ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: firemothjoe on May 02, 2004, 08:13:13 PM
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So I noticed that my thermostat went bad the other day after my radiator boiled over half the fluid away when I shut off the engine. I took it to my mechanic and he replaced the thermostat.
Well, that fixed the boiling problem... But now, everytime I hit the freeway, the temp guage drops down to the bottom (C) and I get little or no heat from the heater. Idleing and city driving isn't really affected, but it takes forever to heat up after I start up my kick. And if I head straight for the highway, it never heats up!!
So I concluded that this replacement thermostat is stuck open. I took it back to my mechanic and he replaced it with another thermostat... BUT THIS ONE IS DOING THE EXACT SAME THING!! This newest one seems to be stuck open as well!
What the heck is going on??? Perhaps we're missing something?
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that is one strange problem? i drove my tracker with no thermostat and it would still get hot eventually even at highway speeds, and the heater would still work.
The only thing i can think of did you fill the radiator back up maybe it is so low the temp sensor isn't getting a good reading.
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The radiator is full and the temp guage is confirming what blasting the heater is already telling me... There just isn't enough heat! If I just sit and let it idle, the temp guage will go to halfway and the heat flows into the kick just fine. But once I go 65mph or faster- especially in cool weather, the temp guage dips all the way down to the (C) and the vent only cranks out lukewarm air! And like I said, I'm on my second brand new thermostat to no avail!
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Air in the system maybe?
A hose collapsing?
I'd start with everything cool, pull the radiator cap, start her up, and see what's happening inside the radiator. At startup, the fluid should just sit there. Once it reaches operating temp, the thermostat should open and the fluid should start flowing.
You may also want to take a good look at the hoses at different times (cold, hot) to make sure neither the upper or lower is collapsing.
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If you find out what is causing it let me know!!! My Kick has always been like that. I have damn near ran it out of coolant and it did not over heat. Worse case, the gague may hit 1/3 while sitting in traffic in the middle of the summer, and my heater barly warms things up.
Zig
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Awsome advice, Jerry, I'll give it a shot today if I get some time!
I'll keep posting my progress in this thread. I guess I got all summer to fix it.. But its 37f this morning and some heat would be really nice right about now!
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I would agree with Jerry, it sounds like air trapped in the system, or a colapsing hose.
Mac
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Awsome advice, Jerry, I'll give it a shot today if I get some time!
I'll keep posting my progress in this thread.  I guess I got all summer to fix it.. But its 37f this morning and some heat would be really nice right about now!
BTW, be careful with that cap. It's OK to run the system from cold to warm without the cap on, but once you put the cap on the system will pressurize and you need to let it cool before removing the cap.
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A long time ago I replaced the t-stat in my 86 w/ a suzuki OE unit. I seem to remember that there was a certain way (rotational position) that the thing had to be mounted. I recall an arrow on the thermostat had to point either forward or towards the firewall. There was no explanation in the FSM as to why. I'm at work and don't have my 91s FSM handy to look it up again. Maybe this helps you, I dunno :-/
Ron
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Check your fan clutch. At cold tempratures it shoud be free. It may be stuck in locked mode.
I just looked at my post and the one above it and laughed very hard! check out the avatar's! ;D Evil Twins
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Actually when I did the power steering the clutch was locked up and I dint know how long. I hope it helps out. I'll get the Kick back this week and will let you know,
Thanks,
Zig
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Thanx for all the info guys! I took a look at my hoses... The bottom one does appear to be a little flat... What does that mean? And how easy is it to fix? Sorry I'm so ignorant about working on cars... I'm more of a computer guy!
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If your hoses feel soft in spots or are flat its a good idea to replace them. Not much money for piece of mind. dont forget all the heater hoses.
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I seem to remember that there was a certain way (rotational position) that the thing had to be mounted.
The last time I replaced the thermostat, I noticed that the service manual and the thermostat instructions recommended a different orientation for the thermostat's air-hole. I think the thermostat's instructions said to face the hole toward the back of the engine, while the SM said toward the front. Can't remember for sure, but I followed the SM.
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If your hoses feel soft in spots or are flat its a good idea to replace them.
Ouch :o isn't that gonna hurt? I thought that's what Viagra was fot! ;D
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The rad fan just cools the radiator, has little
to do with the thermostat, I run a 160* T-stat
and find the cold weather heat is a bit on the
cool side for defrosting but here in Cal there is
not much of a problem with the cold weather.
I would look to see what the temp of the T-stat
is, should be 180* , at least it was in my 89' new
ones might be 190* or 195*
The symptoms you describe are consistent with
a stuck open or no T-stat installed, so you might
have got lucky, like me and got 2 bad T-stats in
a row, you can always boil water and watch the stat
open and close as you go from hot to warm water,
never heat a Stat with a torch, bad things can happen.
Wild
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I would look to see what the temp of the T-stat
is, should be 180* , at least it was in my 89'  new
ones might be 190* or 195*
The symptoms you describe are consistent with
a stuck open or no T-stat installed, so you might
have got lucky, like me and got 2 bad T-stats in
a row, you can always boil water and watch the stat
open and close as you go from hot to warm water,
never heat a Stat with a torch, bad things can happen.
Wild
I agree with Wild. Put the t-stat in water, put in a candy thermometor and see if it opens at the proper temp. Should be stamped somewhere on the t-stat.
Also a soft/flat hose will cause an overheating problem not a cooling problem (unless it's the heater hoses going to the heater core). And a stuck fan clutch will do nothing for cooling when your at highway speeds. You'll just lose gas milage.
My best guess would be air in the heater core or some junk went into the heater core when it "boild over". I'd pull off the upper heater core line and make sure that there is no air. Then I'd try flushing out you cooling system.
When your all done, let your truck run in the drive way untill it gets to temp. Then feel the hoses (upper, lower, heater). If your upper and lower are hot but your heater hoses are cool, you might have a pluged core.
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When you replaced the coolant if the mixture wasn't right, like putting to much anti-freeze, this would prevent the zuk from getting the temp. up. this happened to me and all I did was drain some out and just add more distilled water and up jumped the temp into the normal range.
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That's strange, pure water cools better than
Coolant/Water, it should of had the opposite affect
Wild
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You guys rock in all the advice you're giving me! I did notice one thing- as advised in one of the earlier responses.
I started the kick from a dead cold engine with the radiator cap off, the water in the radiator started circulating immediatly. I guess this is a bad thing that means the stat is stuck open, right? Could it be- two bad stats in a row? Would air in the system cause the stat to be stuck open?
I did notice that bottom hose was a little flat and squishy- related? Or a whole new problem?
I really haven't had much time to get on this, since I've been working out of my vehicle all day. Fortunatly, I got my smartphone, which allows me to post on zukiworld. U guys have been wayy more helpful than my mechanic.
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... I started the kick from a dead cold engine with the radiator cap off, the water in the radiator started circulating immediatly.  I guess this is a bad thing that means the stat is stuck open, right?  Could it be- two bad stats in a row?  Would air in the system cause the stat to be stuck open? ÂÂ
Let's boil this down (I know, bad pun ;) ) to a few simple statements:
If a hose collapses, it will decrease coolant flow and make the engine run hot, not cold.
Pure water transfers heat better than a mixture of water and ethylene glycol or methylene glycol antifreeze. Running coolant mix with more than about 70% antifreeze will increase the boiling point but will actually RAISE the freezing point, not to mention causing hot spots in the head because it won't pick up heat the way water does. Pure ethylene glycol boils at about 300 degrees F and freezes at about 10 degrees F.
These numbers are off a Prestone jug: A 50/50 mix will give the best protection compromize for most climates (-34 deg F freeze, 265 deg F boil at 15 PSI). A 70/30 mix will freeze at -84 deg F and boil at 276 deg F at 15 PSI, but will not cool the engine as well. Warmer climates can use a 40/60 mix, which will freeze at about -5 to -10 deg F and cool the engine better. You need some antifreeze to lubricate the water pump, guard against boiling, and counteract corrosion.
New thermostats can be bad. There could also be a piece of debris under the valve, keeping it from sealing. It needs to be only a tiny bit off its seat to mess things up.
Because the ECU expects the engine to run at a certain temperature, I would suggest never using a cooler-than-stock thermostat at any time.
My Chilton manual shows the air bleed facing forward (toward the radiator).
If the thermostat is installed upside down, coolant flow can force the valve off its seat so you will get flow through the radiator when you don't want it - more flow at greater differential pressure as the water pump spins faster.
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Also, a bad seal around the T-stat could
allow the coolant to flow around the T-stat,
and make you run cold
Wild