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Here's my little check list;
Leak in the cooling system; Look for the easy obvious; signs of leakeage. Puddles on the ground. Lots of coolant on the tranny/backside of engine (pesky heater hoses)
Cooling fans; Sit at idle to see if the fan comes on (duh). If they don't, you may have to rev it up a couple o' few of times to get heat going. Of course, watch the gauge as you do it.
Thermostat; Pull thermostat and check it by boiling it in water and seeing if it opens fully (though most just replace it. Cheap and easy flip flop).
Radiator cap; Have the radiator cap pressure tested (though, like the thermostat, most just replace it),
Radiator; Look for obvious signs of rust and green/white flake build up on the exterior (usually located on the lower half). See if fins are just flaking off. Look for "wet spots". Pull radiator and have it pressure tested.
Blockage in the cooling system; Flush the cooling system seperately (radiator then engine side) to check for blockage.
Water pump; Check for signs of "weepage" under the water pump. Listen for grinding or squeaking (usually a chirping sound) coming from water pump. Look in the radiator cap opening and see if the coolant is actually moving (obviously, do this when engine is cold).
Headgasket; Comp check and leak down. Look for oil contanimation or oil levels filling themselves up, lol. Look for air bubbles in the coolant as well as hardening of the coolant lines(pressurizing from the headgasket allowing combustion chamber pressure in the cooling system). Look for white smoke out of the exhaust after warm up. Check for hydrocarbons in the coolant (though this all could be good, but you could still have a bad headgasket. That's the tricky part).
.....and the etc. is for whatever I forgot/missed
Captain Caveman
96 RS Turbo 11.414 @ 119.62 MSNS, Crower 2 NA cams, BW366, 10.5 comp, UDP, 60mm TB, W/A intercooler, 3.55 tranny 567.9whp 430tq 97 RS NA 13.188 @ 103.87 MSnS powered 12.5 comp, Crower 3's and 219.4whp with 175tq 98 RS DD 12.5 comp on stock ECU, LTH, Crower 2's, Koni, GC, Hypercoil, DG hats 99 OZ 5sp Stocker 15.856 @ 85.97 99 GS stocker auto 17.7@77mph!
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