[shandy92]

hey all,
hey i had a rather big problem today in my 96 swb vitara (g16b) coming home from 4wding at my seabird holiday home, 1st thing i noticed was last week when i was doing alot of sustained driving at 110k that my temp would rise to almost red and thought nothing big of it but maybe i need a new fan or something.

During the week it has been fine as i hadn't done a lot of sustained driving

so today after driving up i noticed that it was getting rather hot again and pulled up to let it cool, i let it cool then i left and reached the house.

Then on the way home it got seriously hot, like just into the red. So i pulled over and popped the hood and had a look underneath to see if i could spot the problem, i found that i had a crack in the lower radiator hose and was loosing a fair bit of coolant, i got some electrical tape and sealed the crack and then continued to drive for 10 mins.

I then noticed that the temp gauge was falling, and i know that the only reason the temp gauge would fall while having the engine running is when you have no coolant to pass over the temp sensor.
it was also making a funny clicking sound only when under more than slight throttle (its stopped but still unknown)?????

so i pulled over and i let the engine cool down completely for 45 mins or so while i was waiting for brother to bring water (didn't have coolant available) and filled it up with water just for the trip home.
so my question to you experts is, where and how much can i get a new lower radiator hose for/from, and what coolant would u recommend for a perth summer? i have been told to use toyota genuin or nulon.

how can i check if i have over heated the engine? (black or burnt oil)

thanks for you helps

Mitch

[steak_knife]

To start with I think you have a blocked radiator, causing over heating, which in turn has caused you hose to blow, which in turn would of cooked the head.
You probably won't know if the head is blowen untill you can get it to hold water.
As for coolant, http://www.suzistore.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=1324 is in my opinion better than toyota stuff.

P.s that link will have you hose to.




Fixed..EDIT

[BJPK]

jus make sure you havnt cooked her
if the heads cracked then the oil will possibly be milky.
should be able to gget hoses anywhere repco etc or suzuki gen.
i run toyota coolant but only cause i work for them.
il throw in a bottle of it when get the struts of me
otherwise nulon etc will be fine. never mix different coolant brands thats all.

[brendan]

steknig wrote:

To start with I think you have a blocked radiator, causing over heating, which in turn has caused you hose to blow, which in turn would of cooked the head.
You probably won't know if the head is blowen untill you can get it to hold water.
As for coolant,http://www.suzistore.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=633 is in my opinion better than toyota stuff.

P.s that link will have you hose to.

nice oil seal

[steak_knife]

brendan wrote:

steknig wrote:

To start with I think you have a blocked radiator, causing over heating, which in turn has caused you hose to blow, which in turn would of cooked the head.
You probably won't know if the head is blowen untill you can get it to hold water.
As for coolant,http://www.suzistore.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=633 is in my opinion better than toyota stuff.

P.s that link will have you hose to.

nice oil seal

I just looked at the top of my screen & I had 4 link's to suzistore

[shandy92]

thanks guys for the quick reply,
steknig- why do u think i have a blocked radiator? will giving it a flush clear it out?
BJPK- yeah i dont think the head is done as the oil isnt milky but ill be changing my coolant and engine oil first thing tomorrow.

i seriously hope that it will just be a simple fix of changing the hose putting in new coolant. is it worth doing the engine oil as well even if it was only done less than 1000K ago?

thanks

[Ben_Sierra]

shandy92 wrote:

thanks guys for the quick reply,
steknig- why do u think i have a blocked radiator? will giving it a flush clear it out?
BJPK- yeah i dont think the head is done as the oil isnt milky but ill be changing my coolant and engine oil first thing tomorrow.

i seriously hope that it will just be a simple fix of changing the hose putting in new coolant. is it worth doing the engine oil as well even if it was only done less than 1000K ago?

thanks

Blocked radiator will result in that hose over-pressurising as the coolant has nowhere to go from the pump... Could just be an old hose thats become worn and cracked over time, but its worth getting the radiator checked out for blockages. If its that blocked, a flush probably isn't going to achieve a lot...

[brendan]

Get it clean out from a rad place. I will also add sierra radiator is a good little unit. Some people say they want to put a thermo on to keep it cool, wrong. The engine fan works very good with the radiator and shroud. I've got a 1.6 with a 1.3 radiator and a winch up front which blocks 90% of the air flow. Temps runs at 85c all day may get up to 90c on a hot day. I floged the shit out of it at Stockton and didn't even get to 90c.


Sorry I can't sleep I'll try get some sleep now

[ajsr]

this maybe a little obvious to some, but they put that little moving needle on your temp gauge for a reason. When it moves to the BAD end of the gauge its telling you to get off your lazy arse STOP driving and open your bonnet.
Now reading your post it seems you had a week of it running hot and didn't bother to look at the water levels of your cooling system or its general condition.
What did you think the end result would be?? maybe it would get better after a little lay down?
you probably had a $ 10 - 15 leaking hose a week ago, now probably a head gasket at best.

[shandy92]

thanks guys,

yeah i might get it checked out by a rad shop,
ajsr- if you read my original post i said that "During the week it has been fine as i hadn't done a lot of sustained driving" meaning that it had sat in the middle of the temp gauge and it didnt rise above normal running temp, at all. even when driving for 30-45 mins it didnt rise high.
also in my original thread i said that every time that it got hot i pulled over and popped the bonnet.
i had also checked my water/coolant levels before i had left, but i did make the beginner mistake of looking at the overflow bottle not directly into the radiator.

im sorry if that sounded rude, but please re-read the original post before criticising.
thank you.

Mitch

[royce]

were you having to top up the coolant when you were checking it or just the once?

I would be inclined to replace all the hoses and fill it with water and see how it goes for coolant loss or milky oil or rough running, if it seems ok after a week then stick some flush and good coolant in it and off you go, if not well get ready to spend some money

[shep]

brendan wrote:

Get it clean out from a rad place. I will also add sierra radiator is a good little unit. Some people say they want to put a thermo on to keep it cool, wrong. The engine fan works very good with the radiator and shroud. I've got a 1.6 with a 1.3 radiator and a winch up front which blocks 90% of the air flow. Temps runs at 85c all day may get up to 90c on a hot day. I floged the shit out of it at Stockton and didn't even get to 90c.


Sorry I can't sleep I'll try get some sleep now

i used to have a lot of overheating problems when towing a trailer in 1st
low for extended periods or when the spear grass is seading. a big
thermo fixed that. there is no air flow if you are doing 2kph at 800revs.

[BJPK]

if it were my car id send the radiaor out to get it cleaned.
and id do all the hoses before it goes back in.
while the rads out its a good time to check the water pump isnt leaking. if it is do a cam belt at the same time.
pays to keep it reliable especially if your doing longer trips

[shandy92]

thanks guys,
shep- yeah well thats what i first thought as it rose a bit when driving but when i was stopped at lights or just idling it would rise high and would have to shut it off or drive off to get the air flowing.

royce- no i didnt have to fill up the coolant, i also dont know how long it has been since the radiator has been flushed and coolant changed as iv only had the car for maybe 3-4 months, but i would think that the mechanic would of done it.

again is it worth replacing the oil, even if it did get changed a litttle less than 100ks ago?

thanks Mitch

[Joe]

BJPK wrote:

if it were my car id send the radiaor out to get it cleaned.
and id do all the hoses before it goes back in.
while the rads out its a good time to check the water pump isnt leaking. if it is do a cam belt at the same time.
pays to keep it reliable especially if your doing longer trips

x2 just to be on the safe side

[shandy92]

hey all,

well today i had a look at the issue,
i replaced the lower hose all all was good, started refilling and then noticed it all pissing out of the weep hole in the water pump.
from what i have gathered i need to get a replacment and have found a new one for $80.

when doing the swap and read the manual is it possible to do the swap without removing the timing belt cover and belt?

do u have any hints or tips to make the swap go easier?

we have already removed the fan, belt and shroud, alternator brackets and timing cover bolts.

thanks
Mitch

[Scrawny]

It's all got to come off unfortunately.

[shandy92]

all as in? timing belt?
what is the easiest way to check that it is on TDC??
i took the bottom pulley off which let the cover come off, and on the top pulley a small groove can be seen, does this line up with a groove on the top of the motor?

thanks
Mitch

[Scrawny]

Yes, timing belt and tensioner bearing. The manual should tell you which marks line up with what, otherwise look in the download section here and it will tell you.

[royce]

turn the engine over until the bottom pulley keyway is pointing up, youll se a mark on the housing it lines up with

in this case, if you arent replacing the belt (I would) mark both pulleys to the engine with liquid paper AND mark the belt to the pulleys, this way when it all goes back together you know you have it right

[shandy92]

thanks royce
im pretty sure i have it correct,
the new pump is on and got the timing belt back on, it was a bit of stuggle bit got it on.
as the timing belt and tensioner was on nothing else important really needed to be put on to make it start. as the manual says to crank it 270 degrees for the spring to get good tension we did this, then turned it over via key but we disconnected the distributer efi plug so it wouldnt fire, it turned over fine but the belt began to run off the pulley.

how are you meant to align the belt on the pulley so it doesnt run off? is it just a matter of trial and error.

thanks
Mitch

[shandy92]

anyone?

[ajsr]

the pulley will keep it all retained when its back together.

[royce]

tensioner bearing isnt straight or a pulley isnt seated square

[shandy92]

ok thanks guys,
well i got it all back together this arvo but didnt have time for a drive, but i had it idling for prob 15-20 mins which got it up to normal operating temperaters.
I was happy as it didnt rise above half way, it just sat a little under half which is where it normally sits. i will give it a test drive in the morning just to make sure all the timing and everything is good.

how obvious would it be if the engine timing was out by 1 tooth?

also if the timing belt wasnt aligned on the pulleys correctly how long would it take for it to become noticable? should it be good since it was idling for a while or does it need to be put under load(a drive)??

thanks
Mitch

[royce]

1 tooth would be worse than pulling 2 plug leads

if it was coming off it would of come off by now

[ajsr]

if you lined the pulleys up properly and marked everything its pretty easy to see if your out by a tooth.
if it ran for that time and nothing was trying to eat its way out of your cover you should be pretty safe.
did you replace the timing belt when you did the pump ?(ie new timing belt)
because you probably should have just because you were there and they are cheap.if not at least you now know how too when the time comes.
Make sure you keep checking it over the next few days to ensure your not leaking water anywhere.

[shandy92]

thanks guys for reply

thanks royce- thats good, as it is running actually smoother than before,

ajsr- thats also good to hear, no i didnt replace the belt as it was a new belt (non factory) and in good nick and the engine has only just clicked 160xxx. i also know how to do it my self now so that is going to save me a good few hundred dollas.

yeah i will keep checking it over the next couple of days, and i dont do a lot of ks at the moment (prob 100ks a week) so i might just go for a long cruise to test it all out.

thanks
Mitch

[shandy92]

hi all,

i am still having over heating issues when doing sustained driving, eg more than 10-15ks at 100kph. if im not on the freeway for a while or just doing drives less than 10k the car is fine and will not budge above 1/2 temp.

today i had to drive about 30ks on the freeway and as i had the A/C on (being a taxi for mum) it made it work a bit harder, the engine started to get hot and i had to shut off the engine when i got to lights ect as it would get to hot.

is this to symptoms of a blocked radiator?
for the perth guys- where can i get it flushed and roded?

also when i got home, the coolant was coming out of the overflow bottle breather hose as the bottle was full of coolant. the engine is now cool and i popped the radiator cap and no coolant was visible in there. so the question is when ive filled up the radiator with coolant and the overflow bottle is low, do i need to put any into the overflow bottle or not?? (prob a stupid question)

thanks guys
Mitch

[matty87]

yes fill the overflow bottle too you can never have two much water. your radiator is a heat exchanger and the water and coolent is its working fluid not enough water and two much latent heat is retained.

too much water and um im thinking of a bad point oh yeah it will overflow from the overflow bottle.

so fill it up to the full mark.

but go and get the radiator flushed first is my suggestion.
where do you live in perth?