[Vwdiesel] Overheat on uphills - help with diagnosis.

[Will Taygan]

Hmmm.. that's a good idea.  The local radiator shop (not the oil change
place, I don't trust them..) wants to do some type of pressure backflush
for $140.  I looked at radiators online ($100), but since it's a weird
chassis/engine combo I think I want to buy locally in case it doesn't
fit (napa probably), and they are running around $200. 

Any thoughts on radiator quality/brands?  Could a flush work?  I'd like
to flush the engine and everything anyway..

When I pulled the lower radiator hose the coolant came out in a slow
steady flow. (1/2 gallon in 20-30 seconds) Is this normal, or should it
whoosh out like on my other vehicles?  Of course, I had the pressure cap
on...

I'd much rather change a radiator than a head gasket..

Will.


On Fri, 2007-06-22 at 11:47 -0700, rumple stiltskin wrote:
> when is the last time you installed a new radiator or had that one
> rodded out..
>  
> very similar problemand that solved mine...teh problemis
> now yours probably needs a new 
>  
> head gasket now...
>  
> pics of my two diesel Rolls Kinnardly (s) attached...
>  
> rolls down the hill and kin hardly make it up the next hill....(grin.)
> 
> Will Taygan <william at taygan.com> wrote: 
>         Arrgh! My first thought is head gasket, but I'm trying to
>         think of
>         other problems too.
>         
>         1994 Jetta with 1.6TD, ACN tranny and Plantdrive-like vegoil
>         system in
>         Alaska.
>         
>         All last winter the heat would barely stay warm, temp pegged
>         just above
>         the 160F mark.
>         
>         Had the TD Injection Pump rebuilt last winter, shop returned
>         settings to
>         specs, previously they were turned down as it likes to send
>         black smoke
>         on moderate turbo acceleration (fueling turned back up). 
>         
>         It always overheated on the long mountain passes, I assumed
>         from this
>         rich fuel and a weird tranny/body/engine combo.
>         
>         Water pump went out last winter, did not overheat, had a new
>         pump put in
>         at the neighborhood shop.
>         
>         I discovered the PO had cut a hold in the expansion cap, so it
>         doesn't
>         hold pressure. I switched out the cap for the one on the 91
>         ecodiesel,
>         so now it works.
>         
>         Installed a mostly Plantdrive SVO system, tapped a loop into
>         the heater
>         lines and forgot to fill the new lines with coolant (7th
>         vegoil
>         conversion, getting cocky.)
>         
>         Overheated on the highway, boiled over, got to a gas station,
>         spent an
>         hour with the expansion cap off pushing the acceleration lever
>         in and
>         out burping bubbles. Finally burped it all out.
>         
>         I put in Sierra coolant (propylene glycol - less toxic and
>         aluminum-friendly). I wondered if the shop put in regular
>         green
>         ethylene glycol, and thought maybe there was to high a
>         concentration of
>         antifreeze to water, so I drained the radiator by pulling the
>         lower hose
>         and put in distilled water.
>         
>         Bad idea. Overheated and boiled over again, added lots of
>         water and a
>         tiny bit of coolant.
>         
>         Car is now overheating (well, not boiling over, but between
>         2nd and
>         middle tick, where usually it's below the 2nd tick) on the
>         flats,
>         significantly on hills (even just parked idling with the nose
>         up) and
>         cooling down on the downhills. I can drive to town if I crank
>         the heat
>         up to high and roll down the windows.
>         
>         No oil in coolant, no pressure in expansion tank in the first
>         minute of
>         startup, oil weeping from head gasket under #3 injector.
>         
>         Top radiator hose gets hard on acceleration, coolant dribbles
>         into the
>         expansion tank on acceleration, not burping anything
>         additional that I
>         can see.
>         
>         Could crap have blocked something when I cut into the system?
>         Head
>         gasket? Bad water pump? Radiator? Aargh.
>         
>         I have an 82 parts truck that I was going to pull the head and
>         bring it
>         into a shop so I don't have to leave the Jetta for a few
>         weeks, but
>         don't want to replace the head if that's not the problem.
>         
>         I can't do a compression test unless I remove the IP, since
>         the aneroid
>         block the socket on #2, but I need to do a timing belt anyway,
>         I'd
>         rather have a head ready to pop on, if that's the problem,
>         rather than
>         do the IP twice..
>         
>         Help!
>         
>         Will Taygan
>         Chugiak, AK
>         81 1.6NA pickup
>         82 1.6NA parts pickup
>         91 1.6Ecodiesel Jetta
>         94 1.6TD FrankenJetta
>         
>         _______________________________________________
>         Vwdiesel mailing list
>         Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
>         http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ______________________________________________________________________
> Building a website is a piece of cake. 
> Yahoo! Small Business gives you all the tools to get online.