Overheating/Water pump
 

Hey everyone!
I won't bog this down with a long drawn out explaination of what happening. This is it in a nutshell, the 2.7 is overheating...here's what's been done:
Coolant full,new thermostat,new thermostat housing assembly, radiator checked it's good flushed it anyway, no coolant leaks on the floor or out the weep hole, I blead from the bleeder screw on the housing while filling with coolant and running at idle..ran a piece of tubing from the bleeder to a jug so I could leave it open to purge the air out but it never stopped bubbling..I know sounds like a head gasket but...no milky oil on the dip stick or in the head?? valve covers are off now...waterpump was replaced 5 years ago at the dealer...with the new generation pump..

I'm broke it down yesterday and today, valve covers, timing chain cover. So while removing the 13mm bolts on the timing chain cover that go thru the waterpump I noticed coolant from one and milky oil from the other...cover this be it? I haven't got the pump off yet but I wonder if my problem is a waterpump gasket failure...I'd insert a pic of the bolts but don't know how to do it on the forum..got plenty of pics of the process..anyway wanted a look at the pump before moving to the head gaskets..if anyone has any suggestions please help! It could save so much work!

open to purge the air out but it never stopped bubbling

heads are warped or the water pump has failed because it cant circulate the water through the heads

Thanks CT,
I'll have the waterpump off after work tonight, thought I would check it first before moving on to the heads..standby..more results tonight..

"...I'd insert a pic of the bolts but don't know how to do it on the forum..got plenty of pics of the process.."
Go to the albums part of the board and start an album entitled "How to tear down a Sebring 2.7" or whatever and post up your pics there with comments as titles. It's much better than posting them here on a thread where they'll get lost.
The admins will give you posting privileges once they are satisfied that you're not a spammer selling the usual remedies that they do on the internet.

Thanks DC,

Albums...will do...I've got several pics..well I had planned on getting the primary chain off and the waterpump out but ended up getting tied up at the parts house about the new waterpump...according to what I read I need the new style pump with the better sprocket and metal impeller. The new one that came in was a regular pump..should I take it back and hold out for the new style? Anyway after getting home and back under the Sebring I managed to at least get the chain lined up on the timing marks..so I'll be able to get the pump off tomorrow...sorry CT! meant to get it done but ran out of steam! I'll jump now to see if I can build that pic album..more progress tomorrow..

Hey CT/DC created an album 01 Sebring 2.7 Teardown...posted just a couple of pics I'll have to compress my pics because the file size is to large, I did however get a couple on...one of the 13mm bolts that went thru the timing cover into the waterpump and block that were questionable. Also posted one of the waterpump that was installed 5 years ago at the dealer...I'm pretty sure it's the new style..

Water pump is off..didn't find anything unusal once it was off...gasket looked ok and the pump wasn't to bad for 5 years old...here are a couple of pics..so my take is since the water pump appears to be ok I should continue with the teardown and remove the heads to inspect the head gaskets..and check the heads to see if they are warped..any suggestions or advice?

u would need to let a machine shop chk the heads for u.

CT, will do...heads to the machine shop...any advice on what I should look for to tell if or where the head gasket failed...remember no water in the oil just bubbling from the bleeder on the thermostat housing....I guess what I need to look for is a break in the gasket to the water side right..

i doubt u will find anything with the gasket if the heads are warped the head gasket cant over come the force from the 150 per cyls

Just finished taking the cams off..hope to get the heads tomorrow...Thanks CT for your help and advice! I'll get some pics tomorrow of what I find..

CT, Heads are off:) like you said, can't tell much...:( however when I pull the back head off #1 had a little puddle of anitfreeze in it...no other cylinder had any traces of antifreeze..? anyway took a pic so you could check it out...taking the heads to the machine shop monday...I have everything labeled like the book says so it will go back in the same place. Stopped at the parts house to get a price on a new timing kit and gasket set...475 for a new timing kit and 180 for a gasket set 65 for new hea bolts....Ouch!!!! I saw kits on ebay for a fraction of that cost...heck a master rebuild kit was like 700 bucks...from California...what your take on that?? the stuff from the parts house was car quest...anyway I'd be curious what everyone thinks! these days every dime counts!

Are those coolant passages plugged up with rust? Might go a long way toward explaining the overheating problem.

DC, I'll take a closer look tomorrow..After I got the heads off I studies all my head bolts checking them to see if they were stretched, and I also bagged and labeled the lash adjuster too..and worked some on the exhaust manifolds getting them off the head. Standby

OK sorry for the delay..DC I looked over the block and heads, I know the pics show the rust but really it's not to bad...just looks bad in the pic..I took some more pics with and without the headgasket so you can get a better look. CT I made it to the machine shop this afternoon with the heads, told the guy what was going on and needed him to check the surfaces and pressure check both heads..he said they'd be ready tomorrow unless he found a problem...

I did have the very same problem.. heads were wrapped a bit that allowed pressure from combusion cylinder 1 & 5 to leak to coolant passages ..got false boiling antifreeze and overheat.

problem fixed by taking heads to machine shop, replaced water pump and thermostate ..

now like a new

OK...heard back from the machine shop! We were right! heads were warped! So they resurfaced them and pressure checked too..there ready for pick-up tonight! 120 bucks...heck that's a deal!

Hey everyone, just wanted to double check on the torque spec. haynes manual says
1-8 35
1-8 50
1-8 50
1-8 1/4 turn with a wrench
9-11 250 inch pounds..or 21 ft lbs

i would refer to chyrsler service manual for torque sepcs...

and better to replace coolant canister pressure cap, since you've had several overheats ..

Shop manual sez:
1-8 35
1-8 55
1-8 55
1-8 +90º Do not use a torque wrench for this step
9-11 250 in-lbs

Pretty close to what Haynes says.

Thanks DC, and Liamon...Hey can I bug you with a couple more questions...
1-plastic scraper or wood block and gasket solvent right!....NO scraping....
2-It was ok for the machine shop to resurface the heads.....?? read some stuff
out on the net....you know how that is...They look good.. I can take a pic if your
curious..

Oh, Liamon..forgot to tell you..got a new cap, waterpump, and t'stat..reservoir appears to be ok..I check it again though..

Head pic

1- yes plastic or wood ..
2- it is OK

did you ckeck engine block if it is wrapped?
are you going to use gaskets from mopar ?

Laimon,

No haven't checked the block, been studing on how to handle the aluminum..didn't want to foul it up..I guess straight edge and feeler gauge for the block will be ok right? My plan is to use some gasket solvent and a plastic scaper or piece of wood for the tough stuff. Parts and Service sold me a Victor gasket set, and I also bought new bolts..what you think I haven't opened anything yet just looked at it..looks ok..

yes straight edge and feeler gauge will do the job but do it after cleaning/ scrapping engine block.

Victor ? i did use it once on my older sebring 96 and blow up after 6 months. it might be good product but up to my experience i would advise you to get mopar head gaskets, i think both,right & left are about 80$ from globalchryslerparts.com

Laimon,

I'll check out the globalchryslerparts....I'm not in any hurry on this, and want to do it right...I order a primary tensioner reset tool from Miller last night and it will be a couple of days before it gets here..thnaks for the advice..

Laimon,

Hey thanks a million didn't know about gobalparts....I can get the Mopar gasket kit 40 bucks cheaper than here in town...paid 170 for the Victor kit...130 for the Mopar I owe you man! Thanks again!

The block head gasket surfaces are clean now. Used only plastic and wood scrapers and some gasket remover from pematex...but block surface still looks like it needs to be shined up...would it be ok to use a blue scotchbrite pad or something on that line so that it will really be good and clean..

Also Haynes manual had heads removed with the exhaust manifolds attached to the heads....so installation in reverse order means exhaust manifolds back on again then install the heads and torque...

i don't know much about shining with this chrysler tech or dc can help you.

in regards to exhaust, depends if you work solo, if the engine is out or in ..ofcourse it is easier for you to mount the manifold before, but head will be heavier and hard to handle. you may damage or scratch the head surface while trying to mount on engine block.

be careful

now can I see the attachments?

DC, Help me out..I'm at a stand still on my repair..I'm still stuck on the block deck making sure it's clean enough to install the gaskets and head..I've only used plastic/wood and permatex gasket remover like it calls for but it still doesn't look like a new surface...I surfed around the net and what I found was a couple of youtube's where they use a white 3m roloc bristle brush on a die grinder...so I bought a couple..here's what they look like...so what do you think...brush the block deck or leave it alone and move on and install the gaskets and heads..

Here are a couple of pics of how clean they look with just scrapers and gasket remover..

I've only done this once, on an old Taurus. When I got it looking like your photos, I did a final cleaning up using some very fine grit wet/dry sandpaper.

Go with the roloc. You've got exactly what Chrysler recommends, namely, the white roloc. Do the best you can with it and it'll be fine. Make sure nothing winds up down in the cylinders or coolant passages. Use your shop vac and then compressed air to get anything out that may have fallen in there.

Thanks DC! I'll make sure I take some pics of the final cleaning and post'em...seems like everyone I talked to wasn't really sure how to handle the cleaning...now to find a 11mm 1.50 tap to chase the threads in the block for the headbolts!

DC,

THANK YOU!! The white roloc made it look perfect!!! heck from start to finish took 5 mins tops!! Here's some pics..

Beautiful! You could eat off that thing now. Keep us posted.

NOW I can view attachments!

I have to say, it's weird looking into the valley and not seeing any pushrods or a cam shaft down in there, lol! I've never dealt with an OHC engine before.

Wow, roloc looks like it did the trick, and I will definitely keep that in mind if I ever have to do head gaskets on my Sebring. In fact, now that I think about it, I helped a friend supercharge a Land Rover Discovery, and he used a white Roloc when we were getting ready to bolt the S/C coupler down to the LIM.

Definitely a handy tool to have.