Folks,

I just completed a timing belt and water pump job and notice my
engine exhaust manifold and radiator is getting very hot after a 2 minute drive. I suspected I had air in the cooling system and tried bleeding the system but didn't see the bubble coming out like described.

The thermostat is also suspect. Is there an easy way to rule this out?

Any suggestions for shooting the problem?

 

Perhaps your water pump is not operating very well, or the thermostat is shot.
basically, you should have just replaced it since its 5 bucks to begin with , due to preventative maintenance at that many miles 105000

if the water pump is working, your coolant will flow once the thermostat opens up. which you can tell by feeling the lower house start to get a little warmer. also the temp gauge on dash should start freaking out if your car is overheating.

now, if you have a cam that is one tooth off, there could be combustion problems, causing the exhaust gases to be abnormal say from backfiring and stuff like that, which might be causing manifold issues.

as part of the timing belt + WP job, you had to unplug some stuff. Hoopefully it's all pluged in correctly . Two questions though are important: is your dash temp gauge reading normal temp? is your cooling fan operating?

 

IIcoolpass,
Thanks for the good suggestions!
I'll double check all the wires and cables to make sure I didn't leave something disconnected.
As for the fans, I do see them turning on when I first start the car and then the shut off shortly after. I'll need to dbl check what they are doing when the car is hot.
Timing belt being off: The car runs really well and everything sounds and feels good. Good acceleration, smooth, etc. so I'm thinking I got that right.
Also, the new belt came with white marks on it that lined up with the notches on the two CAMs and crank.

I'll check the temp of the cooling system components at various points and let you know what I find. I can say the top of the radiator and the hose from radiator to fill cap are very hot. Both are far from the thermostat.

More to come!

 

You weirdow LOL
Hope your themostat job goes well, and you get peace of mind.

 

I see the thermostat open up at some point because the lower radiator hose gets hot and the top hose cools some. At this point, the top hose and top of the radiator cool to a reasonable level. The temp gauge stays in the normal range so I assume all is well. I was blowing the whistle too soon and hadn't waited for the thermostat to open.
Thanks again IIcoolpass. You know your stuff!

 

awesome, keep on keeping on

btw, it's LLcoolpass not iicoolpass :>

doing the timing belt + wp is little bit of work, but it's something the average person can do on a Saturday for sure, and save 500+ dollars of dealers prices and labor combined.