[DML] Re: Overheating, idle speed and stalling issues

["Harold" <hmcelraft@xxxxxxx>]

It appears everyone has given you great advice so far about the cooling system - the last thing I would say is put some "Alumaseal" in the cooling system. It is in a tube that looks like a roll of quarters. It is great at stopping seeps in an aluminum engine and radiators, etc. It takes 2 or 3 engine cycles (cold to hot) to do a complete job. I have found it a my local NAPA store. I doubt you have a head gasket issue or your coolant level would drop and/or blow out the overflow. Also, does the engine miss after a hot shutdown and setting an hour or so? That is a usual symptom of a leaking head gasket - coolant leaking into a cylinder - the engine will miss until the coolant in the cylinder burns off..

There may be air trapped in the heads - This happend to me once when I drained the block. The guage didn't read right - it was all over the place and no air would bleed out of the thermostat housing bleeder. I had to put the car on an incline facing downward - engine high - about a 30 degree slope on a driveway - and I finally bled the air out.

That said - your message wasn't clear - did no self bleeders mean the OEM circulation bleeder was removed? That bleeder should do the job for most any air left in the system once the circulation has started and should NOT be removed. The advice as to the fan switch orientation is important too.

Harold McElraft - 3354

--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "jedimasterglenn" <jedimasterglenn@...> wrote:
>
> Need some advice (or a DeLorean mechanic to open shop in MA!!) on what to try next for what I think are 3 separate issues:
> 
> 1.  I recently replaced my entire cooling system:  radiator, fans & fan assembly, new water pump & thermostat, coolant bottle, and all the hoses except the ones to the heater core (all of them...even the small ones under the car).  I added a valve (petcock) near the radiator to make bleeding easier.  I have NOT put in any kind of self-bleeder system.  I've bled the system several times per the instructions here (http://delorean2109.blogspot.com/2008/08/burping-your-new-delorean-baby.html).  But every time I bleed it, I find air.  I bleed it until there is no air.  
> 
> After bleeding, if I start it cold and leave it running/idling, it stays around 150F.  When driving, temp stays consistent around 180F, but if I come to a stop for longer than a couple mins, the temp creeps up and will continue past 220.  For example, I drove for an hour on back roads and highway today and it ran around 180F the entire drive).  But when I got home and left it idling in the driveway, the temp started to rise as described.  The new fans do work.  I jumped them to test and also heard them come on at a bit less than 200F.  I noticed they shut off when the temp went above 220...which I suspect is air causing an issue.  And of course, I didn't let the temp go any higher and shut the car off.  There are no coolant leaks that I can see and the coolant level holds at where I fill it (about 1 inch over the main opening in one of the new stainless tanks).  
> 
> I have the fans wired to pull the air through the radiator from front of the car to back vs push...which I think is right...right?    
> 
> 2.  Prior to the cooling system replacement and since, my idle speed has been rough.  When I first start the car, the idle is good, hovering just below 1000rpms.  But as it warms up, it starts to seek up and down between 800-1100rpms.  I've checked the air flow meter inlet & intake manifold seals for leaks (I replaced all the manifold seals when I did the cooling system).  I think these are fine.  
> 
> 3.  And rounding out my collection of headaches is what I like to call the "downshift-stall mystery".  I have a manual transmission.  Again, this was happening prior to the cooling system overhaul.  It doesn't happen consistently, but when it does it's always when stepping on the clutch and always at low speed, when downshifting(usually from 3rd to 2nd).  I step on the clutch and the rpms abruptly drop to zero or close to it.  Before I have time to shift gears, the car has stalled.  Sometimes it shifts fine and other times it starts to stall but recovers.  It idles without stalling, but as noted in #2, the idle seeks.  Only thing I've tried is adjusting the idle speed microswitch, but to no avail.  I have the microswitch set so that the throttle striker just barely trips the switch when the striker is at rest position.     
> 
> Thanks,
> Glenn
> 5391
>




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