Thread: weird stuff from the turbo car

had my car running on this setup for over a year....things were fine more or less. i recently have been having problems with the coolant system pressurizing. now i know what your going to think, blown head gasket.but, ive done a compression test. perfect. motors got a commetic head gasket anyway, so i dont think thats the issue. its not using coolant. i thought it was a cooling issue, so i upgraded the radiator to a koyo. didnt change anything. i blew a rear radiator last night......so, after driving it for 35 miles......i heard the overflow bubbling, and a pinging. the pinging was the radiator getting pressurized.....luckily it didnt explode, but im still mad. brand new koyo all warped up. i can fix the radiator.....but anyways, i started the car back up after 3 minutes or so, turned the heater blower motor on, and drove all the way back home. i was hitting boost(intentionally, to see if it was a cracked head pressurizing the coolant system) nothing. drove all the way home, and a mile from the house, coolant line blew up. i MUST emphasize i stopped 5 times on the way home. it was fine, till about the last 5 miles. litterally, NOTHING in the overflow. i know it seems like a cracked head or a blown headgasket but i dont see how. im going to do a leak down test. i DID install a set of unorthodox pulleys....wondered if that could cause cavitation. you can rev the motor with the radiator cap off, and watch the water kind of poof up, and that back in to the radiator. but no bubbles. no foaming coolant. nothing like a headgasket issue. i thought it was just the motor mouunts, and the vibrations from the motor. we also installed nistune, with a basemap my tunner buddy put together. i HAD been on a jim wolf. i really dont have a clue whats going on. im looking for any suggestions OTHER than the obvious. maybe timing issue? or waterpump cavitation? if it WAS a headgasket, cracked head, and it only takes my motor 5 minutes to warm up, why i can i drive it nearly an hour before it pressurizes.

Thermostat stuck closed? Clogged heater core? Some sort of obstruction in the cooling system?

You might want to try a cooling system flush. Someone could have put some stop leak in it at some point and it could be clogging things up, but that doesnt explain the not pressurizing part. Try simply replacing the rad cap as well. You never know the stupid little stuff that will wreck havoc on a car.

Your radiator cap is responsible for relieving that pressure. If it isn't, make sure you replace it. Your radiator should never see over 18psi of pressure.

I blew my cometic with ARPs. I never knew it until I took the motor apart. But I would push coolant out of the overflow bottle.

You might want to try... using the enter button to create PARAGRAPHS.

One of two things is happening.

1. You have a stuck closed thermostat.

2. Your headgasket is blown.

Im gonna take a guess that its the headgasket. Just because your not loosing coolant other than whats going into the overflow doesnt mean its not blown. Coolant wont always go in the cylinder. You probably have just enough of a break in the gasket to allow boost pressure through into the coolant but not enough to allow coolant back into the cylinder. Ive seen this all too many times.

You could get lucky and it be a thermostat issue. Might want to start with that. But if it continues its a definite headgasket issue. No questions asked.

What's wrong with one big flustercluck of a paragraph?

Except I did read it. =(

to all the people that gave helpful responses, thanks. sadly ashton, ive replaced the thermostat.....i hear ya though. for those who continually go through peoples threads trying to give english lessons, seriously, grow the **** up. Im trying to find out whats whrong with my CAR, im doing this from a blackberry, its hard enough just pushing the stupid buttons on it. and i really dont care at all. so there.

one more question, and i may not have mentioned it above. the temp gauge stays on operating temp. doesnt ever overheat. thats whats messing with my mind. cant understand why if i have a blown head gasket, its not showing on the temp gauge. but at this point, im starting to guess it really must be a headgasket. oh well, ill get the hks one ive had my eyes on. **** it.