The OFFICIAL let's make Erick's M30 stop overheating thread

[Erick]

Ok I give. After re routing the lines like Otis suggested and trying out a quick fan shroud, it was clear to me that this was quickly going nowhere.

I spoke to John over the phone and we both agree that it's hard to blame the fan as the radiator is often really cool according to the laser thermometer, and even the return hose is chillin at around ~170deg while the thermostat housing is already at 195+.

I also spoke to two other M30 gurus and by just describing the issues/symptoms they almost instantly pointed to a bad cylinder head or maybe even a cracked block.

I'm raising the white flag on this cylinder head and blaming it on a hairline crack somewhere. Does anyone have a good M30 head (b34/b35)?

[Jean]

Sucks :( I have a b35 head that has been tanked but it needs to be surfaced and it's been surfaced once before, so it's no good to you.

Try Mye28.com dude!

[bataangpinoy]

ebay had them for chips when i looked yesterday.

[worangejuice]

re check all your hoses at their securing points. Mine kept overheating cause of a hose in front of the block was not completely secure. fixed, then bled properly. done. But bleeding can be a hassle on these cars :(

[Erick]

Yeah, I know how tough it can be to bleed these motors. But they are not impossible to bleed, and do it enough times and you get the feel for it.

I'm going to start putting some stuff I have chillin here for sale and try to generate some $$ . I just picked up my CNC exhaust manifold flange so I can get to work on a turbo setup as well, so that goes to show that I'm not giving up on this engine yet.

- E

[chadthestampede]

Fwiw

if you decide to swap it for a b35 stay away from casting dates newer(later) than 1 of 88 . These blocks are a lightweight version of the b35 and not a good turbo platform (decks crack)

[Jean]

They do have tools to pull vacuum and then "suck" coolant in instead of bleeding air out ...try that maybe a shop has one of these on hand?

[Erick]

^ Much appreciated. This purchase probably won't happen TOO soon (depending on how quick I can generate some $$$) so I will keep my eyes open for that

[slammin.e28]

I'm raising the white flag on this cylinder head and blaming it on a hairline crack somewhere. Does anyone have a good M30 head (b34/b35)?

Sorry to hear that!

...so I can get to work on a turbo setup as well

Go b35 head, drop that compression, and turbo the piss outta it!

Hope it's not the block!

[Dominic49]

sounds like the issue i had with my turbo s50. which ultimatly lead to me getting so frustrated and not giving a fuck till i hotlapped the piss out of the car at nashville till it was spewing smoke out of the valve cover and exhaust sure it may of been stupid and a waste of money but sometimes you really need to just break something and take a step back... (gauge read 220oil temps and 240 water temps...) my next move for my shitty cooling situation is rear mount radiator... (after rebuilding the motor) i hate to do it, but it looks like the only way to keep this piece of shit cool...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATMFa_AOaqc

and yes that is what appears to be exhaust gas coming out of the valve cover.... won't know for sure till i get the time/money/efforts to pull it apart

[Good & Tight]

Yeah, I know how tough it can be to bleed these motors. But they are not impossible to bleed, and do it enough times and you get the feel for it.

I'm going to start putting some stuff I have chillin here for sale and try to generate some $$ . I just picked up my CNC exhaust manifold flange so I can get to work on a turbo setup as well, so that goes to show that I'm not giving up on this engine yet.

- E

Erick I had to heat cycle my engine a few times to get it properly bled. So it took more than a day.
Also my engine and turbo setup will be up for sale in a few months if your interested.

[ForcedFirebird]

re check all your hoses at their securing points. Mine kept overheating cause of a hose in front of the block was not completely secure. fixed, then bled properly. done. But bleeding can be a hassle on these cars :(

I pressure tested the coolant system, no external leaks whatsoever.

I don't have a carbon tester, but suggested Erick test the coolant for carbon contamination before pulling anything apart.

[M-technik-3]

Erick here is a one.

http://r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=182706

[Good & Tight]

My carbon tester is my nose, if he's running straight water it will smell like exhaust and sometimes will have a slight oily film.

I pressure tested the coolant system, no external leaks whatsoever.

I don't have a carbon tester, but suggested Erick test the coolant for carbon contamination before pulling anything apart.

[Erick]

Did the carbon tester today at my buddy's shop. The car passed the carbon test, so maybe there is hope for this cylinder head.

Considering I did a quick bleed after putting the e34 hose, I'm thinking it might be a mix of two things that might be causing it... I'm thinking there might be an air pocket with a slightly incapable fan syndrome.

Even after bleeding this system a million times in a million different ways, I'm curious to try one of those vacuum pumps that'll suck out any air out of the system.

We let the car idle for a few minutes at the shop and observed it's behavior. As usual, the temperature keeps creeping up. The fan somewhat does it's job, as we checked the hose temps with the laser thermometer (there was about a 10-15deg difference between the radiator hoses), but as the water going in rises, so does the water coming out.

Also, on the way back home, I tried to drive the car without the fan on. The fan as it is makes a BIG difference. It holds the car from overheating big time. While in stop and go traffic (traffic lights), the temperature creeps fast... I was almost up to 210 in between 3 lights. When I got up to speed, the temperature (at about 40mph) started holding at 210... slowly creeping down, and when I turned the fan on, it started going down much quicker.

Just driving around without the fan simply wouldn't do on this M30.

Based on those things, I'm starting to lean towards some crazy stupid air pocket that needs to be brought out somehow. I want to see if I can use a vacuum pump to suck that out, and see how the car behaves then. I'm also thinking of sourcing a factory M30 aux fan to replace the current SPAL.

Thoughts, suggestions? By the way, I appreciate those already on the lookout for a cylinder head. I'm going to run a few more tests, but worst case, I'll go ahead and look into swapping heads.

- E