1991 Mazda Truck Over Heating

GCEJADSL2

MEMBER
1991 MAZDA TRUCK
4 CYL
2WD
MANUAL
130,000 MILES

I have spent money and time trying to get a good answer to my question. I dont mind payinfg for someone to realy help.

I have a truck that is overheating. The thing is that it will take about 45 to 60 minutes to reach red line. It does not matter if i'm in town or on the highway. I bought the truck used and have changed the thermostat and was in the process of changing the water pump. The problem is that I get mixed possible remedies.

Dose the heater core have anything to do with this I don’t see any water in the oil. One guy told me to start up the truck cold and if the top radiator hose had any pressure in it within 30 seconds that it meant I had a cracked head or blown gasket.

I would like to know what steps I should take first. Before replacing a bunch of stuff that did not need replacing.

Can anyone help?

3 Replies

MASTERTECHTIM

MECHANIC
4,749 POSTS

Well its either going to be a clogged radiator or a bad head gasket. If you can get access to a infrared thermometer you can go across the radiator and see if any of the cooling rows are not flowing. Also there is a kit you can buy that tests the coolant to tell if the head gasket is blown but its a little expensive.

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Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 AT 8:08 PM

GCEJADSL2

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Thank you for your reply mastertechtim.

I kept working on the problem and another weird thing happened I by passed the heater core and ran the truck. The truck started to overheat like normal in about 45 minutes however this time it did not go up all the way rather it came back down to medium. However it started to go up and down. I ran it for about 1.5 hours this time, so I turned it off. An hour later I took the truck out and it overheated and this time it did not com back down. When I got home and turned the truck off I could hear the coolant boiling in the radiator.

Another question is people say that smoke and drops of water out the tail pipe is a sign of the gasket gone. Is there supposed to be none what so ever even if the truck was cold?

Also do you get paid for this? Should I make a donation?

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Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 AT 7:16 PM

MASTERTECHTIM

MECHANIC
4,749 POSTS

Yes we get paid for this. This sight works off of donations. The moderators get a very small amount of money for answering the questions because very few people donate, I get paid whether you donate or not, it just helps us out. On the smoke thing. If you start your truck up cold and it runs a little shakey and blows a little smoke. That is a tell tale the head gasket is blown. Bottom line is I think your going to find that the problem is the head gasket.

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Friday, April 18th, 2008 AT 4:06 PM