Overhearting Problem after S/C installation...

[Camdaddy]

I recently installed a Rippmods S/C on my Gen 3 camry, before when stock the car did not overheat, after the install the car is overheating now. I have replaced coolant temp sensor, coolant fan switch, lower temp thermo, I thought it could be a blown head gasket, compression checks out fine. Yesterday I removed the thermostat to see if the car would run normal. And it still overheated. The car is not burning any coolant. and everything checks out fine. The radiator does have some build up but could it cause a restriction in the flow. The water pump works and pressure it built up. The radiator cap checks fine. I am stomped about this, anyone ever had a wierd overheating issue before? Is there a aluminum radiator made for Gen 3 camries? I heard from someone before that a radiator made for a supra can fit in a camry. I was looking over the specs of the Supra radiator compared to the camry and its similiar. The stock radiator is a 1 row, and the supra radiator comes 2&3 row. I guess I would change out the radiator and hope for the best. The Rippmods sds is great, sounds increditable. Boosting at 5.5 lbs. stock internals with a rebuild stage 2 head.

[Luckynumber5]

Does the radiator get hot and do the fans kick on?

[Camdaddy]

yeah it gets hot and then the fan kicks on, but its way hot before the fan kicks on, the temp gauge in the car is 3/4 up to the red mark.

[Ken4]

Well you are boosted now. You have more air and less fuel, so you are probably running lean, hence overheating. You will need bigger injectors, high flow fuel pump, and a piggyback fuel computer to enrichen it just right. A 02 wideband meter would also be nice.

[2wickedtoyz]

solution: go to a junkyard and look for a supra 7mgte motor take the fpr out thread your fuel rail to fit it and don't forget to take the injectors buy the fuel pump for that supra and change yours ...problem solved

[Camdaddy]

i am running supra injectors off a 7mge, and a fpr that comes with the rippmods sds, and a 3sgte map sensor, the fpr is set at 40psi on idle, if anything its running rich already, the fuel pump has been upgraded with a walbro 255 pump, timing is set at 8 degrees. it overheats on idle, and when I hit the gas the temp goes downs, and when at boost the temp goes down. the radiator hose was off for a while during the installation for a few days, and empty with no coolant, is it possible that some of the build up in there dried up and is cause a insufficient flow. I am almost sure the car is running rich more than lean. I will double check again, just incase. the radiator was flushed before the complete install. and there didn't seem like any clogs within the radiator. Only running 5.5psi of boost.

[Eye8Pussies]

^ that is a noodle scratcher....you've basically done all the recommended upgrades short of your actual cooling system


does your coolant bubble in the overflow tank when your car overheats?
have you tried flushing your cooling system and then refilling it?

[Camdaddy]

There are bubbles when it overheats coming from the overflow, done a flush a few times. yup tell me about it, me and a few buddies from work been staring at it for days now, with a cigerette in one and hand and a corona in the other...errr...maybe if I have enough ppl to stare at it, it would get started and work hahaha...sad part is that I work at a mechanic and 4 other guys work has a mechanic at a toyota dealer. Brought the car to the dealer even, and they were all stomp, they said it looks amazing with the blower and all. but no idea why its overheating, tested everything that can be tested. compression is good, leak down test is good, even check the exhaust temp in all cylinders to see if theres ay variation between them. Nothing signs of abnormal things happening, the car is running rich not lean, had a 5 gas analyzer on it, and its definately rich. Been contacting the rippmods people and they are stomped also. I am borderline ready to put another radiator in for shits and giggles and see what happens but worried that would not solve the problem and then what? back to square one. one fact forgot to say we even tried deleting the s/c and just letting the car run stock as is, with no blower still overheating meaning that the blower has no factor in it overheating.

[Eye8Pussies]

quite possibly the radiator is gunked up then- usually when the coolant overflow tank starts bubbling it means that you're low on coolant/water

I'd say remove it and then take an estimate on the weight
if even after it's been drained it weighs more than a stock rad, then parts of it is gunked up and the coolant probably isn't going to all the fins, thus failing to utilize all it's cooling abilities

if you're thinking about swapping in a new rad anyway, I'd recommend that you may as well try a performance double thick rad and see if that will help solve your cooling problems

good luck

[Ken4]

Also change your water pump and new thermostat.

[Gary_602Z]

If your resorvoir is full and you start it up and are getting bubbles in it then more then likely it is one of two things Head gasket or cracked head! How good is the warranty one the rebuilt head? The only thing that puzzles me is you said it overheats at idle but if you rev it up it cools down? Does it stay cool then or start rising?

Oops I just re read your post and saw you said bubbles when hot which I presume is boiling from the heat.

Still thinking.

Gary

[Luckynumber5]

I think its a radiator problem, how old is that radiator?

[Camdaddy]

The radiator is 6 months old, OEM toyota one. The head is rebuilt ported and polished, its was done by a well known machine shop. The foreman at the toyota dealership that my buddies work at knows the owner and the owners mainly deals with mustangs, builds pro drag mustangs, with diesel turbos and stuff, crazy stuff. so I think the head is good. basically all new valvetrain. the whole upper head is new with at most 1000 miles or so. Before heading back home from the garage in defeat, tried one more thing, disconnected the upper hose, and drained all the coolant, ran hot water through the coolant inlet slowly and see if the water pump was pushing enough out the upper hose, the water pump is functioning, at idle it would medorately push water at higher rpms it would gush out. I don't think the water pump is shot, while replacing the head/ t-belt water pump was checked also, a month ago I didn't think I was going to keep the car. I was planning on selling it so I didn't change the pump, if it isn't broke don't fix it, heheh...I'm probably going to replace the radiator more than likely next week when I have time. I doubled checked today while I was at the toyota dealership messing around with the buddies that work there. and surprising the supra radiator would work. so I am going to order a 3 row aluminum radiator off a supra and toss it into the car. and if that don't work I guess have to tear the sucker all apart and see whats happening.

[Tony the Tiger]

I am sure you and your buddies have already done the basic checks... Just a few suggestions. When the car overheats, have you checked the actual temperature of the coolant when it is overheating? Or is the overheating caused by air in the system? If the coolant comes out really hot from the head/block, that could indicate a blockage in the cooling system.

Changing the radiator wouldn't do much if the problem is caused by air in the system. With air in the system, you would begin a series of checks for leaks in the system, from hoses to clamps to headgasket all the way to the cylinder head. Even sometimes when a head is freshly ported and polished by a very reputable shop, a head porter would not know if the head has a minor crack in it.

A compression test would not be able to 100% tell if there is a bad headgasket. If you are able to do a compression test when the engine is really hot, that would increase the chance in finding a bad headgasket which only leaks when the engine is hot.

Most inportantly, you must find out if the overheating is actually caused by hot coolant, or air in the system

[white90dx]

Did you mix Toyota Red Coolant and normal coolant? If so, you gummed up the system...

Something else to try/think about.

Good luck!

-Charlie