BRZ overheating

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by justatroll

A pressure test is to help you find the leak without having to get it to temperature to pressurize the system.

You don't have to pressurize the system. You can just look for dried coolant, because it's not invisible.

Originally Posted by justatroll

It is harder to work on a hot engine and if you want to unhook a hose you will have to wait for it to cool all the way down.

You can always go play tea with your dollies while it's cooling off.

Originally Posted by justatroll

Are you going to stick your head down the front of a running FA20???

No, but maybe you should. I would just do what I've done for the past 30 years, which is look for traces of the leak with the motor off. Because it's not invisible. And this is not nearly as complicated as you're trying to make it.

Originally Posted by justatroll

The weep hole on a water pump will tell you when the shaft bearing/seal is failing. It will not tell you if it is pumping.

If there is coolant leaking from the weep hole, the water pump needs to be replaced. Period. Unless you're suggesting that he should ignore a leaking water pump, which would be unbelievably stupid. You're not suggesting something so unbelievably stupid are you?

Originally Posted by mav1178

Part of the problem is that OP isn't diagnosing it properly.

Well, he has diagnosed that he has a leak, unless the coolant just magically appeared from a land where unicorns piss coolant into our dimension.

Originally Posted by mav1178

It obviously leaks when it's hot, but when it's just normal idle it doesn't.

Is that obvious? How do you know? He doesn't know, because he hasn't looked.

Maybe I'm old school, but in 30 years I've never had to apply pressure to a cooling system to find a leak when I could see the coolant with my own eyes after just running the motor. Traces of the coolant are usually visible, and the expense and extra trouble of a pressure tester doesn't actually prevent you from having to poke your noggin in there and look for yourself. Diagnosing this is something he could go out and do right now if he wanted without having to do any extra research or buy any extra equipment.

It just really isn't that complicated.

[Speed2th]

you can add UV dye to your coolant might be easier to trace leak.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Interdynamics-375CS-Radiator-Coolant-Dye/dp/B002M4E0VC?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0"]Amazon.com: Interdynamics 375CS Radiator/Coolant Dye - 1 oz. Bottle: Automotive[/ame]

i agree with alex said, there is a chance there are air trapped in the system cause over heating and cause over flow of coolant. but i would think very likely mouse chew a hole on your hose. btw, did you ever check the coolant line goes to the throttle body ?

[justatroll]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

You don't have to pressurize the system. You can just look for dried coolant, because it's not invisible.
.

So you are saying that professional mechanics are all just stupid. Got it

Originally Posted by extrashaky

You can always go play tea with your dollies while it's cooling off.
.

I wont candy coat it - F*&* you.
Because waiting ~1 hour between troubleshooting steps (heat up engine to pressurize, look for leaks wait for engine to cool before unhooking something) is FAR more efficient than being able to repeat troubleshooting steps in 3 minutes by repressurizing the system.

Originally Posted by extrashaky

No, but maybe you should. I would just do what I've done for the past 30 years, which is look for traces of the leak with the motor off. Because it's not invisible. And this is not nearly as complicated as you're trying to make it..

My POINT IS that with an old 57 chevy, you can almost climb IN the engine bay while it is running, but with this engine you CANNOT put your head in front of the engine even when it is NOT running.

Originally Posted by extrashaky

If there is coolant leaking from the weep hole, the water pump needs to be replaced. Period. Unless you're suggesting that he should ignore a leaking water pump, which would be unbelievably stupid. You're not suggesting something so unbelievably stupid are you?..

My point was that the PUMP MIGHT STILL BE TOAST even IF the weep hole is dry.

Originally Posted by extrashaky

Well, he has diagnosed that he has a leak, unless the coolant just magically appeared from a land where unicorns piss coolant into our dimension.

Is that obvious? How do you know? He doesn't know, because he hasn't looked.

Maybe I'm old school, but in 30 years I've never had to apply pressure to a cooling system to find a leak when I could see the coolant with my own eyes after just running the motor. Traces of the coolant are usually visible, and the expense and extra trouble of a pressure tester doesn't actually prevent you from having to poke your noggin in there and look for yourself. Diagnosing this is something he could go out and do right now if he wanted without having to do any extra research or buy any extra equipment.

It just really isn't that complicated.

Again - there is this professional technique that MECHANICS use called pressurizing the cooling system.
It is pretty much #3 in the cooling system troubleshooting steps after #1 Check your coolant level and #2 Look for a BIG LEAK.


The OP has already stated that he has a SMALL leak and cannot pinpoint it.
It is apparently easy to get your panties in a wad.

[Summerwolf]

You can slam a car, but not diagnose an issue like this?


Also, if you seriously overheated the car a couple times I'd be looking in to more serious issues.

[extrashaky]

LOL. Let's start with this:

Originally Posted by justatroll

The OP has already stated that he has a SMALL leak and cannot pinpoint it.

No he didn't. He said he hasn't raised his ridiculously lowered car up to a reasonable height to look for it yet. He was fishing for someone to tell him where it was likely to leak before actually poking his noggin under there to figure it out.

If he had already done that and couldn't find the leak, then it might make sense to pressurize the system. But when you haven't even done the basic visual inspection, jumping right to a pressure test is silly. And he's still going to have to raise the car up and still going to have to put his head up under there, even with the system under pressure. So all this does is make the visual inspection more complicated than it needs to be.

Originally Posted by justatroll

My POINT IS that with an old 57 chevy, you can almost climb IN the engine bay while it is running, but with this engine you CANNOT put your head in front of the engine even when it is NOT running.

But you can raise the car up, remove the covers and look with your own eyes. You can also slip in a mirror or inspection camera, if you have one.

Originally Posted by justatroll

I wont candy coat it - F*&* you.
Because waiting ~1 hour between troubleshooting steps (heat up engine to pressurize, look for leaks wait for engine to cool before unhooking something) is FAR more efficient than being able to repeat troubleshooting steps in 3 minutes by repressurizing the system.

In your quest to make this easy diagnosis as complicated as possible, you're missing the simple fact that it isn't necessary to heat up and cool off the motor to poke your noggin under the car and visually inspect for leaks of not-invisible coolant.

Originally Posted by justatroll

Again - there is this professional technique that MECHANICS use called pressurizing the cooling system.

A professional mechanic is not going to go to the trouble of pressurizing the system if he can see the leak without it. He'll do that if he can't find the leak, after poking his noggin in there. Then he'll pressurize the system after fixing the leak to make sure that was the only one.

And he's also not going to be frightened by a little warm coolant and run from the garage screaming for his mommy.

By the way, come to think of it, the last time I diagnosed a coolant issue on my Jeep, I couldn't quite see where the leak was coming from. So I put on a pair of safety glasses, started the Jeep and slid up under it to watch. Oh noes! So scary!

[Poodles]

Originally Posted by Bowen

Man auto shops won't put your car on a lift cause it's lowered? That's obnoxious.

I would also guess the water pump is faulty. How many miles are on your BRZ? I feel like that could be a warranty issue.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

If he's too low to get it on the ramp style lift or to get the arms under it, it's his issue, not theirs.

Originally Posted by justatroll

Just having a slow leak (by itself) will not cause the car to overheat

BS. Cooling system works because it's pressurized. Lose the pressure and it causes localized boiling, massive over pressure, and very rapid overheating. Pinhole leak is all it takes to lose pressure.

[Notso]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

LOL. Let's start with this:



No he didn't. He said he hasn't raised his ridiculously lowered car up to a reasonable height to look for it yet. He was fishing for someone to tell him where it was likely to leak before actually poking his noggin under there to figure it out.

umm yes I have, how do you think i got the thermostat out? the only way to it is underneath the car... and you don't think i was looking around everywhere down there to find the leak i'm so worried about? really?

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by Notso

umm yes I have, how do you think i got the thermostat out? the only way to it is underneath the car... and you don't think i was looking around everywhere down there to find the leak i'm so worried about? really?

Sorry about that. I thought in one of your posts you said you didn't want to jack it up until you knew where to look. Must've misread that part.

[justatroll]

Originally Posted by Poodles

BS. Cooling system works because it's pressurized. Lose the pressure and it causes localized boiling, massive over pressure, and very rapid overheating. Pinhole leak is all it takes to lose pressure.

So a car's cooling system will not work when first started up because it is not under pressure.... got it.


He is overheating in just 10 miles. That is NOT due to ONLY a pinhole leak,
Like I said:

Originally Posted by justatroll

Just having a slow leak (by itself) will not cause the car to overheat

it could only be caused by a pinhole leak which caused another problem, like a bubble in the system.

[extrashaky]

Man, trollie is the gift that keeps on giving.

Originally Posted by justatroll

So a car's cooling system will not work when first started up because it is not under pressure.... got it.

A car's cooling system does nothing when you first start the car because the thermostat is closed and coolant isn't moving.

[justatroll]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

Man, trollie is the gift that keeps on giving.



A car's cooling system does nothing when you first start the car because the thermostat is closed and coolant isn't moving.

My Point was that the system does not need to be pressurized before water starts moving through it.
If his car is overheating in 10 miles it is NOT because of a pinhole leak UNLESS the pinhole leak CAUSED A BUBBLE.
Which was precisely what I meant in my first post:

Originally Posted by justatroll

Just having a slow leak (by itself) will not cause the car to overheat

I guess that English reading comprehension is not your strong suit.

[86kahl]

Did OP car ever get fixed?

[Notso]

update. On Monday I went to Autozone to rent a pressure tester, and the cap for the pressure tester didn't fit my radiator. I even asked him if there was additional caps, he said it would be fine.
Anyways I got fed up and just installed a new waterpump. The leak is now completely gone, thought it's still overheating. not to the extent it was, and I can drive longer distances, about 15 miles before it overheats (and people when I say overheat, I mean like 3/4 on the gauge, I'm obviously not driving it around redlined with the check engine light on)
So the past 3 nights i've been burping (bleeding) the cooling system, with minimal bubbles coming up, but some. I guess i'm going to keep bleeding it, and if that doesn't work i guess find a pressure tester that fits my cap... any other suggestions? Thank you

[Norville Rogers]

Trade it. And leave the new car alone.