cooling problems....

[proud_924s_owner]

alright, after i found that the lower radiator hose was cold, and i got the chance to work on my car, i replaced the thermostat, which appeared to have been in there quite a while. so after i replaced it with a new piece, i buttoned it up and refilled the fluids. and a fter a few minutes of running, the fans came on, on their own, however, they did not cool the car off intime and i had to shut it off. after a cool down i started the car and the pump began to make a bit of a grinding noise. well, just a little while ago i started the car agian and the noise is gone, but the car still overheats, and it was very thirsty for coolant, i put over a gallon of water in the thing before it seemed happy, and the when i open the air bleeder i just keep getting air, before i get all the air out ive got to turn off the car because its getting too hot (into the red portion of the tep. guage) is it possible that ive got an air pocket somewhere in the engine thats preventing the pump from doing its job and making it overheat? or am i going ot have to bit the bullet, take it to a mechanic and have it inspected?? this is extremely frustrating because ive got to get this car running in the next couple of months so i can begin racing this year. thanks for any help.
mike

[Audi1984]

I dont know if this is the problem, but one of my friends installed his thermostat backwards or upside down or somthing dumb, and it caused his car to overheat..i dont know if that is even a possibility..or he just somehow wedge his in the wrong way..but that'd be my only guess cause his car did the same thing untill he fliped it.

[proud_924s_owner]

to the best of my knowledge i installed it correctly, the way it told me to in the haynes manual i reently purchased. im wondering if there might be a big air pocket around the pump.

[89B2200]

Your cooling system has air. You need to vent it properly.
If there is air, you can hear the heater coil gurgle from inside the car.
Your temp gauge will be all over the place too.
Get a spare expansion tank pressure cap from Advance, drill a 1/8 hole,
then put about 5-10 psi compressed air while opening the vent in front of the intake manifold.

[carsonmx114]

also remember to turn your temp. control knob to full heat in case there is air trapped in the heater core. and keep a close check on the oil, if your having to add more water than your system is designed to hold it's going somewhere. you may have a head gasket failure or oil cooler o-ring problems. if the fans are coming on then that tells you that the therostat is working, if it was in backwards the water in the radiator would be cold and the fans would not come on.

[proud_924s_owner]

Originally Posted by carsonmx114

also remember to turn your temp. control knob to full heat in case there is air trapped in the heater core. and keep a close check on the oil, if your having to add more water than your system is designed to hold it's going somewhere. you may have a head gasket failure or oil cooler o-ring problems. if the fans are coming on then that tells you that the therostat is working, if it was in backwards the water in the radiator would be cold and the fans would not come on.

well, i installed it the exact way it told me to in the service manual. and the lower radiator hose is still cold even after the temp. goes up past the third marker and the head temp reads over 150 on the surface.

[carsonmx114]

it's possible that you have waterpump trouble, but if your gauge is past the high normal line i would have thought that the head would be hoter than 150. the thermostat is probably a 160. you may also have gauge trouble or a bad ground on the rear of the engine. i've had temp gauge trouble twice, the first time i found a bad connection on the back of the gauge, if that's the problem you will be able to hit the dash and the gauge will jump around the second time i found a bad ground on the engine if that's your problem when you hit the flash to pass or turn your blower motor to high the gauge will jump around.

[proud_924s_owner]

well, the thermostat is one of the 80 c. ones and after a brief, very breif, test drive, i have discovers a much bigger problem... th rubber centered clutch is dead... the only thing thats allowing it to move are the built in stops... and i cant afford to get it fixed at the moment so yea, but thanks for all the help guys.