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Discussion starter · #21 ·
I don't think so.

In a closed water system (assume you did not have any antifreeze in it), if your cylinder walls got so hot as to boil water at the contact surface between the water and the outside cylinder walls, that steam would condense back to a liquid as soon as it got to an area in the closed water (coolant) system below the boiling point temperature. Water will boil at 212 deg F at sea level. In your car, you likely have a 0.9 bar radiator cap (or about 13 psig), and the boiling point of water increases about 3 deg F for every 1 psig it is above atmospheric pressure. So at 13 psig, add another 40 deg to the boiling point, or about 252 deg F. Certainly somewhere in your cooling system, even assuming you have no coolant flow, the coolant will be less that 252 deg F in a 13 psig pressurized system, and that steam will condense back into liquid water (i.e.; it is unlikely for the coolant to boil away).

But, the original owner said there likely is a block problem. The bubbles you saw likely were was not boiling hot water steaming away, but rather combustion gases getting into the cooling system. Your coolant could very well be going the opposite direction (into your combusion chambers) and leaving via the exhaust.

If you cooling system is still all together, before I would change your water pump, I would do a pressure hold check on your cooling system. Do it cold and again after the engine has reached normal operating temperature. If the cooling system does not maintain a set pressure, there is a leak in the cooling system, and it could very well be coming from a cracked block or a cracked head.

You should also check your coolant that still remains for exhaust gas. There are test strips available for making this test. If this test comes up positive, you know you have an exhaust leak into the cooling system, which is sufficient evidence of a major problem.

I would do at least the exhaust gas test of the coolant (of course, you need enough coolant to do the test, and you need to have run the engine long enough to create the potential for the exhaust gas to appear in the coolant), likely the coolant pressure check, all before messing with putting a new water pump on the engine. Best to know this first.

Good luck with your analysis & repairs.
The steam was coming out of the overflow tank. When I was driving home, I am reasonably certain that radiator cap was completely shot. It has a new one now, and I have yet to see any actual steam coming out with it. And its a 0.9bar cap. So when I get it to the shop Monday I'll pressure test, then if it passes, I'll put in the new water pump. If it fails, I'll talk to the guy with the Camry.

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The steam was coming out of the overflow tank. When I was driving home, I am reasonably certain that radiator cap was completely shot. It has a new one now, and I have yet to see any actual steam coming out with it. And its a 0.9bar cap. So when I get it to the shop Monday I'll pressure test, then if it passes, I'll put in the new water pump. If it fails, I'll talk to the guy with the Camry.

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I would also suggest you use something like this to test for combusion gas getting into your cooling system - if you can.
The pressure test needs to be done with a warm up system (because cracks can close up pretty well when cold, then open up when hot.

Let this forum know the results of your testing. It will be educational for all of us here.
 
Discussion starter · #23 ·
We have yet to find a pressure tester that works on my radiator. going to try one of the other classes' tester today, and will be putting in the new water pump.
 
Discussion starter · #24 ·
the other class' Pressure tester worked, and it held pressure perfect, cold and at temp. then we tested the coolant for exhaust gas and it came back negative. so in other words, when I put the water pump in (should be tomorrow) then the cooling system should be good to go.
 
Discussion starter · #25 ·
Does anyone have any tricks for pulling the #2 timing cover without pulling the crank pulley? I just don't wanna break the cover and have to pay for a new $90 piece of plastic.

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Discussion starter · #26 ·
Ok. it's been a while. I apologize for not updating sooner. we just got everything back together today, and turned it over, only to find that there are 2 notches in the cam pulley alignment system, and we did the wrong one, apparently. thank god it's a free rolling engine! we now just need to line everything up right. oh, and the suspected issue at this point is in fact the water pump. we (obviously) have not been able to test with the new pump, but we'll see. why is the water pump suspected to be the issue? well...



Tomorrow I will try to get her running, so I can tell you she's fixed. :)
 
Ok. it's been a while. I apologize for not updating sooner. we just got everything back together today, and turned it over, only to find that there are 2 notches in the cam pulley alignment system, and we did the wrong one, apparently. thank god it's a free rolling engine! we now just need to line everything up right. oh, and the suspected issue at this point is in fact the water pump. we (obviously) have not been able to test with the new pump, but we'll see. why is the water pump suspected to be the issue? well...

Tomorrow I will try to get her running, so I can tell you she's fixed. :)
I'm glad you found a reason for no coolant flow. But, your very first post said the car had a new water pump. Your picture is not that of a new water pump. So what's up with the new water pump from the 1st post?
 
Ok, it was a craigslist car. They said it was new.

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You might want to take your removed water pump back to the prior owner and ask him if he still has the receipt for that new water pump so you can exchange it for a warranty replacement. I have a distaste for sellers that falsely advertise what they sell and they never receive any feedback, so they keep doing it. But that is the type of society we are, I guess.
 
Discussion starter · #31 ·
3rd time's the charm in the case of putting on a timing belt... lets just say I'm glad for non-interference motors...

Anywho, she started today. only for a moment, as the serpentine belt hadn't been put on yet. so tomorrow I'm going full day to get this stupid thing done! Timing covers, motor mount, power steering, Fill 'er up with coolant, and if I have time, bleed the brakes and clutch. I plan to drive her back home from the shop tomorrow! no trailers. :) We shall see. once I have it back together, I'll test to see if she won't overheat. she only has one radiator fan though at the moment... :/ I'll set out a shop fan in front of it. the fan will be a home fix, along with the dash, which needs some hardware to be remounted, and then it gets it's new head unit and alarm (with remote start) once it passes inspection.
 
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