Over heating...frustrated (1 Viewer)

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squatchfinder

squatchfinder

Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Threads
7
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26
Location
Montana
If I drive more than a few miles even around Great Falls my FJ starts the boiling sound and begins to overheat. I replaced the water pump this year, burped it and even had my mechanic look it over when I replaced the tie rods. I don't see any visible leaks but considering replacing the head gasket. I hear that is not cheap. Anyone have any other ideas before I spend money on gasket replacement or a new engine?
 
stock 2F? fan clutch model or not? fan shroud? there is a gasket/rubber ring some people forget to install with the thermostat, running lean? does it only happen at low speed? good radiator? I had one plugged up more than 1/2 of the tubes and had issues years ago, good rad cap?
good temp guage to get accurate reading?
 
It is a stock 2F, fan clutch model, which was replaced a couple of months ago. Radiator is original, so I wondered about that. The Thermostat was replaced as well. I'm thinking I will give the radiator a look.
 
a good radiator shop can rod and clean your rad. thay can also use a sniffer to tell if there is exhaust gasses in the coolant.
just because the thermostat was replaced, did all the gaskets get installed?
even tho it was replaced, is the fan clutch working?
 
x2. Make sure that both thermostat gaskets are installed. Several years back I installed an aftermarket fan clutch on my Toyota and had a low speed overheating problem. It turned out the aftermarket fan clutch went into neutral at idle unlike the Toyota ones that lock up and it caused my problem. Are you losing coolant?
 
Yes the reserve tank consistently loses coolant. I will recheck the fan clutch and the thermostat. If that seems to be ok then I'll have the radiator checked. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
If you are losing coolant, either you are burping a lot of air in the system, you have a leak, or you have a head/headgasket issue. It is very easy to have air pockets in the motor after an antifreeze change. Are you seeing any antifreeze on the ground?
 
I haven't seen any antifreeze pooling on the ground. I've checked for leaks and can't see any visible leaking. It does not happen slow speeds, but after driving for about :30 min at 40 mph.
 
How many times have you driven it since filling it up with antifreeze from your waterpump change?
 
I changed the water pump in June. Driven at least 30 times. Fan clutch and thermostat was changed in June also. I can drive it for :30 min and then it will begin to overheat.
 
That should be long enough to have burped the system. If you have access to a boroscope, you could pull the plugs and look for a headgasket leak. Also, look at the plug condition and see if the plugs look clean and antifreeze colored.
 
Good idea. Also, check to see if the tailpipe is condensating even after it's fully warmed up and driven 30 minutes.
 
I didn't see any bubbles in the radiator but it seemed really full. There was some condensation on the tail pipe. I think I'll try having the rad cleaned out or replaced.
 
If you have condensation coming out of the tailpipe after 1/2 hour or so, that could be an indicator of an issue. I had a motor do this with no seeming bubbles in the radiator but the boroscope in the cylinder revealed bubbles from a head gasket failure. Another idea would be a cylinder leakdown test to check for leaks. Unless you are running straight water, then a radiator leak should present itself. The radiator will pull in the antifreeze from the overflow tank and it will stay full usually until the overflow empties itself. Before servicing the radiator, you might try and rent a radiator pressure tester from a parts store. They will usually refund all of your money when you return it. You pressure up the system yourself and see if it will hold pressure and it can help reveal outer leaks as well.
 
thetoyotaman said:
If you have condensation coming out of the tailpipe after 1/2 hour or so, that could be an indicator of an issue. I had a motor do this with no seeming bubbles in the radiator but the boroscope in the cylinder revealed bubbles from a head gasket failure. Another idea would be a cylinder leakdown test to check for leaks. Unless you are running straight water, then a radiator leak should present itself. The radiator will pull in the antifreeze from the overflow tank and it will stay full usually until the overflow empties itself. Before servicing the radiator, you might try and rent a radiator pressure tester from a parts store. They will usually refund all of your money when you return it. You pressure up the system yourself and see if it will hold pressure and it can help reveal outer leaks as well.
Click to expand...

The radiator will pull in the antifreeze from the overflow tank and it will stay full usually until the overflow empties itself. That is exactly what the radiator has been doing. Thanks for the ideas.
 
Did you get this overheating problem sorted out? If so, what was the cause?
 
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