TravisD62;1758334 said:
Hahahaha, yeah, I can see what you're saying there. I ended up selling my current turbo setup, and a bunch of old parts to fund the new kit. I don't even have a stock CT or manifold to bolt up at this point so a new kit was necessary. The head was machined by a shop in Edmonton and an HKS stopper MHG was installed, the head studs were also retorqued after 5 heat cycles and this motor has <10,000km on it. I'm really starting to think it's an air bubble in the cooling system, I had the car torn down and drained of coolant for over a year while I was putting the new turbo kit together, and yes I know it was stupid, but when it came time to top up the fluids and finish it up, I was a bit more than eager and rushed things after waiting so long. I'm going to buy a coolant pressure tester and when I bolt this new turbo kit on I'll pressure test the system with the new hoses and burp it without the tstat. If this doesn't work, I'll remove the head and probably purchase a new one.. I'm sure it's not a good idea to have it machined twice right?
Ok, now that I'm home I'll add a couple more things.
Makes sense with the turbo purchase. It just seems to happen a lot around here where somebody's dreams get way ahead of themselves and all of a sudden they've got half the mods to support 600hp with an engine that'll be lucky to live through 10 mins of half that power.
You said the head was machined, but what about the block? For MHG, the block NEEDS to be professionally machined. Sometimes you can get by with a lapping plate and minimal cutting, but realistically it needs to be machined flat and smooth by a professional and not massaged by any amateur in their own garage. If you had only your head machined and not the block, that may be your biggest problem. If the block is not machined, you need to stick with a composite (Toyota OEM) or feel comfortable playing an expensive version of Russian Roulette.
Air bubbles in the cooling system and the need to "burp" the system is a horrible myth in the mk3 community as far as I'm concerned. I've owned 3 of these cars with a combination of 5 different motors. Every time I've had a good, solid motor I didn't need to "burp" the system whatsoever. On the engines that eventually had a BHG.... they all seemed to develop air bubbles. Let me repeat: Good motor: No burping necessary EVER; Bad motor: burping necessary for a temporary fix. Air pockets should naturally be pushed out of the system over time. The air will travel through your system ONCE and get pushed out through the overflow if your system is working. If you have a leak anywhere, be it BHG related or not, you will incur periodic air bubbles and you will need to "burp" the system. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I dont believe the TSRM calls for a burp anywhere...
Travis, Get that coolant tester kit and once you have the cooling system all buttoned up, try to find a leak. Use the tester in a quiet environment and you should hear or see any leaks. If you have no leaks and still have an overheat problem with no BHG symptoms, I'd be looking at thermostat, radiator cap, radiator overflow hose and connections. Beyond that I'm stumped.
I'd like to re-iterate, if your block wasn't machined, that's a BHG waiting to happen.
