1995 Avalon over heating any ideas on what to fix?

[lucashugh82]

I have a 1995 Toyota Avalon. With 130,000 miles. I live in Houston Texas it is really hot and humid here.

Symptoms:

From cold start car will warm up to normal temp in about 3-5 mins. It will hold that temp steady for another 3-5 min then skyrocket way above the H with in 30 seconds. When it over heated a check engine light came one. Code p0115 engine coolant sensor. The heat caused a 1 inch crack in the radiator and a small hole in the coolant reservoir.

What we have replaced so far:

Engine coolant sensor
Radiator
Thermostat (old one seemed to open same time as new one in boil test but we replaced it anyways)

In the process of changing:

Water pump (Old one spun fine and looked ok but we replaced anyways since we had it all torn down)

Timing belt


Still have yet to see if that fixed it. However the water pump seemed fine....

Any Ideas would be greatly appreciated.


Questions:

Could the hole in the top corner of the radiator fluid reservoir cause it to over heat?


Thanks

Luke

[The Digital MagE]

Originally Posted by lucashugh82

I have a 1995 Toyota Avalon. With 130,000 miles. I live in Houston Texas it is really hot and humid here.

Symptoms:

From cold start car will warm up to normal temp in about 3-5 mins. It will hold that temp steady for another 3-5 min then skyrocket way above the H with in 30 seconds. When it over heated a check engine light came one. Code p0115 engine coolant sensor. The heat caused a 1 inch crack in the radiator and a small hole in the coolant reservoir.

this is the way an engine acts when it is very low on coolant... and possibly getting exhaust in the cooling system. i dunno how prone to blowing head gaskets the 3-0 is but i have lived in houston and i know lots of cars need that kind of repair, down there.

What we have replaced so far:

Engine coolant sensor
Radiator
Thermostat (old one seemed to open same time as new one in boil test but we replaced it anyways)

In the process of changing:

Water pump (Old one spun fine and looked ok but we replaced anyways since we had it all torn down)

Timing belt


Still have yet to see if that fixed it. However the water pump seemed fine....

Any Ideas would be greatly appreciated.


Questions:

Could the hole in the top corner of the radiator fluid reservoir cause it to over heat?

no. top corner will not hurt anything.

Thanks

Luke

[lucashugh82]

Thanks for the feed back The Digital Mag.

Update:

We got it put back together after about 8 hours... It is still heating up but not as quick.


Is this system pressurized?

Can a radiator cap cause it to heat up this quick (1min after maintain normal temp for 7-10min at idle)?

Is it possible that I have air in the system that is causing this if so what is the proper way to clear air?

Thx

[lucashugh82]

I just ordered a block tester ( BK 7001006 ), Cooling System Pressure Tester ( BK 7003025 ) from Napa.

I should be able to find out whats wrong with these I hope.

[The Digital MagE]

Originally Posted by lucashugh82

Thanks for the feed back The Digital Mag.

Update:

We got it put back together after about 8 hours... It is still heating up but not as quick.


Is this system pressurized?

yes. they all are.

Can a radiator cap cause it to heat up this quick (1min after maintain normal temp for 7-10min at idle)?

no. the cap is not the culprit. you might try starting and warming the engine without the cap. smell around the cap hole, for exhaust.

Is it possible that I have air in the system that is causing this if so what is the proper way to clear air?

no. the v-6 has no bleeder. if you have "air" in it it's probably exhaust.

Thx

[lucashugh82]

Well i finally got the block test to work (had to really lower fluid to keep it from overflowing) and it looks like it is a blown head gasket.... Anyone know how hard a job that is or what it costs?

Thanks

[tzagi]

Not to say that your diagnosis is wrong, but how exactly did you arrive to that conclusion?

[lucashugh82]

I wish I am wrong. I might take it to a shop just to have it confirmed, because as it sits if the head gasket is blown the most I have been able to get someone to offer for it is 300 bucks...

The block test is what confirmed it was a head gasket along with having replaced everything above.

I might try a reverse flush.... This sucks

[tzagi]

The best way of determining a blown head gasket is with a cooling system pressure gage/pump

it only takes a minute to find out,
I think you can borrow one from vato zone or orielys , you will need the small "jap car" adapter

Start with a cold engine and a FULL cooling system, install pump in place of the radiator cap,
start the engine, a car with a blown head gasket will build up pressure within seconds, you will see the gage shoot sky high, and I hope that is not your case,

if the pressure builds slowly and is steady (and it climbs high), chances are your radiator is fubar, that is what brought you to the existing condition.

Worth a try....

[The Digital MagE]

an engine with a blown head gasket MIGHT build pressure within seconds. it might need to get to temp before it begins to leak exhaust gas into the coolant. it might not build pressure at all, leaking oil into the water (or vice-versa) instead... or into a cylinder. it might leak compression between cylinders, or even to the outside air.

look - if your engine sprays coolant out of the radiator cap, odds are it has a blown head gasket. it has to get might hot before it will boil over and, with antifreeze in it, REALLY hot!! smell the cap. if it smells like exhaust, there you are. they even make a tester that looks for exhaust at the cap.

[lucashugh82]

Thanks guys for the input. The block Tester changed colors with just 2 pumps of air. That is almost as fast as putting it up to the exhaust pipe. The head gasket is blown.

The question is should I sell it for scraps a guy came and looked at it and said 200-300 bucks.

Should I spend a few weeks and change out the head gaskets and then sell it? (A head gasket kit is about 350)

I ended up buying a used Prius, so I don't need the car any more I am just trying to get the most money i can out of it.

Thanks

[SyStEmOfEvIl]

If I lived close to you, I would buy it from you

[tzagi]

If you are selling, I might be game, send me some pics at tzagi1@gmail.com

[The Digital MagE]

there's an outfit right there in dallas that sells jdm engines. i bought an enginge and trans for $1,250.00 the trans had a bad solenoid and the arab dirtbag that runs the place blew me off when i told him it was not good. i'm gonna do a chargeback on my visa card...

so it's a crapshoot. but odds are you'll win.

jdm engines come from cars that are junked in japan with 35-50,000 miles on them. well worth getting!