R34 Overheating - Help Please

[nuffsaid]

Motul 8100 5w40

Changed 2 weeks ago

[Wacky Dee]

You did mention the dash water gauge started moving above middle and that only happens around 110-115C or so.. When mine was 100C it was still UNDER the midway mark. And yes water and oil temps are closely related. Water/coolant cools the engine .. if it can't cool it properly your oil temps go up as well.

Just get a Consult cable and download some free software ..plug it in to your laptop and go for a drive and you'll know the water temps. You can get a consult cable for $75 from http://ecutalk.com/interface.aspx or if you're in Sydney, you can borrow mine.

[mad082]

when you get the radiator cleaned/buy a new one, also fit a new thermostat at the same time, just to be on the safe side.

[STAGE1]

Hi

I will reply to your pm here

I go to Toowoomba quite a lot and in the early stages there was a little hike in temps but last Xmas I had oil and water temps off the wall ( oil 120 and water almost boiling).

I had the cooling system flushed at a cost of 410.oo with little change when going up the range.(overheating)

I then had the radiator professionally cleaned (top tank off and the core cleaned) now all the temps are where they should be. $120.oo from memory.

You should note that the oil temp takes longer to drop back

The radiator repair man seed that because the radiator has only one row it can get blocked over time.

Even though cleaning the radiator has fixed the problem I will be getting a bigger one sometime in the future.

Cheers

Phil

[nuffsaid]

Thanks mate

And when you say all temps are normal now, what is that for oil and water?

[Sheriff Wan]

Did you bleed the system after the flush etc?

Sounds like there is just air in there. If it didnt do it before it shouldnt start now

Skylines have very efficient cooling systems, i wouldnt be changing the factory set up unless your 100% sure...

[Wacky Dee]

its f**king crazy just HOW MUCH air is stuck in the cooling system ... I just had to drain my coolant (was fixing an issue with a radiator bracket that was preventing it from seating correctly) today and decided to try something I read the other day. Namely, took a 2l Coke bottle, cut the bottom off and then filled up the radiator through it with coolant but it was still half full. Left the car running and held the bottle like that with all that coolant sitting there and radiator cap obviously open ...

The amount of bigass air bubbles that came out in the following 20 mins as the coolant circulated is un-fricking-believably .. not tiny bubbles, BIG ASS MOFO BUBBLES ..atleast a 100 of them. I highly recommend this air bleed technique now ... using bleed screws is stupid and messy and doesn't get out one tenth of the air that this method did..

The car doesnt run any cooler than it did before ..still 86C driving, but atleast I know there arent massive air bubbles in my block anymore that could create hotspots and we all know where that leads...

[STAGE1]

Thanks mate

And when you say all temps are normal now, what is that for oil and water?

Oil temp sits around 70deg for normal driving and rises to about 80-85 when pushed e.g. up the range.

The water temp stays on half all the time now but have yet to push it hard in really hot conditions which is why I am planning to go with a bigger radiator just for added piece of mind. I do tow a trailer at times and this adds to the problem.

Cheers

Phil

[nuffsaid]

its f**king crazy just HOW MUCH air is stuck in the cooling system ... I just had to drain my coolant (was fixing an issue with a radiator bracket that was preventing it from seating correctly) today and decided to try something I read the other day. Namely, took a 2l Coke bottle, cut the bottom off and then filled up the radiator through it with coolant but it was still half full. Left the car running and held the bottle like that with all that coolant sitting there and radiator cap obviously open ...

The amount of bigass air bubbles that came out in the following 20 mins as the coolant circulated is un-fricking-believably .. not tiny bubbles, BIG ASS MOFO BUBBLES ..atleast a 100 of them. I highly recommend this air bleed technique now ... using bleed screws is stupid and messy and doesn't get out one tenth of the air that this method did..

The car doesnt run any cooler than it did before ..still 86C driving, but atleast I know there arent massive air bubbles in my block anymore that could create hotspots and we all know where that leads...

Can you post a link to this method? or do you have more detail about what you need to do?

[mad082]

it is pretty simple.

take 1 empty coke bottle (cleaned first)

cut the base off

remove radiator cap

sit coke bottle upside down in radiator cap hole

fill coke bottle about half way up with water or coolant or a mixture of both

run engine for a while with the bottle sitting there

opening the bleed screw while doing this would also get a lot more air out than just opening it normally.

[Wacky Dee]

the only problem is its a bit messy too ..you have to hold the bottle down hard so coolant doesnt escape around the area where bottle meets radiator cap opening...Best to use some sort of plumbers tape and seal it all up properly I reckon

The problem with the bleed screws is as soon as the coolant starts flowing ..it will start pouring out through the bleed screws and creates a mess in the engine bay.

[nuffsaid]

it is pretty simple.

take 1 empty coke bottle (cleaned first)

cut the base off

remove radiator cap

sit coke bottle upside down in radiator cap hole

fill coke bottle about half way up with water or coolant or a mixture of both

run engine for a while with the bottle sitting there

opening the bleed screw while doing this would also get a lot more air out than just opening it normally.

So let me get this right, once the radiator has been cleaned properly, put it back in.

- top up the radiator as much as you can, also top up the overflow bottle up to the relevant marking

- remove radiator cap

- put the head of the bottle into the radiator and fill up to about half way

- open bleed screw (there is only one right? near the top of the engine bay)

- run engine for XX minutes

- keep running until no more bubbles come out of the bleed screw

- top up bottle if required

- close up bleed valve

- turn off engine

- put radiator cap back in

Assuming the engine is cold, how long approximately should I be running the car for? until only coolant comes out of the bleed screw?

And I assume that you keep topping up the coolant as you go to about the halfway mark on the bottle in case the systems takes in more coolant

And is there only one bleed screw?

Edited September 15, 2009 by nuffsaid

[Wacky Dee]

there are 2 on R34s ..1 on R33s

I wouldn't waste time with the bleed screws ..its messy. In order for air to come out the coolant has to flow through the engine, once it starts flowing it will be hot and it WILL be pouring out of the bleed screws. Just bleed from the bleed screws for a few minutes before coolant starts flowing .. then switch to bottle. Most of the air will come out of the radiator through the bottle once the coolant becomes hot and starts flowing through the engine.

[nuffsaid]

there are 2 on R34s ..1 on R33s

I wouldn't waste time with the bleed screws ..its messy. In order for air to come out the coolant has to flow through the engine, once it starts flowing it will be hot and it WILL be pouring out of the bleed screws. Just bleed from the bleed screws for a few minutes before coolant starts flowing .. then switch to bottle. Most of the air will come out of the radiator through the bottle once the coolant becomes hot and starts flowing through the engine.

Thanks Denis, so if one is at the top close to the strut bar on the manifold, where is the other one?

So bleed initially from the screws, then remove the radiator cap and jam the head of the bottle in.

This bottle will start bubbling and letting air out through the top of the radiator, keep it there until the bubbling stops?

[Wacky Dee]

one bleed screw is near the firewall / AAC valve and the other at the opposite end..you need to take the engine cover off. There's a small warning do not open when hot type of label near both.

As for the rest yeah pretty much like that ..just make sure the bottle is lodged in firmly. I'd highly recommend taking a few minutes and taping it all up nicely and make it leak proof otherwise coolant will escape and make a mess OR try to modify the bottle opening so that you can actually jam it into the radiator opening firmly

I let it run for about 20 mins and bigass bubbles were still coming out every few second..I gave up from tiredness as I was holding the bottle down myself and hot coolant was leaking because I couldnt hold it steadily any longer. I'd say 30 mins or so and they should all come out.

[nuffsaid]

UPDATE!!

I removed the radiator and got it professionally cleaned locally for $60. They said the whole middle of the core was blocked as if I had poured in some anti-leak substance. Anyways all cleaned so I put the radiator back in.

Drove to city (about 50 minute drive) in and out of traffic and oil temps did not go higher than 90-95 degrees. Water temp - no idea, just sat on halfway.

What is a normal oil temp to be running?

[Moodles2]

What is a normal oil temp to be running?

Same as water, about 82-85c

[CrimsonLey]

subscribed for future reference.

Epic thread.

[Eps]

This thread is relevant to my interests. This could come in handy later

[R1maniac]

Im going through the same issue now.

For memebers who havent read the previous posts, il explain it breifly here.

-I try to install boost gauge and in this process i snapped the vacuum line to the boost sensor.

-so i drive the car without the sensor and everything seems fine. No more popping sounds from the exhaust. so i beleive the car is not running rich anymore.

-next day i noticed that the oil temperature is going above 110. Theres steam coming from the radiator. Even with normal driving (barely any boost). Water temperature shows normal though.

-i glued the vacuum line and installed the sensor. But the problem still persists. Very high oil temp, normal water temp. I flusehd and changed the coolant, but no change.

Please help