HUGE PROBLEMS Please HELP

Marcone · 10-22-2007, 01:55 PM

Ok... my 87 16v S has problems...

This all started with a full tank....

I have always filled my tanks up to 3/4 full... NEVER full to the top.. because 3cars of mine once full to the top... have died during that tank... NOW... i get my car and decide.. its her time to get a full tank to see the mileage... because of that post a week ago or so...

This all started with a full tank...

Good news.. find out that the gas gague isnt accurate... so i now know to fix it...

bad news.... gas mileage isnt amazing... just lower than half tank and only at 320km.... From half tank i usually get 250km till the bar is near the empty... red light doesnt work to warn me.. so i dont know if its actually near empty...

More bad news.. She's dying... and needs TONS OF HELP...

1.Coolant is going missing..then she's over heating... Its not leaking so i dont know where its going...

2.I can hear a water gargling/boiling near the passengers feet area when idling at normal temperatures.

3.Oil pressure gague decides to point at somewhere near the 7 would be.. (if there were a 7 on it) never goes down and even when you turn the key to the battery, no engine on yet... its pointing waaaayyyy high...

4.I hear a hard metal on metal vibration on startup (sometimes) and when i am at very Low RPM turining left... assuming its the motor mounts that are gone...and the mount bracket is vibrating against the sub frame...

Some one please please help.. i dont want a major rebuild this winter.. i was hoping to get away with just head type rebuild this winter...

Any one experience this.. or have any idea why this is going on..??

blown 944 · 10-22-2007, 02:27 PM

it sounds like you have a couple maybe a few problems.

first you should figure out where the coolant is going.
I personally would try to rule out the easiest. if it is not leaking check the oil for mixing. If so the oil cooler is probably leaking.
Then I would do a compression check and maybe even put each cylinder at TDC and add about 100 psi of compressed air to it, then watch, if you see bubbles in the expansion tank, you found it. This is the easiest way I have found bad h-gaskets.

this is all considering that you have properly flilled your cooling system (no air)

Next the oil pressure guage is probably either a bad sender or the wire came off sender. It will go to the max if it is unhooked

the noise on startup is not clear but I'm sure you will find that

Marcone · 10-22-2007, 02:42 PM

thanks... i just hung out with the car for 15 min... (work is pretty slow) and... started it up .. I looked to see if the fans are going the right way.. they are pulling the air into the engine bay...

So thats not the prob...

As far as the oil thing.... where is the pressure wire in the engine?...

Noise on startup is hopefully the mounts.. cuz i know theyre done...

Cooling system.. if it goes dry-ish... and refill it , do i have to bleed the air out?
I did notice a little collection of liquid in the exhaust tip just a few minutes ago... could that mean that its going out the back ?

Techno Duck · Techno Duck's Garage

Oil pressure sender is located on the side of the oil filter housing. It has two leads that connect to it. Usually when the leads are reversed on the sender the gauge will peg like you mentioned. Its possible the sender went bad i guess.

Are you getting white smoke out of the exhaust? Check the dip stick and see if it looks like a milk shake. If so, your oil cooler seals are toast and you know where the coolant is going. If not, i would say more than likely you have a blown headgasket.

ae1969 · 10-22-2007, 03:11 PM

Check if the expansion tank is pressurizing. Anything coming out of the overflow? More than likely headgasket is failing and fast.

You checked no coolant in the oil??????

The wire to the sender is probably shorted....