argh... chronic overheating... help....

I hope I am wrong but that milky color may mean a busted head gasket. What does the inside of your oil cap look like?

 

That is a bad sign.......

 

+1

 

milky foamy

 

Yeah under the oil cap.

In severe cases I have seen you can also detect the smell of fuel and or combustion gases in your coolant header tank also but this is usally followed with the coolant bubbling from time to time

 

Pressure check the coolant system.

Requires a hand pump with a dial gage and an adapter to replace the cap on the expansion tank.

Pump up the system and see if it holds the pressure.

 

James you might not be in bad shape. You say your car hits 195 on the highway but if it doesn't go over the half way point in traffic then you shouldn't worry. My car hits 195 in traffic and goes down just a nudge when at highway speeds. Outside temp shouldn't really matter and factor the elevation in CO. and you might be at normal operating temps.

Does sound like you should get it looked into at this point though just for peace of mind.

 

195 is good on all mine, and the coolant does 'foam' as it comes out the bleeder..

As noted and bubles or milkyness in the oil would indeed be cause for worry...

As noted above also, the t-stat HAS to have the bleed hole and the proper sealing ring.....don;t cut corners at that point! Although there may be a 'value' part number out there for it......

 

James,
Drive it a while with the new cap. If your problems persist, get it to a mechanic. We can only offer suggestions on here, not diagnosis. BTW, I doubt you have any head gasket problems.

Dave

 

I agree with Dave ...actual head failures are pretty rare, statistically.....

 

Sorry to have started all the horror stories for you. If you dont have milky white on the dip stick or under the cap, then I think its safe to assume you are ok with out oil in the coolant.

I really do beleive you have a radiator issue, and considering your altitude you may have some other weak items - cap, and old thermostat... that have contributed to the funky temp swings.

When I had my 308, I used to avoid super hot day, and lots of traffic for the same reasons you are mentioning. So my advice is coming from someone who has been there done that... I was really supprised at how easy it was to remove the radiator... but I did take off my front spoiler too... if you keep it on it may be more difficult to get that bottom hose off..

The other thing to be aware of is if your engine is overheating...seriously overheating... then your oil temps will be really hi... as long as they are between 210 - 230 range I think you are ok... even higher when you are on track etc... ,but if the oil temp pegs... you have a real issue going on.... sounds like you may or may not be aware of the oil temp.... if your oil is clean and clear, not milky... most likely your engine is ok.

If you want to be really sure, the easy way is to do a compression test ... that will tell you if you have any leaks... all you need is the pressure tester gauge that goes into the sparkplug hole, make sure the cylinder is at power stroke - valves closed... and compressed air. you should get somewhere between 140 to 160 lbs... ( I think may be higher) the big thing is they should all be reading +/_ 10 - 15lbs of air pressure .... if you have a wide variance then that is the affected cylinder... and where you would have a gasket leak.

taking off your head and replacing the gasket is not exactly the most fun you can have, but it is possible DIY... l'm pretty sure you dont have to go there. The good news is that these cars are very durable... they will take a ton of punishment and keep on going.

In my case, I was at a track meet in Savannah and driving the car pretty mildly... with Wade from Ferrari of Atlanta and he said - your oil pressure gauge is not reading right... most likely its the sending unit... we'll pop one in when we get it back at the dealership ( I used to store my car there) ... two days later Ron Reineke calls me up and says "are you sitting down" "ha ha I said to Ron dont scare me like that" - then he says what I hope none of you ever have to hear.... " I'm not joking you have a major problem with your engine.... turns out that the #5 main bearing cap was sitting down on the windage tray... could have been there for years... when they bolted it back up ... the crank would not turn.... warped block!!!! - cause repeated overheating!!!!!

I have to say when the guy who sold me the car wrecked his 360 challenge two years ago... I was not sad! (He survived with no problems) but Karma got him good!

 

I would find out. The radiator had already been redone on my 87 328 when I bought it. It's just an 'old car thing', and given the reasonable cost probably a good thing to take care of pre-emptively.

 

James, I am sure I gave you all the service records on the car, My father remembers us doing the radiator, looking back, it was within a few years of purchasing the car, so that would mean somewhere in the early 90's. With that being remembered, I would say she probably needs it again.?????

 

Hi

I had the same problem with my Mondial t when the outside temperature climbed to 68 F. Tried various things, new rad cap, make sure the water pump was running OK, made sure the fans were coming on, bled the system goodness knows how many times. Finally checked the radiator. Only two pipes in the cores were letting water through. Had the radiator re-cored, now no problem. £450 for the renovated rad against £2,500 for a new one. Well worthwhile. It probably happened as the car has lived in a hard water area all its life.

 

+1 radiator (and lines) clogged. I fought this for a few years with my '83 QV.It would do okay in winter, get hot in summer, so I restricted my driving in summer. Went though all the rationalizations for everything else before pulling the rad last June. Took it to a cheezy shop in a crappy part of town and had them pull both tanks, clean inside, and rod every tube. Reassemble, and pressure test. Install a few new rubber lines(I shoulda done them all), and use water wetter. It's all good now, stays at 190-ish no matter what the outside temp is.

funny thing I notice, the temp gauge lines are routed near the headlight supply wires. When I drive with the lights on, the gauge reads +10deg hotter due to inductive current flow. hahahaha!

 

It wouldn't hurt to flush out your cooling system. Who knows what the coolant to water ratio is. The previous owner/shop could have filled it with straight coolant thinking it was pre-mix. The car will overheat with that mixture as well.

 

Is Nick's the ONLY source for a aluminum radiator that fits our cars easily? He seems really high.

 

James,
If you are going to do the radiator, just get the original recored. The weight savings from an aluminum one is not going to turn it into a pavement ripper. Having the original in there will be a plus when you resell (which, believe it or not, I'll bet you will). Sherpa23 just had his done very reasonably. Contact him for info.

Dave

 

This may sound silly, but are you sure your temp guage is correct? We all know how some of the older guages can be off and/or fluctuate. Sounds like your getting thru the problem. Best of luck.

 

If you want to test your radiator fan motor and alternator for proper output, let your car idle just outside your garage until hot, then use an extension cord turn on a large portable AC home fan to blow into your radiator.

If your engine stays cool while idling with the home fan on, then it is your radiator fan that isn't pulling enough air (either going out or not recieving sufficient current, etc.).