Overheating problem...help would be greatly appreciated. (A little lengthy)

Hello. I'm new. My name is Lee. And, before the thought crosses your mind: no. I'm not Asian.

I own a '97 Passport. Before I get started with the problem, here's a small background:

A friend of mine got this car for me about 3 to 4 months ago through Carmax; he works for the company, and the car was a trade-in that was going to go to an auction. I just recently discovered that the car is a salvage. For what, I don't know yet. Anywho, here are the problems I've had, in chronological order:

1) Overheating issue. Car would get really hot while idling and coasting. While accelerating, though, the needle would jump back down to normal...but once I started coasting or idling again, it'd slowly go back up.

2) Head gasket blown. A friend of mine used the car one day, wasn't paying attention to the thermometer, and blew it. I don't hold a grudge anymore. Unfortunatly, I didn't have the time, money, or resources to fix the problem correctly, so I believe that my only choice at the time was to put in block seal. That helped.

-Also: to help the cooling issue, I replaced the water pump, thermostat, radiator (because it managed to break while it was out), radiator cap, and lower radiator hose. While I was at it, I replaced my drive belts. This helped as well, but only until a few weeks ago.

3) Loud clicking noises. I noticed that it sounds louder from under the car, which leads me to believe that the source is the connecting rods/bearings. Maybe it's the valves...I don't know. Clicking noises become increasingly louder through time. Upon initial start-up and driving, it's very silent.

4) Same overheating issue came back. See item 1 above. This time, though, accelerating doesn't always bring the car back to normal operating temperature. Sometimes it takes a little bit.

5) Loud, hollow knocks during start-up/ignition. I only hear it while the car's turning over to start. Pistons?

Anyhow, at this point, my main concern is the overheating issue. I'm wondering if I can fix this without taking care of the internal engine issue (yet). I can't think of what it could be. I tried searching around here a little bit, but to no avail.

Please help!

Have you checked the fan clutch?

Hello. I'm new. My name is Lee. And, before the thought crosses your mind: no. I'm not Asian.


Wow. Don't you think some people might take that the wrong way?

Have you checked the fan clutch?

Actually...I haven't yet. It seemed fine when I took it out to get to the water pump, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to check again.

Wow. Don't you think some people might take that the wrong way?

It depends on how sensitive said people are. I certainly don't discriminate against any races, for sure. My momma done razed me good.

Nevertheless...if you take it the wrong way, please don't. I guess it was just a (lame?) attempt to be funny.

this is quite a list. but i'd think a waste of time unless you're willing to tackle the underlying problem, i.e. the blown head gasket and/or a cracked head and/or a warped head.

all your short-terms can only make the inevitable perhaps more costly. if you're really just trying to patch it to sell it, i'd say sell it as is with all problems up front .

from what i remember from your first post, the #1 is the fan clutch as stated or, and i think more likely, a cooling system flow problem, which could be radiator, water pump, clogs within the engine caused by the stopleak, etc.

the sounds could be anything as you're describing, from the worst -- rods - to head problems. you are just going to have to do some basic diagnosing step by laborious step. there's no magic bullet. after you've done what testing you can -- basic compression, ignition, oil pressure for example -- take the heads off and take them to an experienced machine shop and get the diagnosis.

btw, you can try to isolate the noises, perhaps (i can't hear them from hear right now ) by disconnecting ignition sparkplug wires one at a time and see if that affects the sounds.

i suggest you do a search here and at other isuzu sites, like planetisuzu and 4x4wire for many many many posts on these noises and possible remedies. maybe reading them will help you narrow down your parameters.

good luck

//bc

Honestly...I think that loud tapping noise, i.e. metallic sound is of a bad waterpump.

Also, I totally agree with Trooperbc, you'll need to fix the underlying issue first; i..e head gasket, block, etc. These are all aluminum engines, overheating once is one thing, twice nearly 100% guarantees engine failure.

Well, it wasn't exactly my intention to simply patch it and sell it. My main concern really was if the overheating problem could have been isolated and taken care of without yet needing to take care of the ticking.

And before I go futher, I need to say that I fixed the overheating problem, and, well...I feel like a dumbsh!t.

I had virtually no coolant in the system. :banghead:

See, I didn't think to check that first, though...because I was very sure that I took care of all possible leaks (that I could find externally), and I've never before noticed wet spots on the ground or parts since I've taken care of them. Therefore, since I knew that I had refilled the cooling system, I still thought that it was full and that that wasn't the problem. That's why I didn't even bother to check there first.

Please, save the bashing. I feel stupid enough already. I just really hope I didn't worsen the damage that's already done.

I had figured that whatever the ticking problem was, it's going to be a PITA to take care of. I've accepted that, and that's something I'm going to take care of as soon as I can.

Honestly...I think that loud tapping noise, i.e. metallic sound is of a bad waterpump.

I would sure like to think so, but I did replace it very recently (~2 months ago). I'm certainly not trying to rule it out, but...I'd hate to think of it going out again already.

OH, I almost forgot: can oil pumps make those described noises? Because I've heard that they can (I've never heard a bad oil pump), and that would make sense considering that my oil pressure gauge always seems to have a low reading (?). Where should the needle normally rest at, for oil pressure?

Mine: [------|---------------] ; it's about a quarter of the way from the left.

Big thanks to those of you who replied.

P.S. Ramblin...I see in your sig that you've owned an '85 325e 5-spd. Funny, because I'm actually probably a few days away from buying...an '85 (I think...same chassis) 325e, 5-speed, red on black leather. How are those cars? I've never owned an older BMW (or any BMW, for that matter), but I've always loved that style. A friend of mine just bought-for-$500-and-fixed-up an '86 318, and it purrs like a kitten.

Actually, I was throwing the waterpump in as an *I hope it's only that* situation....honestly, if you know for a fact that you refilled your coolant system and then later found it empty, I'm almost positive your ticking/loss of coolant is because the engine's sucking it internally.

My late '85 Toyota 22re did this exact same thing... thought we had the heating issue resolved, then boom, complete engine failure.

No need to feel stupid for mistakes made...everyone's done something crazy at some point....i.e. our late Toyota was replaced by a newer '04 Tacoma that we opted to change the oil on one day at the last minute, it was overdo, Sunday afternoon, and definitely needed done.

Guess what....crazy us dumped the ATF pan, AFTER we'd already done 3 previous oil changes on this truck...we knew EXACTLY where that oil drain plug was.

Have you dumped/changed the oil in that Rodeo since this overheating condition started? Take a GOOD look to make sure there is no coolant in that oil...could definitely cause ticking issues.

Also, if your Rodeo is an automatic, that tranny is overheating every time your engine is...so you'll need to change the ATF fluid too.

The '85 BMW was bought from a long time *trusted* mechanic a year ago with 180k miles or so, in what appeared to be excellent condition.... in reality, it was, for it's age...but we found parts to be WAY expensive and very hard to find.

We sold it because things were starting to fail, no unusual issues for it's age, it's just after calling around to 5-6 stores for every little part that would go out, it just became ridiculous, honestly. That, and with where we live, the car had really low ground clearance and constantly got held up by something....everything else in the yard has at least 6-8" ground clearance.

Car had EXCELLENT power, but a bad miss in 2nd gear that we couldn't quite figure out.

Forgot to add: my oil pressure is literally ON 85psi cold; 55-65psi running normal at normal temp; and give or take about 40-45psi idling.

My gauge is set up with 0....85....then up, I've never seen it less then half way to 85.