Thread: Cooling system problem diagnosis

Flushing the rad doesn't cut the mustard, rodding it is recommended. This means taking the tanks off and will cost around $100 to get done. Also a collection of insects or grass bits can reach critical mass and block the air flow. Typical in late spring.

Some water pumps will lose bits off their impellers, but it is rare and you would see lumps of corrosion in the radiator cores during cleaning.

With the thermostat out the water pump should empty a bucket in seconds. Should be easy to do while the rad is out.

Originally Posted by bee utey

Flushing the rad doesn't cut the mustard, rodding it is recommended.

I'm with you on this one bee utey. Anything less is pointless.

Water pump is a looooooooooooong shot.
Radiator is a shrt sht.
RRC rads are notorious for clogging as their tubes are small and numerous.
Have it rodded before doing anything else, and my bet is that you will not have to do anything else.
Regards Philip A

mate ..with experience i can say... just cut out the end result and go and get the head properly tested buy someone that really knows what there on about ...will save you a lot of grief and money .....

cheers

Thanks for your comments, but I think I have found the source of the problem. The fan is free wheeling when I have the engine off. I am sure that it only moved with the stroke of the engine previously. I can spin the fan easily and it's quite wobbly. Any thoughts?

Get a new viscous fan centre.
This will cause overheating only at slow speeds say under 50Kmh. If teh car is overheating on the highway then the problem is more likely to be the radiator. It could of course be both.
If the temp gauge rises you should hear and feel the viscous fan roar and affect engine power as it stiffens, so if your gauge is at 3/4 , then there should be quite a noise from the fan.
Regards Philip A

Thanks, PhillipA

Are you sure the temp gauge is accurate? I thought my RRC was overheating, but infact, the temp sender was 20 degrees off (I have an aftermarket gauge, as the original packed it in too).

Get an infrared thermometer and check what temp it's running at, save you alot of headaches if it is infact, not overheating.