steamy

N/A tech, Cold Air Intakes, Spark Plugs/wires, Cat backs, Exhaust...etc

Moderators: daewoomofo, Moderators Group

Locked
nubira88
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2008 6:06 am

steamy

Post by nubira88 »

hey i have rebuilt my head well new valves and some lovin here and there.... now my car sits around atm cuz i dont get my licence back till next month and i havent really drivin the car except up the drive it is also unregistered atm! when i start up from cold it starts good no missing but whe it gets a lil warm it lightly steams from the exhaust this will clear up when the car has been idleing for a good ten 15 mins or more. the weather is on and off here and it has been raining and my car gets a lot of water pass underneith it.... today i gave it a couple of good hard revs to the limiter i think and a lot of rusty and then black water came out from the exhaust and i opened the surge tank (radiator bottle) and it was foaming and agressive at the cap. is this normal i have no water oil contamination no CELs and my car runs 1st pop and does not miss.... reason im asking is it was never my car before and i dont know how long it was going around with a shit water pump and one of the thermo fans is burnt out so it leads me to beleive there was some over heating going on... (my fan was not on when the coolant bottle was over flowing i have one of my fans working! and all Radiator caps say never to open while hot am i worrying about nothing and could this steam be condensation from the rain and cool changes we have been having and aggressive water form the hard revs i gave it lol just checking it can handle me i like to speed it up here and there... any input would be great p.s im going to check my spark plugs now derr should have thought of that before
caprice
Posts: 44
Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2007 8:50 am

Post by caprice »

Remove and inspect the small elbow on the driver front corner of the valve cover. Mustard will be there Before it shows on the oil cap or dipstick or even the coolant reservoir. That is good enough to be the smoking gun.

A water pump whose bearings are bad enough to inhibit coolant flow is capable of seizing and eat a belt and valves. Don't over estimate it. These cars are fully capable of perfectly maintaining 40% of the coolant gauge. If it even reaches mid way, somethings wrong.

Does the coolant boil when you shut it off? Might be cooling system basics.

The coolant is either old or contaminated, to foam. It should be moving around in the res, not churning like the powersteering res does. Water and steam out the pipe might be okay if its humid and cold. Should be gone once the engine is hot. Unless it is -20 F outside.

How long since the head was off? I've seen a few (including mine) that blow a head gasket after a valve job. Mine had a minor overheating problem (temp gauge showed 50%) and very slow disappearing coolant problem that never got solved (entire cooling system was fine). I preventive did a total timing job on it when I got it. 2 whole years later, the head gasket got bad enough to fog the tailpipe and miss. Mine BHG took out the catalytic converter, it took its toll. I checked the pulleys but not the water pump. 3 months later, the TB snapped with Only 30k miles. I believe the bearings in the WP locked up.
benzino
Expert
Posts: 1530
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 4:14 am
Location: Snowy Mountains, Australia

Post by benzino »

caprice wrote:Remove and inspect the small elbow on the driver front corner of the valve cover. Mustard will be there Before it shows on the oil cap or dipstick or even the coolant reservoir. That is good enough to be the smoking gun.
But not necessarily THE smoking gun...
I've had "mustard" there after a particularly wet week... just water ingestion through the intake
Last edited by benzino on Sat Jan 17, 2009 11:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
~2.0L Lanos~EHPAS~H&R Springs~KYB/GTS Shocks~
Image
caprice
Posts: 44
Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2007 8:50 am

Post by caprice »

Good point. I live in a place where it goes months without rain.

I believe you can buy a exaust gas tester from NAPA. Its just for detecting BHG's. It changes color if there are exaust fumes in the cooling system. That would be a smoking gun, I think.

Maybe you should wait until you are able to put miles on the Nubria. We'd have better symptoms. EI how often the coolant needs to be topped off.
Daniel
Expert
Posts: 1298
Joined: Mon May 03, 2004 8:28 am
Location: Belgium

Post by Daniel »

Just a word about "black water". Last summer I checked the rubber braces of the rear silencer by shaking it. there was a sound of shaked water. With the help of a plastic hose I've removed about 4 litres of black & greasy water. My car is mostly used for short displacements less than 10km and I believe the temp didn't rise enough to clear the exhaust.

My 0.02
benzino
Expert
Posts: 1530
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 4:14 am
Location: Snowy Mountains, Australia

Post by benzino »

Daniel wrote:Just a word about "black water". Last summer I checked the rubber braces of the rear silencer by shaking it. there was a sound of shaked water. With the help of a plastic hose I've removed about 4 litres of black & greasy water. My car is mostly used for short displacements less than 10km and I believe the temp didn't rise enough to clear the exhaust.

My 0.02
I'm thinking this might be why my exhaust feels blocked up... thinking back, it was always a little choked up after I washed it...
I think i will have to be more careful washing my car :lol:
~2.0L Lanos~EHPAS~H&R Springs~KYB/GTS Shocks~
Image
nubira88
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2008 6:06 am

Post by nubira88 »

yeah exhaust has cleared up now think its been sitting for too long it was sitting at the previous owners for a few months was tree shit everywhere. the temp sits just before the half marker and stays there no boiling noise when its shut down after extensive idling.... spark plugs are dry and light grey the far plug near the gearbox is slightly darker wich is normal i think... it needs a long run to clear the cobwebs and an engine mount under the gearstick assembly i beleive bit of a nock on start and some vibration at times for a 1.6 it has plenty of torque as my drive is steep impressed critics say this car is underpowered i think it does ok.. now my fuel gauge cuts in and out (go's dead) any sugestions to why this is happening?
Daniel
Expert
Posts: 1298
Joined: Mon May 03, 2004 8:28 am
Location: Belgium

fuel gauge

Post by Daniel »

now my fuel gauge cuts in and out (go's dead) any sugestions to why this is happening?
There is TSB about that problem.
http://rapidshare.com/files/185333964/B ... s.zip.html .
Locked