Water pump?

[johnownsall2]

Well I always thought i had a blown headgasket until tonight and i sat down and thought of some other problems that it can be and stared at the engine for a good 10 min thinking. Well i come to this, I dont really understand how the cooling system works and all that i read a couple articles trying to get some knowledge of the system well i figured if i fill the radiator with coolant it stays for a good week or two and dissapears dont know where but it does and im thinking its probly a cycle of somesort but i filled the resovvior tank a while ago and none came out of it until the radiator so i am thinking that could be the problem im guessing the water pump is what pumps the coolant in from the resovior tank into the radiator and its just a cycle and replenishes its self. Thats my guess. What is the correct way? is it a cycle? what are some things i can check to see if thats the problem what could be causing this? And to the milky substance on top of the oil cap i heard can be water codensation and sometimes shit comes out the exhaust only for a little bit which i heard can be condensation. So please get back to me thanks alot.

 

[patrick4588]

there is nothing connected to the reservoir. how in the world could the water pump; pump water from the reservoir into the radiator? your water pump is on the side of the block and is directly controlled by your timing belt. it pumps water out of the engine and back into the radiator to get cooled. if you are loosing coolant and you you have a milky oil; your headgasket is blown. stop trying to find cheaper other things it could be. thats what it is. you can change it yourself in about 3 hrs and a headgasket is only 100 dollars.

 

[johnownsall2]

first off you dont gotta be a jerk off about it I am trying to learn and everyone learns somewhere and i never said the fuckin oil was milky i said the oil cap had a milky substance which can be water condensation maybe you need to stop being a lil immature and act your age. And i can not do it my self considering i do not have the tools like a torque wrench and i dont no how to take everything off and i would also have to replace timing belt and water belt. And i am not capable of doing that im just learning to be a mechanic and im in class for it but im just learnin theory right now.

 

[Spody02]

why not take your car into your class, ask your teacher. anyways dont be an ass, your a noob, pats been here forever... anyways, you shouldnt be losing coolant, if your oil is milky its the head gasket, if its not that dosent mean its not the head gasket, have you checked all your hoses for a leak, have you checked your heater core, water pump? i would put a drip pan under my car, you can buy one for like 10 bucks its shinny and will show any fluid thats leaking, go check to see if your passager carpet is wet, if you cant find a leak, then do a leak down test this will tell you for sure if its the head gasket, if it is then take it to a pro, or talk to your teacher about maybe taking it into class and fixing... if there is water in your oil, then your going to have a really high chance of spinning a rod bearing with the water touching the bearings... so go check it, let us know what happens

 

[jdmjim]

yea do a pressure test on the system. the overflow works by vacume and pressure through the rad cap.

 

[patrick4588]

remember to change your water belt too noob. btw, there is no such thing. your water pump is driven by the timing belt. i wasnt trying to be an ass, but i can be if you want me to. like you said, you have to start somewhere. if you dont know how now, then take this opportunity to learn how. there are a million write ups on the internet on changing a headgasket. get out there and work on your car; no class can compare to first hand experience. just takin it somewhere to get the work done is bullshit, especially if you are going to school to be a mechanic.

 

[johnownsall2]

Yea well you came off to be an ass hole but what ever its cool. And yea thats why i dont want to bring it to a shop because one the parts do replace a head gasket only cost 200 the most and i had a quote for like 700. Yea i am going to do a leak down test. I am going to read up more and i will let you know how it works out probly not for the best but im learning so yea. Thanks alot.

 

[johnownsall2]

Alright well my plans for tommorow is to look farther into it since i have nothing better to do. When i take it off i just wanna see if the head gasket is messed up, Bring my head into class get it checked, and also see if there is coolant in the cylders. And im also gonna take the radiator out because i was looking at the bottom of it and i see a bunch of anti freeze just chillin so i think that might be leaking also. Well i looked around the head and i only saw two parts i would have to take off that were attatched to head and the block The distributor, The hose from the intake, And something i couldnt figure out what it was. If i take them both off take the bolts out the head should just come right off right? heres some pictures sorry for being a pain but my dad keeps saying hes gonna help and hes not so im doing it on my own now.
Heres 2 pictures of the two spots.

 

[jdmjim]

check your radiator first. theres alot more to a head gasket than that, youre taking half the motor apart along with the timing belt. not sayin not to do it but i would have someone with me thats done one before.I never could learn from a book i always had to do it hands on. Great career choice bty, people are always gonna need their cars fixed.

 

[BrokenTalon27]

Ok, first things first. You've been on CI for 6 months, you should realize a flame suit is standard issue here. So clean the sand out of your pussy, and listen to him. Patrick is very good with cars, especially if you're boosted. Id trust my hunk of Acura to him, no question.
Stop being so sensitive. Take it from me, I work in a mechanical shop, if you don't get thicker skin quick you're going to leave whatever shop you go to in a week crying, headed for mommy's house. Patrick is actually one of the nicer ones on the site, you're lucky Ricky didn't lay into you, you'd still be wiping tears off your keyboard.
On to the car...
Definitely sounds like a blown head gasket. It's not too hard to change, and you'll learn a lot by doing it yourself. Just borrow the proper tools from a friend and get to it. Having an experienced mechanic there with you overseeing isn't a bad idea. If you do, remember the thick skin I told you to have if he rips on you for doing something wrong. Good luck:thumbs up

 

[johnownsall2]

Lol i wasnt meaning to be an asshole or to him or anything but everyone starts somewhere and its alot diff from online and in your job in my job i let my boss tell me what to do and say what ever he wants and what not. Im not an idiot. But ok well yea theres not really much tools that i need except torque wrench when i put it back on but i dont know much about the belts and all that but right now i just want to get the thing apart. Is the dist. and the other thing all i have to take off to get it off and theres not much i can do to fuck it up unless i break something while taking it apart lol then yea but other then that it shouldnt be that bad and if i do fuck it up im just gonna learn off the car and part it out. But tommorows plan is just to get the head off and work from there.

 

[johnownsall2]

Alright well today i took off my head and checked the head gasket and nothing is cracked one thing i realized is the nuts were not torqued what so ever. Another thing is there was not one drip of coolant in the engine. Theres just oil. i took pictures. i think its the radiator. What other seals are there or gaskets?

 

[patrick4588]

looks like you took the valve cover off, not the head. you cant tell anything from those pictures. taking the head off involves removing your exhaust manifold, all coolant hoses, cams, intake, distributor, and some other stuff. good news is, you had to take the valve cover off to get to all those. you cant see into the cylinders from your pictures; the tubes where the spark plugs are lead to the cylinders. and your oil does look milky in the head from what i can see.

 

[johnownsall2]

Oh shit lol i didnt think of that your right . Now taking all that off is gonna be hella hard. Thats why i couldnt find the pistons and stuff lol. Well the dist. is off that was easy coolant hoses is easy to take off also. Cams intake and exhaust manifold how do i take that off? is it really hard?

 

[patrick4588]

no. you need to loosen the timing belt tensioner first. its above the crank pulley, 14mm. after that you can take the bolts out that hold the cams in. ive never taken the head off an ls, i know they dont have the cam caps and rails like gsr's. you need to unbolt your header from the exhaust so you can take it off. there are a lot of coolant hoses on the back of the motor you need to undo.