93 camry 3vz-fe over heating

[bikeman]

93 camry 3.0 v6 3vz-fe japan built started w/ exhaust

bubbling up through my coolant...so i changed the

headgaskets...i know i have a code 55 knock sensor

problem as wel...but it runs hot....60 sec. from startup i

get heat, but the thermostat is def. not open...idle still

high....ok wait 15 minutes lower radiator hose just

starting to warm but quite cold...NEW WATER PUMP,

RADIATOR AND THERMOSTAT....no leaks,even flushed

the heater core w/ a garden hose...looks fine.

timing light checks out at 10 degrees BTDC ....a little

vibration but pretty smooth...could it be the cam

timing ? ...hydraulic fan filter temporarily bypassed with

hose in case of possible blockage...after engine warms

up enough to open the thermostat i took it around the

block....runs in the red zone HOT!!!!...never been this

hot before. even checked th eresistance on the back of

the temp. gauge..A-Ok ...so what have i missed? what

could cause this? . EGR? ...no water flow? mix-up

in head gaskets? i was quite carefull?? PLEASE HELP...A PROUD 322,000 BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MANY MORE

thermostat is 180...even if i drop it to 170 it should work with factory settings right?

air pocket? ...how do i get heat so fast? cracked head? if so i want to crack my head....no leaks visable...no more bubbling in the coolant ...no more searging...what is it?


ok...now running it without a thermostat....so far running hot unless on a flate stretch of highway or down hill...but is only half my motot really getting cooled? pump seemes to be flowing well...

[Knailgun]

any chance of a blockage in the radiator hose......shy of that I am at a loss, you covered everything possible

[hill8570]

Oof...awful lot of variables changed at once.

First, while it won't cause the overheat, the Knock Sensor code will cause your motor to go into failsafe mode, so your timing is going to be very retarded -- kiss any performance goodbye until you get that fixed.

OK, onto the real problem -- the overheating. Easy stuff first... Is the radiator filled to the top, and the overflow tank roughly 1/2 full? is this an OEM thermostat? If not, does it at least have a jiggle valve, and you aligned the jiggle valve at the proper angle? No jiggle valve / misaligned jiggle valve can make is real hard to properly bleed the air out of the system, and the water pump does a really sucky job of pumping air. When you bled the air out of your system, did you let it idle for 15 minutes or more with the radiator cap off and heater full on, occasionally running the throttle up to a couple of thousand rpm, and topping off the radiator as the level dropped?

[davemac2]

I think I would just remove the thermostat for now until you figure things out.

Tests:

1. Drain the coolant and remove the top rad hose. Then fill the rad and engine with fresh water using both coolant access ports. Now start the car and let it idle and observe the water that flows out the top rad hose. Keep a garden hose in the rad on low to keep it topped off. Try revving the engine and see if the flow increases from the open rad hose accordingly. When u rev the engine, you should get a fairly heavy flow.

2. If you are not sure about the health of your rad, fill it up, then pull the bottom hose off and see how fast it drains out. If it is slow, then your rad is likely blocked.

3. If you suspect the temp sensor is possibly bad, get a temp sensor with thermocouple and tape the thermocouple securely to the coolant neck where the temp sensor is near the distributor. You can maybe even tape a cheap mechanical thermometer to that area (you want something that can go to at least 200 degF). Take a few readings, first after starting the car, and then after letting it idle. Then go try your drive test again, and when it starts to indicate an overheat by the instrument panel gage, go read your gage under the hood to compare relative to normal op temps.

dave mc

[Luckynumber5]

All good suggestion, the 3vz is an iron block engine and rust deposits will kill even a newer radiator.