850 or aged white blocks cold weather.

Post by **Ben850** » 05 Nov 2014, 04:07

So at least a half dozen posts in the last day had indicated a cooling issue.
Replace ETC, Thermostat, and check all of the coolant hoses for weakness or anomalies as cracking or brittle bends.
The first and best interest would be to to replace the temperature sensor, and thermostat. Some leaks will be out of visual inspection, but take care of the obvious.

I was living on the edge last winter with my '93 N/A which had mostly original 20 year old parts.
Gladly, it worked well, but I did notice I had no ability to heat the cabin to a comfortable temperature.

Aside from the ECC unit failure, which I had already addressed, I had found the progressive, long term failure point of the temperature sensor at the thermostat.

These will also cause an engine overheat situation for the same reason. The coolant temperature will not be properly monitored, and/or adjusted to be kind to the system in actuation of the radiator fan relay by way of the main ECU.

I will not worry this winter for either of the daily drivers that I depend on. Time will tell with updates, but I can now tell by the reaction of my ECC settings things seem to be adjusting as designed as far as cabin temperatures. The engine temp is at 3 0'clock and does not falter.
Sigh of relief.
Happy winter.

Post by **erikv11** » 05 Nov 2014, 06:39

A bad ECT will not cause the engine to run cool like that, unless the fan is kicking in all the time and the gauge is pegged in the hot position. That car had a broken thermostat as I recall, didn't you show the pics?

Post by **Ben850** » 05 Nov 2014, 06:46

erikv11 wrote:A bad ECT will not cause the engine to run cool like that, unless the fan is kicking in all the time and the gauge is pegged in the hot position. That car had a broken thermostat as I recall, didn't you show the pics?

You are correct Eric.
The ECT was not the cause in the case of my N/A Sedan. It was a combination of a 20 year old thermostat, and an ECC that was confused. I did have to reset, and delete codes.
Simply, now things are functioning well.

Also, the engine temperature did not stray. The car with the broken thermostat was the Wagon. I only believe that had broken while parked in the sub zero winter last year. It was never driven with the failed thermostat.
That came out when it was still negative 17F in a heated garage while installing blue stuff.
You kind of asked for it, so.. You know I like to show it. Jovial, I had fun dealing with it.

: It all seems to have worked in the Wagon finally.

: I did replace almost everything plumbing related, except the heater core.

: Even things that were alright were done.

: It was warm in that garage, I really had to do what I could.

Post by **mecheng** » 05 Nov 2014, 07:03

I agree but I think when these cars pull the ECT code it is usally the thermostat, I replace the ECT anyways for good measure.

Has anyone had a burst heater line? My lines look okay, I'm dreading another hard access coolant line.

Also to add, make sure your CV boots are okay before winter.

Post by **Ben850** » 05 Nov 2014, 07:32

I do have a bad CV boot on the inner drivers side. I forgot about that. Thanks.
Also addressing the blown heater hose, Yes.
This is what mine looked like. This was to the block beneath the lower radiator hose.

: After 3,000 miles of hot summer, a half mile from home. Fortunate for sure.

Post by **erikv11** » 05 Nov 2014, 08:30

@Ben850: I covet the heated garage almost as much as all the blue!

@mecheng: That's interesting. I have been through three broken (open) thermostats now on these cars, but haven't seen an ECT (or any) code. They just made the car run cold. I will be on the lookout for codes associated with it.

Post by **mecheng** » 05 Nov 2014, 10:01

Erik: yes, my car ran cold as well. You can barely see the gap in the thermostat when closed. I kept the old ECT for the future.

BeN: I have the original heater core as well, with 225,000km. No fogging windows, no wet carpet, a very light coolant smell if I crank the heat but the coolant fluid level barely moves

Post by **E Showell** » 05 Nov 2014, 11:10

I haven't had a burst heater line, but I did have a lower radiator hose clamp split on me in subzero weather. I heard a faint pop, immediately saw steam from under the hood and shut the engine down within a few seconds of hearing the pop and seeing the steam. I was parked on a slight incline and when opening the driver's door to investigate, saw a river of coolant flowing past me on the ground. Car was towed and hoses refreshed, along with clamps.

Post by **jblackburn** » 05 Nov 2014, 11:57

The thermostat should fail in the open position - nothing should be overheated. The ECT usually throws a code when it notices that the engine is never warming up to temperature.

I've blown 2 heater hoses in cold weather. One at the crimp; the other the brittle plastic connector to the heater core junction box failed.

Don't forget about the little turbo coolant feeder hoses!

Post by **Ben850** » 05 Nov 2014, 17:16

jblackburn wrote:The thermostat should fail in the open position - nothing should be overheated. The ECT usually throws a code when it notices that the engine is never warming up to temperature.

I've blown 2 heater hoses in cold weather. One at the crimp; the other the brittle plastic connector to the heater core junction box failed.

Don't forget about the little turbo coolant feeder hoses!

Those have all been taken care of.

: They were all done while I was there.