BHG sign..?

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Hey guys...

So a few days back, the 90* hose on the back of the cylinder head for the egr cooler split... it was old and nasty so its understandable... the temp gauge came up to 3/4 before I got it shut down... topped it off with distilled water I had in the car and left the radiator cap loose and limped home... stayed cool.. no issues.

Now I replaced the hose... been trying to burp the cooling system cause the heat isn't working... with the radiator topped off and the cap off, if I start the car, coolant blows out of the top of the radiator... I fill it back up with it running and it bubbles.. not fast.. but it'll have a little bubble every second or two come up.

I filled it up and drove it.. flogged on it after it came up to temp... for 20 solid minutes, the car ran good.. stayed cool... on the way back, I made a 3rd gear pull to about 6k and the temp gauge creeped up over half.. as soon as I let my foot off of it, it cooled back down so I went straight home.. sitting in the driveway, it slowly started to heat up... temp gauge came up to 3/4 and the aux. fan kicked on and I shut it off... let it sit for a few minutes and started it back up and it was still warm but dropped quickly back to normal....

Am I looking at head gasket or could it be something simple such as a thermostat? If it is bhg, I'm not too worried about it as my new motor is about done... just need to have the rotating assembly balanced and get a gasket set... and could prolly do that cheaper then doing the hg in car properly with a good gasket and studs.

Ideas?

Thanks guys
-Chris

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

I put 90 miles on the car today... heat didn't work most of the day or it was luke warm at best... then it started sorta working... then it got cool and the temp spiked to 3/4 gauge... then it would cool off...

What's weird is, it doesn't seem to be affected by engine load/boost... when it is running cool, I can drive the balls off of it and it wont spike.. wont get warm... doesn't start puking coolant or anything like that... but get on some slower roads and at random, it would warm up and cool off.

I got home and when I pulled in the drive way, the heat started blowing HOT (better then it ever has) and the temp gauge dropped to center and stopped moving... I shut the car down and let it cool... it pulled the majority of the coolant back from the overflow and the radiator was still a bit low.

Could this all just be an air pocket from when the hose on the back of the block failed? I'm paranoid about BHG and considering how long the car had been sitting... along with not having any records on whats been done to it... I know that its had the cam covers off and the exhaust manifold off as the exhaust manifold had a cheap gasket on it and the cam cover bolts have silicone around them.

Ideas?

I know this probably gets asked all the time but I can't find any hard evidence that just screams BHG on this car yet... no milky oil... no steam... the cooling system is building pressure and holding pressure for several hours after shutdown until it cools completely... am I just being overly paranoid?

 

[3p141592654]

Time to do a block test on the coolant.

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Anyone have a part number for the test kit at napa? My local napa is very small so a part number will be a must

Thanks
-Chris

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

NVM... apparently autozoo rents it... same thing as the baulkamp test kit with test fluid that Napa sells.. just have to buy the test fluid.

Looks like I'll know for sure tomorrow.

-Chris

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Ok... picked it up this morning and tried it on my lunch break... I couldnt get the coolant low enough without any tools but I got about 45 seconds of test time with the engine warm before the fluid was contaminated... and nothing. Stayed blue.

I'm going to retest when I get home but how do you guys run this test since the upper hose is soo close to the cap... how do you keep from contaminating the test fluid with coolant?

Thanks guys
-Chris

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Ok... ran the test multiple times at home... never turned yellow but didn't stay blue... pale green color... I'm calling it failed. lol.

Ive got a 1/8" bspt to 1/8" npt adapter coming so I can hook up a mechanical oil pressure gauge as its been having oil pressure issues when at temp.. no coolant in the oil and it did it with a fresh oil change... so hopefully its just the factory gauge...

On the stock gauge, it reads 0 or just a bit off the dead pin for 0 at a hot idle... and while driving, maybe 20psi... close to 35psi when cold. All around seems a bit low so before I pull the head, I figure it would be a good idea to see if its worth the money and time or if I should just put that extra bit towards finishing the new engine... I'm still looking at close to 1k in parts to get the new engine finished up... plus a clutch.

Anyways, if oil pressure checks out on a mechanical gauge, it'll get a felpro top end kit, timing set, water pump, and arp head studs... should make it a fairly reliable driver.

We'll see what happens I guess..

-Chris

 

[Blackmk3]

When was the last time the radiator was serviced? Sounds to me it could be something funny like that, and the radiator is blocked
Then the viscus fan clutch dosent engage correctly and everything starts having issues.
I would be taking the radiator into a specialist and getting it cleaned, new thermostat and go from there.

Worst case if it is a issue with the motor then youve got a new radiator for your new built engine

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

It failed a hydrocarbon test though... so even if the radiator is junk, the hg is still leaking at the minimum. I just flushed the cooling system with distilled water and fresh coolant 3 weeks ago...

But... I will say this, Ive got a new radiator in the garage which will be going in... and if oil pressure checks out on a mechanical gauge, it will get a new water pump, t-stat, top end gasket set (probably felpro) and head studs...

If oil pressure doesnt check out, the engine is coming out of the car and I'll be finishing the new one much sooner then I planned.

 

[Blackmk3]

Flushing dosent clean out the blocked passages in the radiator however.
I remember seeing the guy "rodding out" my one pushing down metal rods the same shape as the internal radiator fins
The gunk that was broken loose and then steamcleaned out was incredible
Was a whole new vehicle after that, I was lucky and i caught it before it BHGd

Shame that it sounds like the top end isnt happy, Hopefully the oil pressure is in check, then at least the bottom end is happy

Nick

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Ok... so I have access to a rebuilt NA head already setup and ready to go...

Quesiton is... I know that the NA cams will work fine... some say there is a gain... some say there isnt. Should I take the time to swap them fot the gte cams from my head and reset valve lash or is it not worth the hassle?

Thanks
-Chris