Vitz 2003 - Strange Overheat Scenario - Need Advice/Help

[Xulfiqar]

I know its not the best solution out there, but thats the better choice compared to getting the original-look-alike pumps from the spare parts market.

as most JDM importers on PW say - its easy as chips to import anything from outside Pakistan, why not import an original toyota water pump and radiator for your car.

[Xulfiqar]

Yes i have same scenario, the radiator is clean and clear. No corrosion anywhere in the radiator (although when i had opened the thermostat valve it was chocked to death with rust).

Secondly, is it necessary to get it shaped again from Leith machine??? I frankly am not too comfortable with the leith guys and kharadias (never rebuilt confidence in them after some ugly incidents)..... cant i just change the gasket only??

Thirdly what belts and seals did you change? Estimated cost and time ???

flat planing the block deck and head is only done if they are actually warped out of shape - Use an engineers straight edge to verify, dont machine if not needed.

if machining is needed then please remember that this is a full aluminium engine and uses a steel headgasket, the finish required on both head and block is very very smooth 50Ra or better, this finish gives off a rainbow shine when seen with naked eye. If the finish is rough the gasket wont seal up.

[Xulfiqar]

Any coolant with anti-cavitation and good head-conducting properties that you can recommend ?? Which is available in the market ?

caltex coolant, toyota red, fuchs premix, Mercedes Benz coolant, Honda blue etc.

[just_a_legend]

General causes of overheating.
Most common issue's.
Radiator fan is not functioning
radiator cap is faulty
Brakes are jammed
Head leaks
Bad Engine oil/ very thin may be 5W20 or over usage of oil millage
1.Coolant related issues

a. start the car when not hot may be in the morning.
b. open the hood.
c.remove the lid of coolant radiator or resorvior.
d fill it up to the top
Observe
Are there air bubbles appearing in the water?
If yes
are the bubbles tiny and constant
or Are the water bubbles big and constant
Or
a bubble appears every few second.

If there is no bubble Your head gasket is fine
If the bubbles are constant and tiny there is a leak in the head
If the bubbles are Big then there is substantially leaking head gasket

If the above is not an issue then.
Check the lid of the radiator It has two functions , on running it lets the water go to reservoir On cool down it lets the removed water sucked into the radiator , any of the two functions can cause reduction of water eventually heating up.
Does the fan work and cick in at temp above Normal operating temp Observe the fan.
Radiators need to be opened and cleaned up , there are a few pipes blocked if you are using tap water. When was the radiator cleaned from inside This could be the cause.

Jammed breakes cause stress to the drive train check the 4 wheels for any of the two jammed , or after driving 3 km touch the lug nuts and see how hot are they

Your grade of oil might be 5 W 20 which is meant for 0 meter cars only you need grade 20W50 and change it every 2500 km without fail.

I would suggest that you get your radiator Cleaned up from the interior and enjoy the luxury of this car.
Do take the temperature issues serious . Why don't you get in cabin temperature gauge installed Some place that it does not gives a bad look. it will give you exact status of the engine temperature.

[ahsanonline]

1. What sort of 'stuff' are you using as coolant? Tap water? Pure osaka? Diluted osaka? Anything else?

2. Before you let anyone get all Tazmania with your engine head, you'd want to get a 15-minute compression test done; compare readings of all cylinders.

When you say radiator is rust-free, how did you arrive at such a conclusion? What kind of tests/inspection?

If your vehicle engine has had severe overheating episodes, you may very well need a new gasket+head job done by someone who knows what they're doing & why. And even then there is no guaranteeing that it won't overheat again unless you diagnose & fix the problem that caused the damage in the first place.

Ofcourse I've seen a govt vehicle's engine being torn down 5-mins after it was driven into a roadside garage - no testing no diagnosis, just plain old "vaal khatam hogae nay"...

[molvi82]

About the gasket change only, once u open the top and see the condition, then only a decision can be made.

The seals were for engine and so were some vacuum pipes that were cracked. Can't exactly pinpoint.

The work costed me Rs 6000/- in total including the Lethe guy labor and gasket from Toyota.

But it definitely has removed the problem, especially after the 1100km test at 40 degrees I did this past weekend.

Sent from my iPhone using PW Forums

[Xulfiqar]

General causes of overheating.
Most common issue's.
Radiator fan is not functioning
radiator cap is faulty
Brakes are jammed
Head leaks
Bad Engine oil/ very thin may be 5W20 or over usage of oil millage
1.Coolant related issues

a. start the car when not hot may be in the morning.
b. open the hood.
c.remove the lid of coolant radiator or resorvior.
d fill it up to the top
Observe
Are there air bubbles appearing in the water?
If yes
are the bubbles tiny and constant
or Are the water bubbles big and constant
Or
a bubble appears every few second.

If there is no bubble Your head gasket is fine
If the bubbles are constant and tiny there is a leak in the head
If the bubbles are Big then there is substantially leaking head gasket

If the above is not an issue then.
Check the lid of the radiator It has two functions , on running it lets the water go to reservoir On cool down it lets the removed water sucked into the radiator , any of the two functions can cause reduction of water eventually heating up.
Does the fan work and cick in at temp above Normal operating temp Observe the fan.
Radiators need to be opened and cleaned up , there are a few pipes blocked if you are using tap water. When was the radiator cleaned from inside This could be the cause.

Jammed breakes cause stress to the drive train check the 4 wheels for any of the two jammed , or after driving 3 km touch the lug nuts and see how hot are they

Your grade of oil might be 5 W 20 which is meant for 0 meter cars only you need grade 20W50 and change it every 2500 km without fail.

I would suggest that you get your radiator Cleaned up from the interior and enjoy the luxury of this car.
Do take the temperature issues serious . Why don't you get in cabin temperature gauge installed Some place that it does not gives a bad look. it will give you exact status of the engine temperature.

so - lets get something straight

use 20W50 oil and change it every 2500 kms? - oil free aaraha hai aajkal?

[margallar]

caltex coolant, toyota red, fuchs premix, Mercedes Benz coolant, Honda blue etc.

will glysantin g40 work, i bought it mistaking my radiator for an aluminium one, in reality it was brass. so i have a bottle of coolant lying useless

[venomdesire]

Hi Ahsan,

I am currently using a almost 50:50 mixture of Tap-Water and Diluted Osaka (It took 1.5 liters of coolant and some water for the whole system). Nothing else that i know of.

As for the compression test, i'll try to locate a workshop that can do it for me in this week.

Thirdly, i concluded about the radiator being rust free for 2 reasons:
a. replaced it last year with a radiator from a half-cut , it was sparkling rust-free at that time.
b. Currently drained the radiator, no sign of rust in the drainage water.

Secondly it did have one overheat episode in which it automatically turned off, and refused to start (didnt take self) until it cooled down.

Thats the point i want to stay away from Tazmanian Devil type mechanics.

Well,

1. What sort of 'stuff' are you using as coolant? Tap water? Pure osaka? Diluted osaka? Anything else?

2. Before you let anyone get all Tazmania with your engine head, you'd want to get a 15-minute compression test done; compare readings of all cylinders.

When you say radiator is rust-free, how did you arrive at such a conclusion? What kind of tests/inspection?

If your vehicle engine has had severe overheating episodes, you may very well need a new gasket+head job done by someone who knows what they're doing & why. And even then there is no guaranteeing that it won't overheat again unless you diagnose & fix the problem that caused the damage in the first place.

Ofcourse I've seen a govt vehicle's engine being torn down 5-mins after it was driven into a roadside garage - no testing no diagnosis, just plain old "vaal khatam hogae nay"...

[venomdesire]

Mujhe dedo !

will glysantin g40 work, i bought it mistaking my radiator for an aluminium one, in reality it was brass. so i have a bottle of coolant lying useless

[venomdesire]

And there it went again last night -___- !

Started blinking with AC on after half an hour of driving. When i turned AC off and lay my foot off the gas pedal, it stopped blinking. And this kept on going till Clifton ! i kept on turning AC on and Off. When i got home though i saw that water is still in radiator/bottle and it has not evaporated.

[capsat]

PULLEY is creating havoc the harmonic balancer is having cracks

[umar47]

1. What sort of 'stuff' are you using as coolant? Tap water? Pure osaka? Diluted osaka? Anything else?

2. Before you let anyone get all Tazmania with your engine head, you'd want to get a 15-minute compression test done; compare readings of all cylinders.

When you say radiator is rust-free, how did you arrive at such a conclusion? What kind of tests/inspection?

If your vehicle engine has had severe overheating episodes, you may very well need a new gasket+head job done by someone who knows what they're doing & why. And even then there is no guaranteeing that it won't overheat again unless you diagnose & fix the problem that caused the damage in the first place.

Ofcourse I've seen a govt vehicle's engine being torn down 5-mins after it was driven into a roadside garage - no testing no diagnosis, just plain old "vaal khatam hogae nay"...

Ahsan brother can u please suggest some shop in rwp for compression test of cultus

[ahsanonline]

Ahsan brother can u please suggest some shop in rwp for compression test of cultus

3S dealerships usually do those. Other than that I don't know of any place in rwp (there would be places, but I don't know about them). I also want to get a compression test done, so when you find out where in pindi/isb...let me know!

Hi Ahsan,

I am currently using a almost 50:50 mixture of Tap-Water and Diluted Osaka (It took 1.5 liters of coolant and some water for the whole system). Nothing else that i know of.

As for the compression test, i'll try to locate a workshop that can do it for me in this week.

Thirdly, i concluded about the radiator being rust free for 2 reasons:
a. replaced it last year with a radiator from a half-cut , it was sparkling rust-free at that time.
b. Currently drained the radiator, no sign of rust in the drainage water.

Secondly it did have one overheat episode in which it automatically turned off, and refused to start (didnt take self) until it cooled down.

Thats the point i want to stay away from Tazmanian Devil type mechanics.

Well,

Consider that 'coolant' mixture - poison. A proper flush with mild acid, then a neutraliser, then proper coolant (Toyota's LLC 3.7 Litre tin).
With that earlier overheat episode, the engine might've lost its 'leaktighness' - the compression test should tell something. What Xulfiqar bro said above about head planning, you would have to do that if and when you find out that you have head-gasket troubles and have to take the head off the engine block.

For now, first compression test. If you would rather just go with other stuff, drain all from radiator and block, and refill with something proper like zic premixed coolant (order online for home delivery) or use toyota's premixed. Also, a thermostat valve is a must. Its relatively cheap so replace that too.

[umar47]

Do you have any idea of costs

[hash4u]

Compression test member @rozzzzz wld do it 4 u in his workshop
U may also go to pso aabpara enercon to get it done

[umar47]

I have qouted roz but he has not replied also no Pm allowed on his profile in abpara there is a shell pump a pso pump is in melody I guess

[hash4u]

Eeks....i meant melody....next to old isb hotel

[umar47]

Ok got it so is there a mechanic on this pump or pso has this facility

[hash4u]

Next to tuck shop of pump is enercon shed. talented mechanic.