L series overheating

andrew0437 · Post by **andrew0437** » Sat May 21, 2011 8:38 am

I recenetly had to replace my radiator (brand new one) after a small accident, and at first the car seemed fine, good as new. But recently this week I have got in the car (cold day, cold engine) turned it on, waited for it to warm up and off i went. Perhaps 5 minutes later Il notice the temperature gauge is really high, as if there was just no radiator, so I pull over, open the radiator cap, and it hasnt exploded because the fluid wasnt hot, but just sort of overflowed out. I then put the lid back on, start the engine and the temp is back to normal.

I have had to top it up on the 2nd and 3rd times this has happened, so im thinking i may have a leak somehwere (although it isnt obvious) and their is air in the system, causing the fluid not to circulate properly...

Im worried that as the temperature gauge is in the radiator, and the fluid may not be circulating properly, that when the temperature goes down as i mentioned before, its just showing that the fluid has moved in the radiator, but the engine could still be boiling...

Any thoughts?

littlewhiteute · Post by **littlewhiteute** » Sat May 21, 2011 9:06 am

Possibly jamming thermostat.

Why is your temp gauge sender in the radiator?

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sat May 21, 2011 10:09 am

Temp gauge sender unit on EA82 in L Series is in the lower part of thermostat housing. Those units in the radiator are fan control switches.

If you are in cold climate and no anti freeze and your thermostat is frozen, it won't open causing water in engine to get hot quickly giving hot reading but not pressure in radiator at times. Stuck thermostat can do similar. Try pull thermostat and drive with it not in place or test the thermosta under boiled water - actually meant to place it in water and watch it come to boil to see it open slowly or stay stuck shut. A try to park on slope with rad cap at highest point to get best fill of water - no air.

Let us know how you go with it.

SubieMad · Post by **SubieMad** » Sat May 21, 2011 8:38 pm

Had a similar problem with my 96 Lib. Park with your left front wheel at the highest point and add coolant. Then squeeze the lower radiator hose a few times to force air out of the system. Repeat until you cannot hear any air in the radiator. Make sure your heater is on hot to allow the coolant to reach in there.
Hope this helps:)

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sat May 21, 2011 11:15 pm

SubieMad wrote: Make sure your heater is on hot to allow the coolant to reach in there.

^ That works for the good ol' MY's but for your liberty it will always have coolant flowing through the heater core regardless of temp setting

Cheers

Bennie

andrew0437 · Post by **andrew0437** » Mon May 30, 2011 11:32 am

Hey guys, swapped the thermostat and i thought the problem went away, but no luck. few days later it overheated again, then i notice a few bad tell-tale signs of a cooked engine. burning oil, pumping exhaust into the radiator, and theres water in the oil. So looks like I need to replace the head gasket, or while im at it the engine itself. I have heard of lots of people swapping the carbie EA82 thats in it for a new fuel injected engine. Anyone know much about this or could refer to me to a relevent post? Not sure if its worth my trouble or not. If it helps i can get another EA82 for $675 that comes with a 3 month warranty and has been tested.. Il do all the labor myself...

advice guys?

andrew0437 · Post by **andrew0437** » Mon May 30, 2011 1:04 pm

also sorry @littlewhiteute yea the temperature sensor is just on the thermostat housing, my ignorance made me confuse the temp sensor that turns the cool-down fan on, with the actual temperature sensor.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Mon May 30, 2011 1:23 pm

S' OK, we are all in here to learn - or sometimes gloat.
$675 is a known fixed cost, fitting an EJ and all the other bits is unknown.
$675 may also be worth spending on getting your heads serviced and genuine head gaskets leave the tested engine forr someone else.

andrew0437 · Post by **andrew0437** » Mon May 30, 2011 2:57 pm

hmm i think your right about not getting an EJ. just occured to me that as my car just has a carb engine in it, Id have to redo the wiring loom to have it ready for a fuel injected engine. So definitly just getting a carbed engine replacement.

Thing is my EA82 has about 320k km on the clock and this replacement is likely to have substantially less as the car its from has less than 320k on it and this isnt its first engine...

I suppose depends weather or not i have cracked heads if its worth servicing my current engine?

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 1:38 am

andrew0437 wrote:hmm i think your right about not getting an EJ. just occured to me that as my car just has a carb engine in it, Id have to redo the wiring loom to have it ready for a fuel injected engine.

EFI or not, any L series need to get the wiring loom of the EJ engine cut down to splice in. Once its all cut down ready to go its very easy to fit into the L... Same goes for an EA82 MPFI, but you can get around this by swapping the entire wiring loom for one from an MPFI touring wagon. Not an easy job but I think it easier than cutting down an EA MPFI loom! (yes, been there, done that!)

steptoe wrote: $675 is a known fixed cost, fitting an EJ and all the other bits is unknown.

Unless you have time to do you're homework and shop around. Having said that, even then its still not guaranteed to be perfect - that's part of the fun of a conversion with second hand parts!

Best of luck with it!

Cheers

Bennie