rithsleeper

1989 water/water wetter - Was at Road Atl this weekend instructing and man was it hot. I usually run about 220 water temp and 270 (by end of run) oil temps. I didn't pay much attention to anything but the oil temps my last few runs and I would have noticed a number over 230 coolant but it might have happened briefly pulling out of the pits.

However, today I go to get my windshield replaced and put my street tires back on and about a mile down the road I notice something is different... My coolant temp is already up to 200. The place I was going wan't too far so I went for it. It got up to 240, then dropped back to 220 and then I arrived. Same thing on the ride home. Would hit 240, back to 220 and I manually turned my cooling fan on the whole way. It was a quick rise and fall also. prob 30 seconds to go from 220 to 240 and another 30 to go back to 220.

When I opened the radiator after it cooled down, the level inside the thing was about 3 inches below the fill cap. Reservoir is full.

I'm running straight water with water wetter trying to be responsible on the track but I'm thinking the system boiled and couldn't recover from the air gap.... anyone else have this problem? or should I be tracking something else? rad cap seems to be sealing alright, since I tried opening it before it cooled and started spraying... (which makes me think maybe its not filling the gap from the reservoir.)

......another idea I had was timing advance. I have the base set to 12 and runs really great on track but could lower rpm on street be causing detonation and super heating (but then it would never cool down like the thermostat is opening)....

rithsleeper

I think I might have blown a head gasket. The engine haulted when trying to turn it over and finally pushed past it and started and I'm seeing a lot of condensation on one side tail pipes. Its also making a heavier puff on that side too....

mgarfias

drain the oil and see if you ahve some water in it pan
also, look for oily crap in the coolant.

rfn026

Here's an article I wrote about a year ago for Vintage Motorsport magazine. It covers just about everything you might want to know about cooling systems.

Richard Newton
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ZedO6

Yeah, kinda sounds like you lost a head gasket when it got very hot on the track. 230 or hotter is not good, your coolant mixture at that temp is steam, which doesn't conduct heat well.

Pull the plugs and you'll see evidence of coolant (i.e. water and Water Wettor) on the affected spark plug. It will be clean and possibly still wet.

One other thing...run the car in your driveway cold and see how quickly the cooling system builds pressure. If it builds pressure almost immediately before the coolant is hot, you got a blown head gasket.

Excessive timing will absolutely make it run hot and could help burn through on the head gasket fire ring.

Keep us posted and good luck

froggy47

johninar

I had a similar problem couple of years ago. higher water temps. Actually blew the upper hose off at Hallett. Used a Lisle Combustion Leak Detector Kit ($28) and confirmed that combustion gasses were in the radiator. Might be worth the effort? Just my 2 cents.

good luck.

ps. I had studs put in with OEM style gaskets and never had a problem again.

spdislife

I don't think so. The coolant system is pressurized and that raises the boiling point. I usually run 230+ on hot track days with no ill effects.

froggy47

The pressure raises the BP.

Falcon

Here's a table showing that:

http://docs.engineeringtoolbox.com/d...emperature.pdf