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Yet another LB the coupe update:


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Since my Murphy's Law thread was closed for some unknown reason I have to start a new one....

 

After blowing its top ( 83 EA81 GL-10 coupe ..for those who dont know..complete engine reseal including new head gaskets..new front and rear mains..new water pump oil pump and OEM T stat along with a new radiator and new hoses) I found that LB had a loose belt and that the fan wasnt coming on. I tightened the belt up and played with relays. Started the car a couple weeks ago and no problems..the fan still didnt come on but it never overheated.

Move forward till today..I desided to start him up just to make sure things were charged ,,its been cold and he has just been sitting. He started up very easy and was running realy nice...I left him run and checked him every couple minutes.I go in the house to take a phone call..come back out about 3 minutes later and he is spewing coolant from the radiator!!

I never even had the cap on trying to keep the system from pressurizing.

 

WTH??? 3 weeks ago runs for half hour no problems..then today runs 10 minutes and blows his cool again.

 

I am so happy njdrsubaru is coming monday to help me pull the motor again and dig into this further..cause if he wasnt I think I would be sending the car packing.( Actually thats who I was on the phone with so he witnessed my small freak out ..LOL)

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Well hopefully you guys figure it out!! Still don't get rid of the car, obviously it's something wrong with the motor or the supporting systems but the car is still a solid rust free car with a lot of cool stuff!!! So don't give up on it!!! Keep us updated!

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I still suspect a faulty T-stat. Have had many a "new" one be defective right out of the box over the years. Some stuck on 1st run, others stuck after a bit of time passed.

Pull the T-stat, remount the housing, fill system, start it up and see if it still wants to imitate Old Faithfull... You're not out anything but a bit of time to check it.

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I just dont get why it took only 10 minutes before it sent coolant flying. It was only 42 in the garage..and still..the fan never kicked on. Well..Neo said we will tear it back down and see whats going on..If it takes a few weekends then it takes a few weekends..( I never knew how close he was to me )

Edited by Bucky92
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I just don't get why it took only 10 minutes before it sent coolant flying. It was only 42 in the garage..and still..the fan never kicked on. Well..Neo said we will tear it back down and see whats going on..If it takes a few weekends then it takes a few weekends..( I never knew how close he was to me )

 

well good luck!!! It wouldn't hurt to try removing the thermostat ans seeing what it does with out it.

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I just dont get why it took only 10 minutes before it sent coolant flying. It was only 42 in the garage..and still..the fan never kicked on.

 

My BRAT is throwing serious heat out of the heater within 10 minutes, so yeah it could've been over-heating by then, 'specially with faulty T-stat.

 

Fan issue may be faulty thermoswitch or connection there. Also, Is the short ground wire inplace on the top of the radiator to the radiator support? If not, the fan won't run, radiator needs to be grounded for thermoswitch to operate properly.

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This is all true..but we still have to pull the motor to put the new flywheel in and rear main and clean up the clutch.. So I will probably wait till Monday and just wait till I have a hand from someone who knows more about these motors then me.

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by "blows his cool again" you mean overheating or just spewing out the radiator? i'm guessing you mean it was overheating.

 

when they warm up, many perfectly running cars spew coolant out the top if you leave them running. sounds normal to me if you left the cap off.

 

g'luck!

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by "blows his cool again" you mean overheating or just spewing out the radiator? i'm guessing you mean it was overheating.

 

when they warm up, many perfectly running cars spew coolant out the top if you leave them running. sounds normal to me if you left the cap off.

 

g'luck!

 

actually yeah both my cars spew coolant when they warm up if the cap is off.

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It was more like a fountainous eruption.. complete with smoke billowing.

 

yeah that might not be good?!?! Well you'll get it! I'm sure it's something simple, it usually is and these motors are pretty simple so I'm confident you guys will figure it out! and if you don't just dump another motor in...I know someone will hook you up with one!!:)

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you saw it and it's overheated before so you're onto the problem. but just pointing out that this is actually normal for most engines, even the billowing smoke, since i've let one run too long before as well with the cap off (this past summer).....grrrr!!!!

 

It was more like a fountainous eruption.. complete with smoke billowing.
could still be coolant normally bubbling out, hitting hot exhaust, then the radiator running low on coolant and running hotter...snowball kind of thing.
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The cooling system needs the cap on to let the pressure rise. This raises the boiling point of the coolant. The system operates very close to boiling at atmospheric pressure, so it woudn't take much for it to boil without a cap. It might be a good idea to check that the cap actually holds pressure in addition to the other things mentioned previously.

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If it was smoke not steam then it'd have to be the headgasket.
on a closed engine yes, but with the cap off, coolant can splatter all over the place, like onto the hot exhaust.

 

but she's already played with this engine a lot and has a good idea what's going on so probably is the HG's.

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I have run many engines without caps for observation purposes etc ( how else would you be able to see the bubbles in it from a blown headgasket ..on a car that doesnt have the reservoir?) And 9 times out of 10 running without the cap makes it take longer for the coolant to get to temp. Remember the oldd trick when you have a pin hole leak somewhere..and HAVE to get the car going..loosen the cap..dont let the system pressurize ..so it takes longer for it to leak out.

This whole cooling system has been flushed ..replaced..burped ...right down to hoses and even an OEM rad cap. It was excessive steam coming directly from the radiator..and the erupting coolant ..while being kinda cool to watch it. was alittle more then typical bubble over...especially for being in the 10 minute window run time.

 

If I have time today I will pull the T stat and test it... But I am still kinda leaning towards there still being an issue with the headgaskets...This is 100% worse then it was before I changed them.Just really stumped..and would jokingly like to choke the person who said " Its easy":)

 

I want to get my coupe back on the road!!! Want to go around following Prius's yelling.."I am undoing your good!!" ( for those who dont know ..weberized EA81s dont pass emmissions..but luck me its 25 years old and is exempt) Next will be replacing the exhaust..maybe 2 in catless.

Edited by Bucky92
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