engine and drivetrain Cross country road trip help.

[BrianBlack]

Hello all,

I have been reading the site for a few months now in preparation of purchasing an 02, and finally did yesterday. A Polaris/Blue 1975 2002.

I flew out to Ohio to purchase the car and drive it back down to Houston. The car is great, but as I am new to the car, am nervous about various things.

The main one being the engine temp. It will sit at the 2 o'clock position while cruising at 60-65 but will start to creep if I go much faster than that (or into 4000rpm+). No problems when I slow down or while I pull in and out of gas stations. Any ideas of the culprit?

The oil light has also flickered once or twice while pulling into gas stations. Checked the oil, was full.

The former owner also pointed out that it has a engine compression gauge. It sits right under 30 lbs/sq inch which he says was normal. I am assuming this is measuring from some other area of the motor than the cylinder as 30 lbs seems really low.

I am sure I could diagnose most of these issues via search, but am currently driving(at a gas station as I type this) so was hoping to get some help via the community.

Thanks,

Brian

[TobyB]

Engine temp- I'm sure you checked to be sure it's full of water?

If the gauge is accurate, that's usually a sign of an inefficient radiator.

2:00 is on the high side of normal, so don't let it get much higher.

The 'on- the road' way to check would be to get an infrared thermometer,

then shoot the top of the radiator and upper hose. If they're in the 190ish

range or lower, you're OK. Much over, not so good.

It could also be a sticky thermostat.

As to the gauge, you can't measure engine comression dynamically. (easily)

What are the markings on the gauge face? Sure it's not oil pressure?

A flickering light when the oil's really hot isn't a death sign, especially if the

idle's really low. If you're idling at 1k, though, you might try an oil change

to 20-50. You'll get home, but you might have a tired engine...

hth

t

[Rocan]

Hello all,

I have been reading the site for a few months now in preparation of purchasing an 02, and finally did yesterday. A Polaris/Blue 1975 2002.

I flew out to Ohio to purchase the car and drive it back down to Houston. The car is great, but as I am new to the car, am nervous about various things.

The main one being the engine temp. It will sit at the 2 o'clock position while cruising at 60-65 but will start to creep if I go much faster than that (or into 4000rpm+). No problems when I slow down or while I pull in and out of gas stations. Any ideas of the culprit?

The oil light has also flickered once or twice while pulling into gas stations. Checked the oil, was full.

The former owner also pointed out that it has a engine compression gauge. It sits right under 30 lbs/sq inch which he says was normal. I am assuming this is measuring from some other area of the motor than the cylinder as 30 lbs seems really low.

I am sure I could diagnose most of these issues via search, but am currently driving(at a gas station as I type this) so was hoping to get some help via the community.

Thanks,

Brian

temperature creeping at +4000rpm in top gear is normal... Mine used to get into the red (granted, thats wide open at 90+ for around a minute), before I had the opportunity to properly tune the car. Since I went to megajolt ignition my car runs far far cooler since combustion is better and timing is more accurate.

My oil light flickers at idle even when full. It's possible the low oil pressure switch is worn out and just the littlest bit of low pressure (idle) will cause it to flicker. if it is staying on then something more serious is going on.

The gauge you mentioned isn't cylinder pressure; cylinder pressure exceeds 125psi on an engine in good condition. what you are seeing is likely intake vacuum, though "psi" is not the right measurement. Does the gauge change with RPM? If it is vacuum it should go to zero when you get on the throttle and be at max vacuum when the throttle is shut. Aside from that I would think oil pressure which is often in PSI, but 30psi is a bit low at idle which may be related to your low oil pressure light if this is the case. you should have about 60psi when driving around (someone correct me if I'm wrong, i don't know exact values off the top of my head).

I say take it easy for the rest of the drive, keep it at 65 in the right lane and don't push her until you are familiar with the car and have had a chance to tune it all up.

[BrianBlack]

The previous owner says it has electronic ignition.

The water level is topped off.

Just went into red after starting again. Pulled over, cooled down quick while idling.

[Rocan]

The previous owner says it has electronic ignition.

The water level is topped off.

Just went into red after starting again. Pulled over, cooled down quick while idling.

Stuck thermostat possibly?

Put your heater on as hot as it goes... bottom left switch to "heat", top right switch to the right for maximum blow, bottom right switch set to "warm"

That will at least allow you to have some more cooling thanks to the heater core acting as a second radiator (it is, actually, just a ducted radiator). Check that your fan is working, and try to tap on the thermostat to possibly loosen it up; it is on the passenger side of the radiator, and is the metal thing with 3 radiator hoses hooked up to it.

[Napes]

One other thing that is normal is for the temp to go up when you pull over after driving (rest area or gas station). The engine acts as a heat sink and without coolent flowing thru it it will heat up. It will normally drop back down after a mile, or less, of driving.

The only time you have to actually shut things down and let it cool off is if the temp guage goes up into the red and stays there. The Owner's Manual says going briefly into the read when climbing hills, etc. is not going to hurt the engine.

But, if it goes into the red and stays there, or worse, climbs higher into the red, you do need to pull over and let it cool down some.

You can also keep a couple of gal. jugs of water with you and it it starts to overheat pull over, and, with the engine still running, slowly pour some water over the radiator letting it primarily run down the front of the raditor.

Good luck. I'm sure you'll make it home fine it you "cool-it" with your driving. If problems arise you know where we are.

Bob Napier

[Guest Anonymous]

The symptoms on your heating up when rpm is into the 4000 range may be due to a sheet metal impeller in your water pump. The sheet metal impeller was an after market cheep way of putting together a pump. What happens is that the impeller because it is not formed properly will cavitates when the pump rpm goes up into the 4000+ range (coolant separates from the impeller blades and pump efficiency plummets). Just reduce rpm and you will be fine. But when you get a chance get new pump with the properly formed cast iron impeller.

Have fun with your new car

[OriginalOwner]

the flickering oil light ..... I have had that problem in both car and motorcycle. Fortunately for me, always the sender unit going bad, never the oil pump.

Cheers,

Carl

[Beck180]

Do you have receipts for the car? Do you know if the thermostat was ever replaced? If you don't know when it was replaced, better off replacing it no matter what. Not hard to do and it is a good safety precaution. Good time to flush the coolant and replace as many hoses as you want.

[BrianBlack]

Update.

After pulling over and letting it cool down I started again and it ran great. Strange. The temp has been sitting between 2:30 and 3 o'clock, even while driving at 75+(4500rpm).

This car does have a/c and I read a post about an electronic being used in cars with a/c. I do have a black fan directly behind the kidneys that seems to not be spinning even when a/c is turned on(car is running). Maybe this fan is blocking airflow?

[BrianBlack]

Update.

After pulling over and letting it cool down I started again and it ran great. Strange. The temp has been sitting between 2:30 and 3 o'clock, even while driving at 75+(4500rpm).

This car does have a/c and I read a post about an electronic being used in cars with a/c. I do have a black fan directly behind the kidneys that seems to not be spinning even when a/c is turned on(car is running). Maybe this fan is blocking airflow?

[dbmw2002]

Overheating in an o2? Unheard of.....................really now these are sensitive little German machines and a loose hose clamp can cause high temps at RPM, also even if it has electronic ignition back off a bit as too much advance will cause a hot taco, bolt under distributor, turn dizzy clockwise a click, no mention of any coolant loss, even a half inch down says its pissin somewhere, thus it will overheat. When flushing and refilling go very slow with pouring coolant in, dumpin in like a chug contest will create air pockets in head, hard to diagnose and not easy to fix, ask me how I know......................

[c.d.iesel]

Brian - if it has anaux cooling (black) fan for the air cond,

your driving from Ohio!?? it should be too cool outside

for that fan to come on if it's been installed properly,

and or maybe the seller didn;t show you where

he installed a manual on/off switch for it (lousy idea

by the way) does your motor have a RED PLASTIC fan

on the front of the motor ?

that " compression " gauge???

please take a nice close up photo of it with yer iPhone

so we can see it - please

[BrianBlack]

Yes, the belt driven fan is red plastic.

Here is a picture of the gauge.

The coolant has not moved a millimeter. Sitting right at the top. Went through some oil though. Just added 3/4 quart of 20w50.

[Rocan]

That looks like an oil pressure gauge to me....

pressure looks a little low; is that at idle?