4 cylinder overheating but its not headgasket?

[nate2k5]

ok heres the deal. i bought my mx-3 with the previous owner saying it had a blown headgasket i drove it around town small distances a little over winter until the water pump/alt belt broke. it was blowing a lot of whitish smoke at startup but i couldn't see any during driving. the car was fine before that but slowly started overheating after about 10 miles.

i parked it and removed the head to install a new headgasket and was told by the shop that the cylinders looked caked in carbon from oil getting in the cylinder rather than clean meaning coolant was getting in them.

what do you think this could be?

[Savin]

The gasket could be defective. If the gasket was blown before, and it got super overheated, it could have warped. This would cause it to not sit properly. I'll try to think of other things when I fully wake up. lol

[nate2k5]

well it was the stock gasket with 150k miles, as far as i know.

i took the head to the shop to make sure it was flat before i reinstalled it and they said it was not warped.

i am guessing the valve seals are gone since it only smokes on startup but i am still wondering what the hell is up with the overheating...

[Limegreen mx-3]

pin hole any where on the rubber hoses, bad thermostat, or maybe u have a air bubble in ur cooling system that can lead to overheating. or like they keep telling u have a bad head gasket maybe the head my not be warp but the top of ur deck on ur block is warp.. do ur fans kick in may be a cause..

there can be any reason as to why ur overheating how many ever get resolved through the net not to many.

guessing is a trial and error system that can be costly replacing or correcting what is not the problem of what ur experiencing.

[nate2k5]

well i would guess i would see coolant spray if there was a hole in one of the hoses

for the thermostat, they are designed to fail open

and for the air bubble, i drained the coolant to pull the head so that will no longer be a problem

whether the head is warped or not has nothing to do with the current problems as like i said the shop said the combustion chambers looked really carboned up like oil was getting into them, not clean from coolant.

[Limegreen mx-3]

well i would guess i would see coolant spray if there was a hole in one of the hoses

have u even bothered to check by the looks of ur SR reply im guessing that u haven't

and for the air bubble, i drained the coolant to pull the head so that will no longer be a problem

just because u drained and probably filled back up doesn't mean u MAY not have a air bubble.. happen to me pissed myself off for a simple problem i did to myself. even a decent air bubble could lead to over heading.

whether the head is warped or not has nothing to do with the current problems as like i said the shop said the combustion chambers looked really carboned up like oil was getting into them, not clean from coolant.

carboned up has nothing to do with oil getting in the cly chambers ur running to damn rich.. if u where getting oil in ur cly chambers u wouldn't be carboned up u have wet oil sludge in ur cly chambers..

a warp head or top deck of a block that maybe warp can lead to overheating.. but hey ur the boss and u know better

[nate2k5]

well i would guess i would see coolant spray if there was a hole in one of the hoses

have u even bothered to check by the looks of ur SR reply im guessing that u haven't

i haven't checked, whats a SR reply. i was just saying that if a hose was leaking the pressure should have allowed me to see some spray or wet spots

and for the air bubble, i drained the coolant to pull the head so that will no longer be a problem

just because u drained and probably filled back up doesn't mean u MAY not have a air bubble.. happen to me pissed myself off for a simple problem i did to myself. even a decent air bubble could lead to over heading.

i haven't refilled it yet, so when i do i will bleed it properly

whether the head is warped or not has nothing to do with the current problems as like i said the shop said the combustion chambers looked really carboned up like oil was getting into them, not clean from coolant.

carboned up has nothing to do with oil getting in the cly chambers ur running to damn rich.. if u where getting oil in ur cly chambers u wouldn't be carboned up u have wet oil sludge in ur cly chambers..

a warp head or top deck of a block that maybe warp can lead to overheating.. but hey ur the boss and u know better

well i figure as the head is not warped the block probably isn't. if it was i would assume there would wither be coolant leaking into the cylinders or out of the block and there is no indication of either.

i just want to get all the bases covered so hopefully when i put the head back on it will be good to go, the timing belt, water pump, and tensioners are all going to be replaced also.

[npspears]

i haven't refilled it yet, so when i do i will bleed it properly

I'm curious, how do you bleed the cooling system?

[nate2k5]

i haven't refilled it yet, so when i do i will bleed it properly

I'm curious, how do you bleed the cooling system?

depends, i don't know all of the specifics of this engine but sometimes there is an actual bleeder screw or sometimes you just loosen the rad cap and let it idle.

[nate2k5]

any other ideas?

[Savin]

uhhh....your temp gauge being stupid?

[Ryan]

What is overheating, exactly? Mine rides steady about 3/4 of the way up the guage.

[Nd4SpdSe]

for the thermostat, they are designed to fail open

Not all, there are some that are listed that way but apparently they just tend to fail rematurely, but even the non "fail-open" usually fail open, but no gurantees.

If your getting coolant in the cylinders, you'll get while smoke.
If it's oil, it'll be blue
Running rich is black.

[nate2k5]

the smoke was white but the cylinders were dirty like it was running very rich, not clean like usual