Ok i've got a problem that has only progressed in the past 4 days since i've installed the 1/2na-t into the 92 cressida. Heres what has happened over the past 4 days. I know its long but PLEASE take your time to read it. It would help me alot.
Day 1 - Finally got the cressida to run right w/ the 1/2na-t. All gaskets on the intake manifold were replaced. I notice a tiny oil leak from turbo oil feed (hardly affects oil level). Coolant levels never rose above halfway. 1 of the endtanks of the intercooler break during the install. I decide to temporarily run the car w/o an intercooler. So i make a straight pipe from the turbo (ct-26) to the bov then to the 3000 pipe. I drive it around and tune it. It runs pretty good. A/F at idle is between 13.5-14.5 and at WOT is 11.5-12. For future referance the car had a 6 month old radiator and was running 50/50 coolant/water mix from toyota.
Day 2 - Take the car out at night. Ambient air is around 75-80 degrees. I'm driving for quite a long distance testing out WOT boost on the freeway (nothing crazy lol) for 3rd gear, maybe once or twice only. I come to a stop at a stoplight after the offramp and suddenly the lower radiator pipe @ the radiator pops off. I figure the stock clamp couldn't hold the pressure. I replace the clamp with a hose clamp and tighten it really tight. I refill it with 50/50 coolant. I drive back towards home another 5-10ish miles, during which i hit full boost only once. after which the lower radiator pipe @ the block pops off too. THIS IS THE ONLY TIME IT OVERHEATS EVER. It only overheated for about a 30 secs to 1 min in total. I stop, take off the thermostat, gut it so its straight thru, and replace the lower clamp at the blcok w/ another hose clamp and tighten it. I refill w/ water b/c that is all i have at the time. Temps only go up alittle below halfway. If i coast the car, it begins to cool down to 1/4 of the temp gauge. i take it home and think it was the thermostat.
Day 3 - I drive the car at night again. After about a 1/2 hour drive (driving very conservatively), I smell coolant once again and pull over. Now a coolant line under the throttle body comes off. NOW I'M IRRITATED. I was by a walmart and bought a 8 pack of different sized hose clamps. I replace all the stock clamps on the intake manifold with hose clamps. I tighten all of them, refill with water I had, and ran it home. It never went above half way.
Day 4 - I take my car out after lunch. It's a 85-95 degree day. Its hot. I drive the car to town (note: all days the car was driven up an incline (mtn), thru a tunnel, and back down) and the temps stay at almost exactly halfway, if not a little below. I run some errands around town and constantly watch for overheating. I see none and run my last errand. The whole time i had the a/c on b/c my son and wife were with me. I park at the bank and run in, leaving the car idling in the parking structure w/ the a/c on. My wife constantly watches the temp. Never went b4 half way. I'm in the bank for about 5 mins when I see my wife walking in. She comes in and tells me that I popped another line. DAMN IT. So i finish my transaction and go downstairs. I pop the hood and look around for the leak. I look at the radiator and the top tank had exploded off the radiator. It had a 1/2 in gap in it. Then i look at the sides and they had bursted off the radiator and looked like bananas. I push the car to my old job down the street and begin ripping out the radiator. A friend lets me borrow his car and i go and purchase a new radiator and cap. I install the new radiator w/ cap and fill with 50/50 coolant. I tighten everything, drive to napa, and buy a new thermostat. I install the thermostat, check for leaks and drive around. Again, the temp levels never reach above halfway. Its night already and i pull up to starbucks. I park and begin unpacking my son from the car. About 1 min after stopping i hear a pop from under the hood and lookie!!!, its smoking! GREAT! so i let it cool down, drink my coffee and go to the car. I pop the hood and the top radiator hose came off. So i go to walmart and once again replace the clamps to the
top of the radiator and to the thermostat. I crank it down and end up filling about 1/2 a coolant bottle of water into the radiator. Didn't lose that much.
Drive it around a little longer, temp levels look fine, go to mcdonalds, then go home. Now i'm here, ranting lol.
OK SOO.... WHAT IS MY PROBLEM!!! IDK I'M STUMPED. Here are a few things to consider:
1. Fan clutch is still good IMO. It has no problem keeping up to speed with the motor
2. Its not the thermostat. I put a new one on, ran it straight thru, etc... Didn't change anything.
3. Water pump is still working. You can see the circulation while the car is running.
4. The timing was retarded 3-4 degrees on Day 1. After reading the TSRM, i found out that retarding the timing can be a cause of running hot. So i put the timing back to stock. The way the safc is tuned, timing is retarded during WOT anyway so i'm not too worried. I may adjust it back retarded after i figure out what is wrong.
5. The headgasket seems to be fine. The motor has 6k on it and was purchased brand new from toyota. Head was re-torqued. Oil was changed during the na-t and is still crystal clear till today, despite all this. In the radiator is still clean, and the overflow is still clean.
6. At NO POINT did the overflow tank overflow. Shit it didn't even change levels. I know this b/c the overflow is still filled with the toyota "red" coolant while the radiator has the green coolant. IDK why but yeah thats how it is.
7. I have 7mgte heat range spark plugs w/ the gap set at .030. They recommended .032 but i decided to go a tad smaller.
8. I don't have any heat shields, b/c i never got any. Also the turbo water lines aren't put on.
9. The intercooler will be installed tomorrow. I will see if that was the problem tomorrow. Also i will fix the small oil leak.
YOU HELP WILL BE MUCH APPRECIATED. THANKS IN ADVANCE.
Day 1 - Finally got the cressida to run right w/ the 1/2na-t. All gaskets on the intake manifold were replaced. I notice a tiny oil leak from turbo oil feed (hardly affects oil level). Coolant levels never rose above halfway. 1 of the endtanks of the intercooler break during the install. I decide to temporarily run the car w/o an intercooler. So i make a straight pipe from the turbo (ct-26) to the bov then to the 3000 pipe. I drive it around and tune it. It runs pretty good. A/F at idle is between 13.5-14.5 and at WOT is 11.5-12. For future referance the car had a 6 month old radiator and was running 50/50 coolant/water mix from toyota.
Day 2 - Take the car out at night. Ambient air is around 75-80 degrees. I'm driving for quite a long distance testing out WOT boost on the freeway (nothing crazy lol) for 3rd gear, maybe once or twice only. I come to a stop at a stoplight after the offramp and suddenly the lower radiator pipe @ the radiator pops off. I figure the stock clamp couldn't hold the pressure. I replace the clamp with a hose clamp and tighten it really tight. I refill it with 50/50 coolant. I drive back towards home another 5-10ish miles, during which i hit full boost only once. after which the lower radiator pipe @ the block pops off too. THIS IS THE ONLY TIME IT OVERHEATS EVER. It only overheated for about a 30 secs to 1 min in total. I stop, take off the thermostat, gut it so its straight thru, and replace the lower clamp at the blcok w/ another hose clamp and tighten it. I refill w/ water b/c that is all i have at the time. Temps only go up alittle below halfway. If i coast the car, it begins to cool down to 1/4 of the temp gauge. i take it home and think it was the thermostat.
Day 3 - I drive the car at night again. After about a 1/2 hour drive (driving very conservatively), I smell coolant once again and pull over. Now a coolant line under the throttle body comes off. NOW I'M IRRITATED. I was by a walmart and bought a 8 pack of different sized hose clamps. I replace all the stock clamps on the intake manifold with hose clamps. I tighten all of them, refill with water I had, and ran it home. It never went above half way.
Day 4 - I take my car out after lunch. It's a 85-95 degree day. Its hot. I drive the car to town (note: all days the car was driven up an incline (mtn), thru a tunnel, and back down) and the temps stay at almost exactly halfway, if not a little below. I run some errands around town and constantly watch for overheating. I see none and run my last errand. The whole time i had the a/c on b/c my son and wife were with me. I park at the bank and run in, leaving the car idling in the parking structure w/ the a/c on. My wife constantly watches the temp. Never went b4 half way. I'm in the bank for about 5 mins when I see my wife walking in. She comes in and tells me that I popped another line. DAMN IT. So i finish my transaction and go downstairs. I pop the hood and look around for the leak. I look at the radiator and the top tank had exploded off the radiator. It had a 1/2 in gap in it. Then i look at the sides and they had bursted off the radiator and looked like bananas. I push the car to my old job down the street and begin ripping out the radiator. A friend lets me borrow his car and i go and purchase a new radiator and cap. I install the new radiator w/ cap and fill with 50/50 coolant. I tighten everything, drive to napa, and buy a new thermostat. I install the thermostat, check for leaks and drive around. Again, the temp levels never reach above halfway. Its night already and i pull up to starbucks. I park and begin unpacking my son from the car. About 1 min after stopping i hear a pop from under the hood and lookie!!!, its smoking! GREAT! so i let it cool down, drink my coffee and go to the car. I pop the hood and the top radiator hose came off. So i go to walmart and once again replace the clamps to the
top of the radiator and to the thermostat. I crank it down and end up filling about 1/2 a coolant bottle of water into the radiator. Didn't lose that much.
Drive it around a little longer, temp levels look fine, go to mcdonalds, then go home. Now i'm here, ranting lol.
OK SOO.... WHAT IS MY PROBLEM!!! IDK I'M STUMPED. Here are a few things to consider:
1. Fan clutch is still good IMO. It has no problem keeping up to speed with the motor
2. Its not the thermostat. I put a new one on, ran it straight thru, etc... Didn't change anything.
3. Water pump is still working. You can see the circulation while the car is running.
4. The timing was retarded 3-4 degrees on Day 1. After reading the TSRM, i found out that retarding the timing can be a cause of running hot. So i put the timing back to stock. The way the safc is tuned, timing is retarded during WOT anyway so i'm not too worried. I may adjust it back retarded after i figure out what is wrong.
5. The headgasket seems to be fine. The motor has 6k on it and was purchased brand new from toyota. Head was re-torqued. Oil was changed during the na-t and is still crystal clear till today, despite all this. In the radiator is still clean, and the overflow is still clean.
6. At NO POINT did the overflow tank overflow. Shit it didn't even change levels. I know this b/c the overflow is still filled with the toyota "red" coolant while the radiator has the green coolant. IDK why but yeah thats how it is.
7. I have 7mgte heat range spark plugs w/ the gap set at .030. They recommended .032 but i decided to go a tad smaller.
8. I don't have any heat shields, b/c i never got any. Also the turbo water lines aren't put on.
9. The intercooler will be installed tomorrow. I will see if that was the problem tomorrow. Also i will fix the small oil leak.
YOU HELP WILL BE MUCH APPRECIATED. THANKS IN ADVANCE.
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