[CompTruck]

hi guys. wondering how hot your sierra 1.3 gets up to on the temp guage. going along the highway mine creeps up to about 3 quartes on the guage. around the streets its around half. would have thought the highway would make it stay the same and not go up?

has a new thermostat in it. and has thermo fan on radiator

[worldo]

1.3l stock engine no thermo fan and never seen it over a quarter

[CompTruck]

ooh. might get my radiator flushed out at the shop.

and ive only got water in right now. only just got the car going and first drive again today. would that have anything to do with it? probably not hey

[nato78]

This hot

[hooki]

my 95' sierra on a mild day after a 15 min freeway run, it crept into the red after this photo.


My sierra only had 140,000 on it at the time but it had been sitting for a few years before i bought it so as soon as winter came around and i turned the heater on for the first time all the crap from in there went straight into the radiator and blocked it.

I took the rad out and dropped it off to a radiator shop, turns out it was 90% blocked, so they flushed it all out for me. After that it hardly ever went over a quarter on the gauge.

[steak_knife]

Should get to just under 1/2 & stay there, if it's going over you need to find the cause...

[royce]

piss the thermo off

[steak_knife]

royce wrote:

piss the thermo off

[christover1]

I doubt guage is accurate,
I have killed a few engines in my time,
from trusting temp guage

[Jackson]

If its going over once you get going its likely a blockage in the system, or possibly your water pump. Check the flow across the top of the radiator. Should be like a river. If your flow is good flush your radiator and block.

[stockman]

Apart from choker over heating I have never seen a Sierra go above 1/3

[whincup]

CompTruck wrote:

hi guys. wondering how hot your sierra 1.3 gets up to on the temp guage. going along the highway mine creeps up to about 3 quartes on the guage. around the streets its around half. would have thought the highway would make it stay the same and not go up?

has a new thermostat in it. and has thermo fan on radiator

mine used to do exactly the same thing but worse. about half through town, would creep up to almost the red on highways... turned to to be a tiny leak in one of the hoses. only found it when i let it get to full temp, then revved it hard while looking at the hoses

[lump_a_charcoal]

Shep's got hotter.

[ZookFan]

Touchy!

[nato78]

The top tank on my radiator let go in a big way on the freeway on my way to the wheeny creek trip. Split the tank about 3in across the front just under the filler.

[85Drover]

I work at a radiator shop mate, get someone to pul the top tank off and suss it out for ya. even ask to have a look at the flow yourself, or take a pic for ya. and ALWAYS run coolant in your car Q Guard if you can get it for copper/brass radiators. Water will eventually eat away your water galleries in your block.

[christover1]

nato78 wrote:

The top tank on my radiator let go in a big way on the freeway on my way to the wheeny creek trip. Split the tank about 3in across the front just under the filler.

That happened to a mate of mines brother car.
We were both looking at the running engine, to try to find a fault.
Both of us finished up in hospital.
Mate got serious leg burns,
and I copped it in the face.
Was in eye hospital for hours getting eyes flushed with salt water.
Treatment was as bad as the problem.

So a beware warning when dealing with cooling systems

[ajsr]

get rid of the thermo
put a standard or vit fan on and make sure the fan shoud is on.

[nato78]

85Drover wrote:

I work at a radiator shop mate, get someone to pul the top tank off and suss it out for ya. even ask to have a look at the flow yourself, or take a pic for ya. and ALWAYS run coolant in your car Q Guard if you can get it for copper/brass radiators. Water will eventually eat away your water galleries in your block.

All good, scored a new radiator off one of the guys on the wheeny trip, still in it's box, just need to put it in now

I was able to patch the split up on the side of the road using quick steel good enough to get me to wheeny. Once there I dropped the radiator out and patched it up heaps better. The repair job was good enough that I got in a whole day of wheeling, then drove home to newy, and have been driving it every day since, without having to top up once.

First thing I did once I got out of wheeny was stop at super cheap and dump the water out of the radiator and fill up with coolant.

[lump_a_charcoal]

hooki wrote:

my 95' sierra on a mild day after a 15 min freeway run, it crept into the red after this photo.

There is something wrong with your fuel gauge...

[hooki]

i had just filled the tank up to the fuel cap

[MrRocky]

all mine have never gotten over 1/4 and really they shouldnt if your system is 100%

[lump_a_charcoal]

It should read 1/3rd full, right until you are 3kms from being empty, then it should drop like a bride's nighty.

Better get it checked out!

[SierraDan]

My water temp never gets over 1/3

[abclarke]

Hey guys i thought it ask, even after driving my zook for 3 hours plus on the highway it never goes up over even 1/10th of the way. It moves SLIGHTY but nothing else ever.

Think thats a fucked thermostat or something?

[SierraDan]

I had an aftermarket temp sender that when warm was just under the lowest point.

Could be that?

[suzooky87]

IMO if it gets hot on the highway its a flow issue, test the thermostat and if its fine give the system a flush. its not very often that the waterpump will stop pumping water they just tend to leak. natrad is expensive but worth going to.

[jonno_racing]

sierra water temp gauges lie... just going to say that! they have cost me 2 gti motors.

get a aftermarket gauge