car runs hot. what more can i check?

[anon]

temp guage in dash shows the running temp of my '88 to always be 3/4th's to the top, close to the H unless it's really cold out then it's halfway.

ive changed the coolant, put in a new thermostat, started using 20w50 with a high quality filter, and even did the timing. i know the rad fan works since it's almost always turning on and off in 45 second bursts or so.

now the car runs insanely better than it did before, that is for sure. but the running temp is still hot. and this is when the ambient temperature is only 20-25C. it's going to be 40C pretty quick and if its running this hot already i think i'm hooped.

cant think of anything else to check, possibly just a bad temp guage in the cluster? it is burning a little bit of oil, could that be contributing?

also could any of you k10 goons tell me if a shortened straight-pipe exhaust could be cause a really rough idle that is sometimes fine and sometimes not?

 

[Hyundai]

Your radiator may have a block, the water pump may be going funky or you could have air locks in the cooling system. Give them all a check.

 

[anon]

hmm alright thanks, im beginning to think its a blockage in the rad. i'll rip it out tomorrow and try and flush it out.

however i was just reading on the internet that the bottom hose should be cooler than the top and what i found is that my top hose is warm while the bottom is really very hot.

now do you think this is due to the bottom hose being so close to the exhaust manny in our cars or is it indicative of a more serious problem?

 

[Hyundai]

Well, I could only assume so? - The bottom pipe should definitely be less warm than the pipe above. Just give the radiator a nice flush. Also, does the fan come on when your car is slightly overheating?

 

[anon]

yes, the fan does come on. usually after about 5 minutes of idle it kicks in, stays on for about a minute then turns off for about a minute and so on and so forth.

i was just trying to think how it was possible that the bottom hose would be hot. my understanding is the flow is top to bottom, so under no circumstances should the bottom be hotter than the top?

especially so if there was a blockage.

 

[Hyundai]

Worst case scenario, you could have a broken head gasket?

 

[anon]

hmm interesting. well i'll flush the rad out for sure and see what happens.