High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

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02 red hawk
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Re: High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

Post by 02 red hawk » Thu Sep 24, 2015 10:57 pm

Replaced t stat with a 186* unit. Car runs cool at 210 until I am stopped at a red light. I then watch the needle rise to near 260. Nervousness. As soon as I start moving, the temp drops rapidly back to 210. Car was tuned for fans to come on at 190 & 195. Any ideas?

02 red hawk
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Re: High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

Post by 02 red hawk » Fri Nov 20, 2015 3:47 pm

Had the new t-stat on for awhile now. Seems to have settled down & the car runs great again.

02 red hawk
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Re: High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

Post by 02 red hawk » Fri Dec 18, 2015 8:46 pm

Well, it overheated on me, again. Or tried to. Either I got a bad t-stat or a collapsed hose. I'm replacing the hoses Saturday & while the old ones are off, I will pull & test the t-stat. This is getting old.

02 red hawk
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Re: High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

Post by 02 red hawk » Mon Dec 28, 2015 10:04 pm

Or maybe, just maybe, there is a pocket of air still in the system. The LS1s not having a bleeder valve for the cooling system, it's difficult to tell if all the air is purged out. As stated before, this is getting old. Replaced all 3 hoses & another t-stat. Ran the water hose through the radiator to check flow. It's good. Tested new t-stat on stove to make sure it was good. It is. I'll take the car for a ride Saturday to see how it does. I am using a big yellow spill free funnel to fill radiator, turn heater to full hot, no fan & run the car for 10 mins burping the system. Is all the air out? Who the f**k knows.

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NBrehm
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Re: High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

Post by NBrehm » Tue Dec 29, 2015 7:38 am

That sounds like the fans are not coming on. Are they both running?
-Nick
2001 Formula Firehawk #293

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BLACK-HAWK
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Re: High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

Post by BLACK-HAWK » Tue Dec 29, 2015 10:25 am

02 red hawk wrote:Replaced t stat with a 186* unit. Car runs cool at 210 until I am stopped at a red light. I then watch the needle rise to near 260. Nervousness. As soon as I start moving, the temp drops rapidly back to 210. Car was tuned for fans to come on at 190 & 195. Any ideas?

That happened to me a few times in Vegas . mine had a 160. Not much you can do since these cars draw air in from underneath the bumper right off the hot ground. Only thing I did to lessen my stress of the needle rising was to shut off the car at stop lights. Did it work, well I never overheated . when was the last time the coolant was replaced and are you using the green stuff? If I recall correctly they response to the green better than the Orange
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02 red hawk
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Re: High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

Post by 02 red hawk » Tue Dec 29, 2015 9:28 pm

No on green, sticking with what the car was born with. New coolant is in it now. I top the rad & squeeze the lower hose. Coolant level drops. No air pockets come up. I have done this too many times to count. With no more air coming out, where is the coolant going?

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Re: High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

Post by 02 red hawk » Tue Dec 29, 2015 9:33 pm

BLACK-HAWK wrote:
02 red hawk wrote:Replaced t stat with a 186* unit. Car runs cool at 210 until I am stopped at a red light. I then watch the needle rise to near 260. Nervousness. As soon as I start moving, the temp drops rapidly back to 210. Car was tuned for fans to come on at 190 & 195. Any ideas?

That happened to me a few times in Vegas . mine had a 160. Not much you can do since these cars draw air in from underneath the bumper right off the hot ground. Only thing I did to lessen my stress of the needle rising was to shut off the car at stop lights. Did it work, well I never overheated . when was the last time the coolant was replaced and are you using the green stuff? If I recall correctly they response to the green better than the Orange
Were you able to loosen the plastic drain plug at the bottom of the radiator? Both my car's are like welded on. Being plastic, I don't want to torque on it.

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Re: High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

Post by BLACK-HAWK » Tue Dec 29, 2015 10:20 pm

I was able to turn the radiator drain plug to drain the coolant. Is it gunked up? Spray some brake cleaner on it maybe to help loosen it up(?). Maybe it's the pump going out? No coolant in the oil is there?
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02 red hawk
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Re: High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

Post by 02 red hawk » Tue Dec 29, 2015 11:21 pm

No oil, I only drained down to the lower hose. I made a make shift tool to scoop along the bottom & it came back clean, so no sludge sitting in the bottom. Thanks for the tip about brake clean, I'll try that. I wanted to put green in originally, but since I couldn't get all the orange out, I stuck with orange. With the brake clean, were you able to loosen by hand or did you still have to use a pair of pliers?

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Re: High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

Post by BLACK-HAWK » Wed Dec 30, 2015 12:01 am

My LS based engine friend said to use Orange. I used pliers the 1st time because it was stuck. After that, the 2nd time i turned it it was smooth.. You can use almost anything to squirt on it, brake fluid, wd40, some sort of penetrating lubricant. If you don't feel comfortable using pliers because it might crack/break you can do what the guy did who did my coolant flush.. He used a special vacuum that ran off an air compressor.. You could used a shop vac, make a straw to fit down to the bottom and suck it all out. When the car is running and you crack open the bleed valves does any coolant come out?
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NBrehm
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Re: High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

Post by NBrehm » Wed Dec 30, 2015 7:55 am

For the coolant you have to stick with Dex-cool (red) or chameleon (yellow). DO NOT put green anti-freeze in it unless you drain it and seriously flush the whole thing out. When red and green mix they turn into a nasty gunk and clog the cooling channels. If you are losing coolant, and the fans are working and the car is still overheating bt not leaking coolant externally, it is probably a head gasket, or if you are really unlucky an internally cracked block or head. Have you done a pressure check on the cooling system and a compression/leakdown check on the cylinders?
-Nick
2001 Formula Firehawk #293

02 red hawk
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Re: High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

Post by 02 red hawk » Wed Dec 30, 2015 5:58 pm

BLACK-HAWK wrote:My LS based engine friend said to use Orange. I used pliers the 1st time because it was stuck. After that, the 2nd time i turned it it was smooth.. You can use almost anything to squirt on it, brake fluid, wd40, some sort of penetrating lubricant. If you don't feel comfortable using pliers because it might crack/break you can do what the guy did who did my coolant flush.. He used a special vacuum that ran off an air compressor.. You could used a shop vac, make a straw to fit down to the bottom and suck it all out. When the car is running and you crack open the bleed valves does any coolant come out?
I know of no bleeder valves for the LS based cooling system.

02 red hawk
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Re: High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

Post by 02 red hawk » Wed Dec 30, 2015 6:11 pm

NBrehm wrote:For the coolant you have to stick with Dex-cool (red) or chameleon (yellow). DO NOT put green anti-freeze in it unless you drain it and seriously flush the whole thing out. When red and green mix they turn into a nasty gunk and clog the cooling channels. If you are losing coolant, and the fans are working and the car is still overheating bt not leaking coolant externally, it is probably a head gasket, or if you are really unlucky an internally cracked block or head. Have you done a pressure check on the cooling system and a compression/leakdown check on the cylinders?
I'm not leaking coolant. The 1st time was a failed t-stat. Replaced it with a faulty one, didn't check it before I mounted it. The 2nd time was in the driveway. I caught it quick. Funny thing about that episode was it was back to normal operating temperature (195) in 10 minutes. No steam coming out the tail pipes. No, I haven't pressure or compression checked anything yet. The t-stat on there now was tested before mounting, so I know it is good. I 've got a 4 day weekend, so I am going to take it for a drive tomorrow (Thursday). I'll post the results.

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Re: High flow cats for an '02 TA Hawk

Post by NBrehm » Fri Jan 01, 2016 6:53 am

02 red hawk wrote:
BLACK-HAWK wrote:My LS based engine friend said to use Orange. I used pliers the 1st time because it was stuck. After that, the 2nd time i turned it it was smooth.. You can use almost anything to squirt on it, brake fluid, wd40, some sort of penetrating lubricant. If you don't feel comfortable using pliers because it might crack/break you can do what the guy did who did my coolant flush.. He used a special vacuum that ran off an air compressor.. You could used a shop vac, make a straw to fit down to the bottom and suck it all out. When the car is running and you crack open the bleed valves does any coolant come out?
I know of no bleeder valves for the LS based cooling system.
The LS will eventually bleed itself through the steam tubes. An air pocket doesn't normally last all that long. It's possible, but not highly likely if you have been driving it.
-Nick
2001 Formula Firehawk #293

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