bertrenolds

So I have replaced a few parts and done a few tests for example I tried jumping the pins on the plug that goes to the sensor that turns the fans on and with the car off and ignition on I could not get the fans to turn nor could I get hi or low. Does jumping the pins work for the allroad? The strange thing is that my fans do run, I replaced the inside electric fan for not working. so when it gets hot or I turn the heat on both electric fans spin and it appears they spin pretty fast so I think it's on high. I flushed my coolant system several times and switched to green coolant as well. I do have vag and will check what the ecu sees for temp but I am guessing my sensors are all good because I replaced both CTS sensors not too long ago. Basically when I drive hard, I live in the mtns at high altitude so over a pass for instance, after driving for awhile I watch my oil temp guage slowly climb closer and closer to 250F. Once it gets closed to 250F my coolant temp guage goes from straight up and starts rising and eventually I get a coolant temp warning or my car literally just shuts off and wont start till it cools back down, is this normal? Once cool it starts and drives until it overheats again. I can do easy driving for awhile but once I start climbing or driving harder this starts. I got the car from my brother who had the TB replace by a drunken guy in ohio and I highly doubt the dude did the thermostat or the water pump so I am leaning towards that as well as replacing my radiator. I just don't want to do all this work and invest $350 and my time into something that will not solve the problem, especially if my head gasket is bad. I have no coolant in the oil and no oil in the coolant but a mechanic friend said that it might now show and still have a headgasket issue because it hits the cylinder and goes out the exhaust or exhaust pressure is hitting the coolant system. My coolant does boil, I can see it and my expansion tank seems to get bigger and it is a little cracked and old so I will replace that as well. How do I rule out the headgasket, pressure test the system? what should I be looking for? Car has 165,000 and I would be happy getting 200k so its worth it to me if HG is ok to fix it myself. Also my cam seals were not replaced leading me further to believe dude just threw on a tb and called it good which I think is messed up.

transman

Here is how i do head gasket checks at work..

I park the car in a bay and let it cool down as much as possible. I then put my pressure tester on it overnight. When I come in the next morning, I pull the plugs and look for liquid in the cylinders. If i do see a cylinder full of liquid i push the corner of a blue shop towel into the liquid to soak some up and confirm that is coolant. Some people have good luck with the block tester that "sniffs" combustion gases from the cooling system, but I have never had much luck with those on cars with expansion tanks.

I just did head gaskets on A subaru yesterday, and it held pressure with the pressure tester, but oddly enough when I had the car running it was blowing coolant out with the radiator cap, as if compression was being introduced into the cooling system.

Good luck with it. I would use an infared thermometer to check hose temps when the temp gauge says it about to overheat..hose temps should be like 175F max

bertrenolds

So I did a few tests with my co-worker who was a master mechanic and my fans act weird. My coolant temp gauge was straight up so it was at running temp, oil was still below or around 200f but my fans would not come on. He thought they should come on if I am idling and at temp. When my oil temps get near 225f and coolant is hot the fans do come one so I am not sure. I did the pin jump tests and could not get fans to come on hi or low so I am thinking the fan controller is bad maybe, that test works for these cars right? I did an infrared test and on the upper drivers side hose I had 175f and on the lower passenger hose I was only getting 145f and my co-worker thought they should be about the same so he thinks my radiator is plugged and I would not be surprised if it was. I am going to get a new radiator cap just incase mine is bad and causing air not to be released from the system, I did bleed the screw and the heater core but who knows caps cause weird problems. The plan is to replace the radiator, fan controller and sensor, water pump, thermostat, replace all cam seals, TB and hope for the best, gonna replace the expansion tank as well. I just don't want to do all of this and have a bad head gasket. I am purchasing a coolant pressure tester kit, I will pressurize and see if it holds. If anything if the HG is bad I think it is on a cylinder and its pressurizing my coolant system possibly but who knows. I am not loosing coolant anywhere though and I have been watching it. It's seriously one thing after another with these cars, unless you can work on cars I say avoid them since I got this one in ruff shape from my brother for 1k and it needs lots of love since he never fixed anything.

Jttoka13

Radiator is good.
Coolant from the engine going into the radiator should be hotter/ higher in temperature, than the one leaving the radiator into the engine.

Have you checked your Cats?
Do they whistle?
Another way to test them is with your infared temp. gun.
On the input side of the cat read the temp., the read the output side. If the temp is higher on the output side cat is good. If lower, not good.
You can also check your O2 sensors. Bank 1, Sensor 1 should be jumping around or switching alot. B1S2 should stay about the same, not as jumpy.

bertrenolds

I don't have cats anymore, I got ebay down pipes with no cats. I thought that might be causing it. I am thinking water pump and thermostat since I don't think they were replaced with the timing belt job. And these old radiators do get plugged up, who knows maybe someone in the past put green coolant in with the red. Sure there should be a difference but a 30degree difference is not right. I also think my fan controller is bad. I am just concerned the headgasket went and if that is ok then I am gonna replace everything else.

transman

Have you done a pressure test yet?

If you have electrolysis happening in your cooling system, it can cause the impeller to fall off the shaft of the water pump due to the little bubbles eating away at the shaft while the water pump turns. I saw this happen to a toyota corolla recently. The customer drove the car with the temp in the red because he thought his gauge was bad. Then one day it blew the head gasket and he had it towed in. I took the pump off and saw that the shaft on the water pump was worn down so far that the impeller fell off.

bertrenolds

So I did a pressure test and I have a ****ty tester and it would not seal up very well so I said *** it. If there is no oil in my coolant and no coolant in my oil and I cannot smell coolant in my exhaust I am probably ok hopefully. Plus this car shuts off when it get too hot automatically anyways. So I am replacing the radiator, thermostat, water pump, and doing cam seals and all timing while I am in there so hopefully this resolves my issue. a co worker just said turbos can cause oil to run hot and I am worried its my turbos because they are impossible to get to. There is a little smoke that comes up on both sides of the engine bay by the turbos/exhaust but I feel like its oil from leaky valve cover seals that is still burning on the turbos/exhaust plus I believe my cam seals are bad and the pucks in the rear leak a little too. It just doesn't quite smell like oil to me, more electrical or something. What are the chances both turbos are causing oil to run hot yet they do not blow black or white smoke? 165k miles on the engine. Can my colant running hot and boiling over cause my oil temps to rise? Master mechanic friend says yes it can. Just strange that the coolant temp needle stays straight up and down while oil temp keeps rising until oil temp hits 250 and then coolant temp starts to rise. Someone please make me feel better about throwing $500 in parts at my car to try to fix the overheating issue, I would be pissed if it still overheats after all this.

transman

On my car, the oil and coolant temps seem to work together in most situations, Like if I am cruising down a long steep curvy hill, and I drop the car in 3rd to engine brake, the oil and coolant temps drop way down together. Once I get back on the gar, they warm back up together.