General Chat
Q:
you or not going to beleive this but i swear im not lying-- ill start at the beginning-
6 months or so ago my existing water pump started leaking out the bottom - so i put a new pump on it and it overheated when i drove it- so i replaced the pump 2 more times- replaced the thermostat 3 times ran without a thermostat-had the radiator flushed- replaced the bottom hose as it felt a little soft- everything i did made no difference it still overheated- when i got to that point i came on here and everyone who replied said ( headgasket)-- i wasnt losing any fluid except what went into my over flow bottle-- and yes the motor was over heating-- i even had the gauge checked it was accurate-- i had no smoke - no oil in my water- no water in my oil- no water in the exhaust-- so i parked my car until i could afford to fix it.
Now here is where the story gets good-- after it sat for three months i couldnt stand it any more and decided it wouldnt hurt to take it for a spin around town until the gauge got to 1/2 and than home ( my town is pop. 1987 so you can cruise the whole town in 10 minutes)-- well the gauge only went up to just below 1/2 and then it started coming down it stopped at just above 1/4.
i drove down the hiway to the next town -didnt overheat-
so i drove non stop a total of 3and 1/2 hrs that day it never overheated.
since i have driven it to the next town (15 miles) and back 25 times and it hasnt overheated once..
im so HAPPY!!!!!!
but did my car heal itself?? and if so how long would i have to let it sit to get it to fix the dent and dings and paint its self??
by the way the outside temp when it overheated was 70 and the day i drove and it didnt overheat was 73..
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1980 280ZX coupe
2001 maxima
1994 F150 4x4 van works custom truck
170000 and never needed mech repairs
1996 ford explorer -they cant all be good
A:
oh yeah i typed search first but couldnt find anything on cars healing themselves! haha!!!
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1980 280ZX coupe
2001 maxima
1994 F150 4x4 van works custom truck
170000 and never needed mech repairs
1996 ford explorer -they cant all be good
A:
I had the same problem with my 3VZE engine this monts, turned out to be a exhaust valve that wasnt seated properly, and when it would fire, it would send that HOT charge in the exhaust port, and heat up the water jacket, Just some food for thought.
Lots of Z cars, 1970's-1983's.
1977, Megasquirt, 12.8@ 105, 1.70 60 Foot, 2940 LBS. Blake Machine Co, Phx, AZ http://bandmzcars.com http://blakemachineprojects.com http://www.zselect.com
A:
THE Z GODS have finally smiled upon you :)
A:
yes i am in awe of the Z GODS
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1980 280ZX coupe
2001 maxima
1994 F150 4x4 van works custom truck
170000 and never needed mech repairs
1996 ford explorer -they cant all be good
A:
I would keep a close eye on that temp Guage, don't let it overheat again or the Z gods will get angry.......
"YES I will finish what I sta"
.
1977 280Z blue 2+2,
1973 240z
1977 280Z coupe in restoration progress
A:
It kinda sounds like a hose blockage that somehow dislodged itself upon storage. Did you replace the hoses, and is it possible that a hose, or maybe an inlet/outlet tube was plugged?
Black, bumperless, 78 Z with MSA superturbo system, K/N cone filter, ported intake, and exhaust manifolds.....15.9 @87 mph.
A:
i replced the bottom hose but it still overheated after that. i thought some kind of blockage that some how unplugged while it was sitting too. but really it didnt make any sense that it would overheat every time i started it and then just stop overheating and not do it again????
but im not complaining cause as long as it isnt snowing here im driving my zx and HAPPY!!!!
____________________________________
1980 280ZX coupe
2001 maxima
1994 F150 4x4 van works custom truck
170000 and never needed mech repairs
1996 ford explorer -they cant all be good
A:
Nebraska, could be a factor. If I recall correctly thats where you are. If its that cold where you are the radiator is probably working really well these days.
My Z would spike and fall back heat wise and I was troubleshooting the efi system to beat the band before the head gasket went. I pulled it off, efi wise, before I end up with a block full of baby poop.
My head had cracks in the 3rd and 4th cyclinders.
Check out this tip from Blue:
http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/head/crackedhead/index.htm
Sound familiar?
Best of luck to you, but they don't fix themselves.
Wish I could find time and money in the archives.
Cheers
78 stockish
82 partish
A:
i checked out the tip from Blue but i didnt have any bubbles in my radiator fluid and thru the whole thing never lost any fluid it just blew into the overflow bottle and i would put it back in the radiator when every thing cooled off- also my plugs look fine-tan and no deposits and they all look identical to each other.
im baffled as to the cause still however i got a 1980 zx 2+2 rusted out parts car recently and it doesnt overheat so if the problem reacurs i have a spare head.
ill let you know how this turns out.
and good tip from Blue great pics and easy to follow.
thanks.
____________________________________
1980 280ZX coupe
2001 maxima
1994 F150 4x4 van works custom truck
170000 and never needed mech repairs
1996 ford explorer -they cant all be good
A:
Sounds more like a blockage or air in the system. It finally worked its way out and fluid flows properly now.
A:
Yeah, I was dumping the puke tank back in trying to keep track of the volume, but as I was pulling the plugs a lot at that time the water droplets on the plugs were a give away, in my case.
You've got tan plugs, great. But lets review:
Author: zxtoy
Date: Sep 3, 4:07pm
Ive just noticed that when the engine is at operating temp that there is a tiny bit of foam ring around the neck of the radiator. It is thinner than the thickness of the lead in a pencil and may only be discolor and not foam as it is not bubbles, when i rev up the motor the fluid level goes down about 1/2 inch,and then comes right back up to the top of the neck of radiator. Is this normal or what? I know this may sound dumb but im just concerned about it.
Different Strokes...
Author: nrkrell
Date: Sep 4, 10:17pm
That ALL depends on HOW the gasket is going out. Many passages and many failure modes. NK
Norman Krell
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NK ain't to shabby in my book.
And really thats where I think this thing is going.
Your a decent guy and I'd rather be wrong, than have you go down the head gasket road.
Cheers
78 stockish
82 partish
A:
i will definitly keep an eye on it as i dont want to go down the gasket road either but time will tell -- ill keep you up on it if anything changes. thanks for the heads up.
____________________________________
1980 280ZX coupe
2001 maxima
1994 F150 4x4 van works custom truck
170000 and never needed mech repairs
1996 ford explorer -they cant all be good