Strange Idle and engine temp

[pwilliam]

Hello,

I keep getting a bit of air in my cooling system, every time I run the car. I recently replaced the head, intake, exhaust, valve cover gaskets, all bolts properly torqued. The car was idling too high causing it too warm up too quickly I believe, so I adjusted the idle when the car was hot, down to 1000 rpms. I couldn't get it down to the recommended 800-900 even though I kept turning the idle jet. It just stayed at 1000. Today when starting the car (after topping of the coolant again)it was running around 2000 rpms, I went inside to let it warm up for a bit, when I came back out it was still at 2000 and was squirting coolant from the heater valve. The heat had been working fine on a 20 mile drive but began to do the same thing the previous week, so I closed the valve and it stopped spraying. Today with the valve closed it began the spraying again as I mentioned. I have a 15psi radiator cap on there now instead of the recommended 13, could this have put too much stress on the engine? I think the heater core is fine since the heat had been working well. Also, prior to the idle adjustment, engine temp had been around 205 driving around town. When I adjusted the idle it went down to 193 around town. Still seems too high, timing advance is a possibility? Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated!

[131]

The idle adjustment screw controls how far the throttle butterfly closes, winding it all the way out should close the butterfly stopping the engine. If it doesn't, the butterfly is not fully closing or you have an air leak. Check cables, linkages etc. to make sure the butterfly can close completely. The idle mixture screw controls the air available to mix with the metered fuel through the idle jet. If you're getting air in the cooling system it's probably being drawn in through your stuffed heater tap when it cools down, whether it's opened or closed, it still has system pressure in it. A 15psi cap is too high.

[pwilliam]

Thanks Mick, I'll give it a go. I am relatively new to all of this, just bought my car in January, what exactly do you mean by stiffed heater tap? Thanks!

p.

[pwilliam]

*stuffed

[vandor]

193F is fine for coolant temp.
Just because the heater core heats the car well does not mean it does not have a leak. I think Mick meant that your cooling system is sucking air in through the heater valve leak. So - fix the heater valve
bye,

[pwilliam]

Great, just waiting for the part! Thanks for your help!

[pwilliam]

I was thinking of flushing the heater core before putting the valve on, has anyone done this without removing the core? I read some people have put a pressure washer to it, blasting out any buildup that may have accumulated. Good idea or terrible idea?

[131]

I was thinking of flushing the heater core before putting the valve on, has anyone done this without removing the core? I read some people have put a pressure washer to it, blasting out any buildup that may have accumulated. Good idea or terrible idea?

Not sure how much pressure I'd want to put through it, but I've done it with a garden hose. Make sure you flush it from the downstream side, pushing any crud out the inlet hose, otherwise anything clogging up orifices will likely wedge in tighter.

[majicwrench]

If heater works well it does not need flushed. Don't create more work for yourself, fix leaky valve.
Keith

[pwilliam]

All fixed! Running great, thanks for the advice all!