BHG or not?

[Toyota h8r]

Today i pulled my 87 out of storage and it overheated quickly after getting on the road. The temp gauge stayed at mid-way, then i tapped on the gauge cluster to free up the sticky fuel gauge i have and the temp gauge shot up. I shut off the car and jacked up the car to raise the front car so i could burp the cooling system. I restarted the car with the radiator cap off to see no coolant, i refilled the radiator and burped it for an hour plus. All seemed great as i went to take another test drive, so i thought. As i drove easy, the gauge rose to 3/4 and fell back to normal, this did this repeatedly. Then i noticed the belt making noise. oh no...i pull back over to see the coolant resivior overflowing onto the fan(no fan shroud) and getting sprayed onto the motor. As i make my way quickly back to my house, the car starts to run really ruff. It sounds like its running on 4 or 5 cyl. I made it home without overheating again. Wooh. My dad suspects the thermostat, i think BHG.:3d_frown: If your still reading this thank you. I need help to fix this quickly because my dd is dying on me a lot. Those s10's aren't the most reliable.:cry: Sorry for such long post. Thanx Shelby

 

[driftking786]

im going with ur dad thermostat:cry:

 

[Yellow 13]

Im gonna say thermostat too. I would replace it first instead of jumping straight to BHG as its a lot cheaper to fix.

 

[Toyota h8r]

I sort of thought this but i thought bhg because of the waterfall sound at the back of the motor.(air bubbles:nono: maybe) +1 to driftking and yellow for the help, thanks guys:icon_bigg

 

[johnathan1]

An smoke out of the exhaust? What you described is exactly what my BHG did...but I would replace the thermostat, and pressure test the cooling system before going any farther...Your coolant is going SOMEwhere...you could have a leak...

 

[JustAnotherVictim]

A compression test will tell you plenty without ripping apart the motor.

 

[Toyota h8r]

No smoke, no sweet smell, and coolant is being blown out of resivior.( i filled resivior to high) Btw, where can you get the hose that connects the radiator to the overflow bottle? Mine has a hole in it and wont pull the coolant back into the radiator.(coolant loss problem)

 

[Toyota h8r]

A compression test will tell you plenty without ripping apart the motor.

My dad and i comp tested the motor and came back good.:icon_bigg I dont have a leak down tester so off to a local shop to get that done.

 

[Toyota h8r]

Okay, stealership doesnt have t stat, they said 3wk wait! Is it all right to use an aftermarket one? Autozone, napa, etc? Thanks, shelby

 

[JustAnotherVictim]

My dad and i comp tested the motor and came back good.:icon_bigg I dont have a leak down tester so off to a local shop to get that done.

Ok that's always a plus.

You can use any thermostat and it should be ok.
I always used ones from napa with no problems.

 

[supramacist]

Dude, you want to get like a 160 degree t-stat.

A fan shroud is right at 125$ a toyota only part. I ran my na with no shroud for a day or so while working on it and I had the exact same symptoms. The car can't cool it self propperly without one. Mine was busted all to hell. When I bought it. Wired up on one side. I rigged it to last as long as I could but buying a new one is inevitable.

 

[Finnon]

get a metal work shop to make up a cool bling shroud dude

 

[supramacist]

I thought about that but, forget it. 400$ for alluminum

 

[mkiiSupraMan18]

Dude, you want to get like a 160 degree t-stat.

A fan shroud is right at 125$ a toyota only part. I ran my na with no shroud for a day or so while working on it and I had the exact same symptoms. The car can't cool it self propperly without one. Mine was busted all to hell. When I bought it. Wired up on one side. I rigged it to last as long as I could but buying a new one is inevitable.

My 82 did the exact same thing when I first got it together. He is speaking the truth.

 

[cypher02xd]

well a good "test" for the thermostat is to grab the upper coolant lines and the one after the thermostat. if the one after the thermostat is cold or cooler than the upper one than the thermostat isn't allowing the coolant is circulate.

 

[supramacist]

I am willing to bet that your t-stat is about to need to be replaced, if it doesn't already. So change it. But you you need to order a fan shroud first. Water pump fixing to go out could also be a location to look at. Just wiggle the belt, if the wp belt moves more than normal. It's going to be going out soon. I say this but the belt moving will cause movement on the wp if it's about to kick. That's a long shot.

 

[Toyota h8r]

Thanks for the guys. I still have to install the t-stat, but something caught my attention. My upper rad hose never has "pressure" when i squeze it. T-stat or water pump? Keep in mind its 33*f outside so fan shroud isnt to big a problem right now. Thanx, shelby

 

[johnathan1]

The upper radiator hose should be firm when the car is at operating temp, or even a little bit after the car has been started (like mine). The only reason pressure would not build, would be that the system is low on coolant (air in system)...which is caused by a leak...either a hose, or a gasket...namely the head gasket....

 

[supramacist]

Air in the system just means you may here a waterfall noise. If so you want to raise the front end of the car. The higher the better. ramps..., I use them. And just burp the system. Start the engine, let it idle and keep adding.., slowly, coolant until it's good and topped. It may take an hour. It may take 15 minutes.

 

[johnathan1]

The air had to come from somewhere...:dunno: