Overheating Question

SupraTrbo89

Member
Sep 21, 2006
233
5
18
West Chester, PA
First off I have a 89 supra turbo 5 speed. If I start my car and let it idle for a half hour the temp guage never moves up. It's not until I start driving that it finally goes to where it needs to (Happens all the time). Sometimes the temp guage spikes up into the red so I pull over and pop the hood. The rad is still cold to the touch and I can hear air gurgling in the upper rad hose. If I give it a few squeezes its almost as if the air passes (or thermostat finally opens) and the rad. is now red hot. Once this happens Ill start the car and its fine for the rest of the day. The problem will continue each day. Although the car does not ALWAYS do this. Sometimes its fine. I think its a blown head gasket after reading some of the other posts.
 

jimi87-t

Active Member
Oct 12, 2005
1,126
4
38
Colorado Springs
:withstupi

It probably started out as a bad T-stat, normal maintenance would have possibly saved you, now more than likely you have a lot of work to do....
 

SupraTrbo89

Member
Sep 21, 2006
233
5
18
West Chester, PA
fan clutch and T-stat are new. fluid level is fine but dark in color. I put new fluid in 5k miles ago with new rad. The motor is a JDM. Also the car blows white smoke on start up. However, the car runs very strong, does not miss etc.
 

SupraTrbo89

Member
Sep 21, 2006
233
5
18
West Chester, PA
hmmm i cant remember.....pretty sure i kept it the same as it was. Let me know what way it should be and Ill check tom. Although if I had it backwards im pretty sure the car wouldnt be fine the rest of the day once the air passed.
 

SupraTrbo89

Member
Sep 21, 2006
233
5
18
West Chester, PA
yes it does sounds like a waterfall behid the dash when the car is 1st started sometimes. Im guessing its something to do with air and the heater core. I have tried burping the car several times and no luck. Oil lever seams fine and under the oil cap looks normal. To be honest im pretty sure its a BHG. Could re-torqing the head fix this though?? Maybe ill give it a try. Whats the best test for a BHG?

thanks for your help guys.
 

Wayne G.

87Turbo 5sp Targa
Apr 19, 2005
213
0
0
Gainesville,Ga.
My 87 did the same exact thing, same simptoms. It had devoleped a small
HG leak on cyl. #6 . Slowly got worse. For nearly a year temp would spike then go back down, white smoke on start up and air in the cooling system.
Then began missfiring on startup in the morning for a few mins. till it burned
away coolant that had leaked in. Continued to get slowly worse over time,
engine is now down for rebuild.
 

jdemara

New Member
Apr 28, 2008
285
0
0
North Delta
well i had pretty much the same symptoms. waterfall sound on startup etc.
occasionally white smoke but couldnt figure out why it was only once in a while.
then eventually it started a slight misfire and i confirmed a bhg when i start up my car, take the rad cap off, and bubbles would constantly be coming out of the radiator. non-stop, so it wasnt just an air bubble in the system, it was exhaust gasses.

at that point i decided i better tear it down and fix it before it gets worse.
 

IwantMKIII

WVU MAEngineering
Jun 12, 2007
2,477
0
0
Perkasie, PA
^results...

and again, based on what you've been saying....you're low on fluid. Put your car on a STEEP hill, rad side on the upslope and let the engine run. Air should bubble out. Do this as cold as possible to start.
 

giterboosted

cure for the common rice
Nov 3, 2007
597
0
0
36
toccoa ga
Wayne G.;1295626 said:
My 87 did the same exact thing, same simptoms. It had devoleped a small
HG leak on cyl. #6 . Slowly got worse. For nearly a year temp would spike then go back down, white smoke on start up and air in the cooling system.
Then began missfiring on startup in the morning for a few mins. till it burned
away coolant that had leaked in. Continued to get slowly worse over time,
engine is now down for rebuild.

my car is doing something very similar to this rite now, but ive already had a metal headgasket installed and arp head studs. should i try retorqueing the head? also ive replaced the entire cooling system except for the lower rad hose, and the upper one has massive amounts ov pressure in it, i just dont know what it could be other than that lower hose or something in the block

ps sorry if i jacked the thread