I picked up my car from my friend's shop a couple weeks ago after getting my custom exhaust made, and on the way home noticed some smoke and coolant smell. After a brief inspection, I found it was pushing coolant out the overflow tank which was my first sign of major trouble. The temperature seems to be running normal, aluminum radiator with electric fans, no overheating although that is going off of the stock temp. gauge. I have done the following tests:
Pressure test cooling system: Pressurized to 15 PSI, left for 12 hours. The next morning it was down to 14.5 PSI, but the ambient temperature was cooler by about 15 degrees.
Performed compression test:
1-130
2-150
3-150
4-150
5-150
6-150
This would concern me a lot more but I did a compression test about a year ago and cylinder 1 tested at 120, so its actually up by 10. It still has low miles on the rebuild so it could just be breaking in, but the rings should have seated by now, so I'm not ruling out more serious issues. My timing cover and block were machined, but the cylinders were bored without the timing belt tensioner installed, which could possibly account for the lower compression. To add to this, I performed a wet compression test on cylinder 1 and it now measured 145, which further indicates the piston rings are the source of the low compression.
Checked under oil cap, no milkshake.
I replaced the radiator cap with one from Toyota after reading that some people have had trouble with non-oem. After a test drive of about 3 miles, the issue still persists. It pushed out enough coolant to empty the upper radiator tank. Again, the temperature never spiked or indicated overheating. I drained the oil and there was no coolant in the oil pan and only about 4.7 quarts came out, which is about normal.
The coolant system holds pressure, compression tested acceptable, and its not consuming oil. I would think that if I had a BHG, I would have more symptoms than just pushing out coolant. While I’m not ruling out a BHG, I’m looking at other causes at this point.
-AM3
Pressure test cooling system: Pressurized to 15 PSI, left for 12 hours. The next morning it was down to 14.5 PSI, but the ambient temperature was cooler by about 15 degrees.
Performed compression test:
1-130
2-150
3-150
4-150
5-150
6-150
This would concern me a lot more but I did a compression test about a year ago and cylinder 1 tested at 120, so its actually up by 10. It still has low miles on the rebuild so it could just be breaking in, but the rings should have seated by now, so I'm not ruling out more serious issues. My timing cover and block were machined, but the cylinders were bored without the timing belt tensioner installed, which could possibly account for the lower compression. To add to this, I performed a wet compression test on cylinder 1 and it now measured 145, which further indicates the piston rings are the source of the low compression.
Checked under oil cap, no milkshake.
I replaced the radiator cap with one from Toyota after reading that some people have had trouble with non-oem. After a test drive of about 3 miles, the issue still persists. It pushed out enough coolant to empty the upper radiator tank. Again, the temperature never spiked or indicated overheating. I drained the oil and there was no coolant in the oil pan and only about 4.7 quarts came out, which is about normal.
The coolant system holds pressure, compression tested acceptable, and its not consuming oil. I would think that if I had a BHG, I would have more symptoms than just pushing out coolant. While I’m not ruling out a BHG, I’m looking at other causes at this point.
-AM3
