2.4 cooling system

[mimiata]

Hi everyone,

i am on here for a friend who owns a 92 2.4 surf. we have had the usual cylinder head woes. cracked across all four cylinders between the valves. managed to find a good cylinder head which could possibly be a modified one. replaced this and checked everything out. filled up the system, using an old 2 litre coke bottle as extended header for filler. kept fluid above height of both heaters, put both on hot, had front of vehicle higher than rest of vehicle to aid bleeding of air. done all this, everything fine, all getting hot, running perfect. the radiator has been repaired and cleaned out, the cooling system all flushed to clear **** out. took vehicle on long test drive all ok. friend took it out, did bout 40 miles and it shot into red, lost all water.

checked it over, found rad cap not brilliant so replaced with new one of correct type/rating. rebled system, checked out and i took for long run. did 60 mile run various speeds and engine speeds. heaters all blowing hot, viscous fan all working ok, extra cooling fan working ok. re-checked level all ok expansion tank level fine. decided to use vehicle once more to thoroughly check, did about another 60 mile, the temp shot into red, electric fan running to try cool system, steam poured out, and blew cap off expansion tank. system lost all water.
got RAC out they refilled, visual check of flow in filler, all seems good and ok, drove home bout 10 miles, with him following, the guage stayed bout halfway between half and quarter.

totally baffled now, head not cracked, gasket obviously not blown as is pressed steel type. anyone with any ideas cause im at wits end, and mate getting pssed off cause he cant use his surf.

cheers for now

keith

[BUSHWHACKER]

Themostat needs replacing.

[TonyN]

Could have done the head again, if its not a uprated one, it'll crack again if it gets hot.

[mimiata]

2.4 cooling system

hi all,

replaced thermostat, and also tried without thermostat. still doing same thing. had system pressure tested, and leak tested but not showing any combustion gases into cooling system. if head had gone again surely this would show in cooling. also why did it run at below normal temp without going higher after rac topped up system. surely if head gone the guage would hve gone into red without hesitation

[charliemuttley]

Hi,sorry to be glad but i have the exact same problem. I have put a new head on with new gasket and bolts, new thermostat, waterpump, radiator and pressure cap, i did 50 miles without problem then i got no circulation and localised boiling which increses pressure and blows cap or header.
I have got TonyN coming over next wednesday so i will be sure to post what we find out and i would appreciate it if you could post what you find- it has been doing my nut in for ages now and i am getting mighty hacked off with my tax disc running out! GOOD LUCK
Charlie

[Chillitt]

have you tried flushing each pipe seperatly? its a bit boring, but might narrow it down.. i still havent unblocked the rear heater pipes on mine.. one day!

[charliemuttley]

Personally on mine i have- it took about 80psi to unblock my rear matrix! I am hoping that Tony will have some idea???!!!

[smokeyjoe]

had the same problem with mine on frasier island australia... turned out to be small airlocks in system which when moved about created one big one ended up destroying the head check out this html www.allhead.com.au/cooling.html gives full runthrough on eliminating the airlocks...good
luck

[chester]

had the same problem with mine on frasier island australia... turned out to be small airlocks in system which when moved about created one big one ended up destroying the head check out this html www.allhead.com.au/cooling.html gives full runthrough on eliminating the airlocks...good
luck

similar story with ours . we had a new head put on and coolant system checked and a few days later after being parked for a while we saw coolant running out from under the rad. nightmare!! we let it cool and checked the levels - which seemed to be full with plenty of room in the expansion tank -we're baffled. we'd had all clips tightened and a new rad cap etc and im wondering if the coolant has found the next weak spot in the system ie there may be a crack or whatever in the rad. how do i know if its been radwelded (ive only had the truck a few weeks)any ideas guys ??

[sparkyaj]

Just a thought. Could it be a problem with the water pump stopping when it gets hot? if it did, surely it would stop the water cycle and the water would rocket??

Just a thought

[chester]

Just a thought. Could it be a problem with the water pump stopping when it gets hot? if it did, surely it would stop the water cycle and the water would rocket??

Just a thought

we had a new water pump at the time the head was changed so maybe, but it seems to have stopped happening now. we checked the levels and the rad was still full - i wonder if we filled it too full but i cant see where that water came from --its a puzzle

[mimiata]

Hi Guys,

just had an answer to the problem with my mates surf. he took vehicle to a friend of his father-in-law. they have checked vehicle out, head is ok, no probs with that. the problem is a cracked cylinder block through one of the cylinder liners. last time i saw him with vehicle, it had cracked radiator again, and decided to blow oil all over his drive. they taken head off and found a crack in block but not visible to eye. so not just the heads than can be problems weith these vehicles now.

anyway just thought i'd let you all know our findings. can sleep safley now in knowledge wasn't something i had done when repalcing head assembly.