[mattyh]

Hi All,
My Vitara has recently been overheating.

Symptoms:
1. Temperature gauge going higher than normal (ie up and over half way, not into the red. Normal is about 1/4)
(The temp sender is only a year old. Replaced it a year ago as the temp gauge was all over the place, but the engine was fine)
2. Radiator level dropping
(After stopping when hot radiator overflow bottle is full, after engine has cooled down bottle is empty. So am assuming that the radiator cap is working and the hot engine is pushing out the coolant through the overflow bottle and this is the cause of the fluid loss)
3. Top radiator hose hotter than normal.
4. Have noticed a little bit of coolant underneath the dash. So presume the heater loop is leaking a little.
5. No noticeable fluid in the water pump weep hole (although the engine bay is pretty oily and dirty so could be clogged)

Tests done so far:
1. Tested the thermostat in a pot of hot water and that opened at the right temp ~80-90C.
2. Recent oil change - no water contamination
3. Recent radiator flush - no debris/rust or oil in water
4. Water pump pulley has a little bit of play in it and the engine is squealing at higher revs (suspect water pump bearing?)

So my questions are:
1. If the water pump bearing is shot does this have any effect on the impeller performance?
2. Any ideas what could be the problem if not the water pump??

Thanks for your help!
-Matt

[MacDaddy]

mattyh wrote:

Hi All,
My Vitara has recently been overheating.

Symptoms:
1. Temperature gauge going higher than normal (ie up and over half way, not into the red. Normal is about 1/4)
(The temp sender is only a year old. Replaced it a year ago as the temp gauge was all over the place, but the engine was fine)
2. Radiator level dropping
(After stopping when hot radiator overflow bottle is full, after engine has cooled down bottle is empty. So am assuming that the radiator cap is working and the hot engine is pushing out the coolant through the overflow bottle and this is the cause of the fluid loss)
3. Top radiator hose hotter than normal.
4. Have noticed a little bit of coolant underneath the dash. So presume the heater loop is leaking a little.
5. No noticeable fluid in the water pump weep hole (although the engine bay is pretty oily and dirty so could be clogged)

Tests done so far:
1. Tested the thermostat in a pot of hot water and that opened at the right temp ~80-90C.
2. Recent oil change - no water contamination
3. Recent radiator flush - no debris/rust or oil in water
4. Water pump pulley has a little bit of play in it and the engine is squealing at higher revs (suspect water pump bearing?)

So my questions are:
1. If the water pump bearing is shot does this have any effect on the impeller performance?
2. Any ideas what could be the problem if not the water pump??

Thanks for your help!
-Matt

G'day Matty, and Welcome to Auszookers !
Always good to see another WA member here...
In answer to your last two questions...
If the water pump bearings are squealing, it needs to be replaced anyway... you may find the impellers on the pump are corroded or worn down...
If you have just flushed out the cooling system, then you may have an air pocket somewhere... leave the radiator cap off, and rev the engine a bit, look and see if any bubbles come out, if so, keep going till the bubbles stop...

Overflow bottle going up and down when hot and cold is fairly normal from my experience... top hose being hotter is normal... the leak will need to be fixed, as the cooling system does need to be under pressure to work well, if pressure is low, because of a leak, it can run hotter...
Being a G16A engine, the carby has coolant going thru it, just check the hoses at the back of the carby, they can also leak sometimes, mine did when i had my carby Vit... hope that helps you some...

[Jester]

another sneaky leak spot on the carby vits is the welch plugs on the underside of the intake manifold, that will drip all over the starter, i never had the drips make the ground so never saw it on the driveway.

[shakes]

mattyh wrote:

4. Have noticed a little bit of coolant underneath the dash. So presume the heater loop is leaking a little.

This.

The system is probably either sucking in air, or your heater core is clogged/damaged/dead. Did you have the heater tap open when you flushed the system?

As macbear said too. If the bearings are no good, then the pump wont spin evenly causing hot spots around the place. Or even cavitating and causing air pockets.

That would be the first two things I'd sort out anyway

[mattyh]

Thanks for the help guys.
No I didn't have the heater loop open when I flushed it (silly in retrospect!).

I'll check all the carby spots for any leakage. Either way it looks like I should bit the bullet and put in a new water pump. Any advice on brand or supplier? My internet research has returned an Ebay unknown make (presume Chinese) $39 upto $113 from Suzistore. With water pumps do you get what you pay for??

Cheers
-Matt

[MacDaddy]

mattyh wrote:

Thanks for the help guys.
No I didn't have the heater loop open when I flushed it (silly in retrospect!).

I'll check all the carby spots for any leakage. Either way it looks like I should bit the bullet and put in a new water pump. Any advice on brand or supplier? My internet research has returned an Ebay unknown make (presume Chinese) $39 upto $113 from Suzistore. With water pumps do you get what you pay for??

Cheers
-Matt

Your welcome...

I would definitely NOT put an unknown brand of water pump in mine... Suzistore only sell genuine Suzuki parts, and its a critical engine part, it may cost alot initially, but will last another 20+ years easily, its peace of mind... but yes, you do get what you pay for, especially with some ebay no-name brands...

[Ben_Sierra]

MacBear wrote:

mattyh wrote:

Thanks for the help guys.
No I didn't have the heater loop open when I flushed it (silly in retrospect!).

I'll check all the carby spots for any leakage. Either way it looks like I should bit the bullet and put in a new water pump. Any advice on brand or supplier? My internet research has returned an Ebay unknown make (presume Chinese) $39 upto $113 from Suzistore. With water pumps do you get what you pay for??

Cheers
-Matt

Your welcome...

I would definitely NOT put an unknown brand of water pump in mine... Suzistore only sell genuine Suzuki parts, and its a critical engine part, it may cost alot initially, but will last another 20+ years easily, its peace of mind... but yes, you do get what you pay for, especially with some ebay no-name brands...

I go to my local auto pro, they look after me, get parts in next day and I've never had an issue with quality there... Suzistore are overpriced for most parts IMO...

[mattyh]

Thanks again guys,
So here's an update:
I put in a new water pump, thermostat, rad cap and temp sender. Good news is I'm no longer loosing any coolant. Got a new problem now though. The car heats up to ~75% of the temp gauge (not into the red), usually takes about 5-10mins ~5ks. And then the gauge falls suddenly back to normal operating temp and stays there. So obviously something is opening up and allowing the system to circulate. As its a brand new thermostat I doubt it would be that. Is there any other heat activated/wax switch control valve in the G16A other than the thermostat?
If I park it up for a while (~30 mins) and re-start and drive around it heats up to the normal op temp and stays there. If left to fully cool, then it goes through the whole overheating cycle again.
Cheers
-Matt

[MacDaddy]

mattyh wrote:

Thanks again guys,
So here's an update:
I put in a new water pump, thermostat, rad cap and temp sender. Good news is I'm no longer loosing any coolant. Got a new problem now though. The car heats up to ~75% of the temp gauge (not into the red), usually takes about 5-10mins ~5ks. And then the gauge falls suddenly back to normal operating temp and stays there. So obviously something is opening up and allowing the system to circulate. As its a brand new thermostat I doubt it would be that. Is there any other heat activated/wax switch control valve in the G16A other than the thermostat?
If I park it up for a while (~30 mins) and re-start and drive around it heats up to the normal op temp and stays there. If left to fully cool, then it goes through the whole overheating cycle again.
Cheers
-Matt

Hmmm, it sounds like the thermostat operating normally, but it may be that you put the thermostat in upside down... i had to put a new seal on the thermostat housing when i had my old Vit, and discovered that the thermostat was put in upside down, which explains all the gasket goo i had to clean off, because if you put it in upside down, the thermostat housing doenst sit flat, and the thermostat doesnt operate well and can stick, which it sounds like its doing, until it gets really hot, then suddenly springs open.... did the new thermostat have the same operating temp stamped on it as the old one ?
Or it could just be you have a new thermostat, that is a bit sticky, you can throw it in a pot of boiling water to check it operates properly...

[mattyh]

Thanks for the tip. I've kept the old one so will try the boiling water trick. I was pretty cautious when installing it but I will double check it is the right way up. It is an 82C thermostat which I got from Suzistore, so I'd presume its the right one for the G16A. I also thought it could have been the temp sender so I put the old one back in, but had the same result....