to sit there and abuse my car… You’d figure the amount of detail I provided would’ve been enough, but if you really need somekind of “proof” then I’ll do it. Would you like me to film a YouTube video for the 1st time in my life too? Sheesh…

I’ll update when I feel like getting up out of bed. Spoiler alert, the fans aren’t gonna cool down a darn thing.

 

[ELDORADO2K]

These 2 pics were taken on March 9th while doing the exact same thing. But I’ll be back in a few with some fresh ones because I like being precise with the information being fresh.

Notice the car’s in Drive. I took those pics while stuck in the drive thru getting some food. I posted about that the same night I took those pics.

As soon as I got my food, I went down the street and within a couple of minutes the temperature began to come back down to normal, just like I described.

 

[Submariner409]

Check the purge line - again ?

 

[RON93]

This isn’t the 1st time it’s happened. I knew 100% what was about to happen and that is it was going to continue to climb until it got to the red. I wasn’t going to sit there and abuse my car… You’d figure the amount of detail I provided would’ve been enough, but if you really need somekind of “proof” then I’ll do it. Would you like me to film a YouTube video for the 1st time in my life too? Sheesh…

I’ll update when I feel like getting up out of bed. Spoiler alert, the fans aren’t gonna cool down a darn thing.

It would have been nice if you would have posted that SECOND picture with the temp spiking in your original post. Puts a different perspective on things.

 

[basscatt]

This isn’t the 1st time it’s happened. I knew 100% what was about to happen and that is it was going to continue to climb until it got to the red. I wasn’t going to sit there and abuse my car… You’d figure the amount of detail I provided would’ve been enough, but if you really need somekind of “proof” then I’ll do it. Would you like me to film a YouTube video for the 1st time in my life too? Sheesh…

I’ll update when I feel like getting up out of bed. Spoiler alert, the fans aren’t gonna cool down a darn thing.

========================
you sure got a BIG CHIP on your shoulder - WHY?

we are simply responding to the last word in your original post - "THOUGHTS?"

 

[ELDORADO2K]

========================
you sure got a BIG CHIP on your shoulder - WHY?

we are simply responding to the last word in your original post - "THOUGHTS?"

Ain’t no chip. More than 1 person was under the impression that the temperature hadn’t risen to an alarming rate based on that post, even though I thought I had clearly described the situation. I was simply clarifying.

 

[ELDORADO2K]

Note where the fans come on in Sub's picture. When your temp get up to the yellow and/or the red dots , do the fans come on?

The fans Aren’t coming on at all. That seems to be the problem.

They were working when I took it in and had them replace the radiator. Apparently it came back with the fans no longer working. What the hell. How does that even happen?

I guess that explains why the temperature drops back down to normal as soon as I begin driving the car at speed?

-Btw I checked the purge line. Both purge lines are flowing.
-Water pump belt & pulley is spinning great
-car idled in Park for 25min. and maintained temperature at the halfways mark.


After that I drove it for 5min. then let it idle in Drive and that’s when I noticed the fans aren’t coming on.

 

[Tripwire]

there might be a "probe" that has to slip in between the fins that was not installed?

 

[nstar]

Does fan run when AC is turned on.

 

[dogbiscuit]

Well that is much better news than the HG leaking again, The fans work off the coolant temp sensor so there is no "probe", maybe they forgot to plug them in when they reinstalled them

 

[ELDORADO2K]

 

[ELDORADO2K]

Does fan run when AC is turned on.

I turned the “heater” on @90 degrees for maybe a minute. The fans didn’t turn on after I did that. Would that qualify as turning on the AC?