Hi Im new to the forum, I just found it today and already went through all 27 pages.

What brings me here is a search for the right way to connect the spark plug wires for a 89 323.

See I blew a gasket and was trying to get the head off so half way unbolted I had my cousin in law(?) take a look, didnt do any thing but tell me to take off the ign starter and proceeded to rip off all the plug wires. I was seething silently... If I did it I wouldve marked them inteligently rather than assume I had a manuel....

Well I eventually got the top hallf of the engine off, and it looked like the gasket was blown to the out side which caused it to push air in to the radiator, which led to a cracks in the cheap plastic when it overheated.

1-My question is if some one has the same model or a manuel you can tell me the proper arrangement: top socket =short cable ;front " =med " ;bottom " = med lrg" etc etc

2-Also I think it was the head gasket thet blew and now I have to replace it anyway, but should I polish the headers? (guess for either side of the gasket)

3-One more problem that happened after partly pulled the radiator out so I could try and seal it. thats when the fan stopped working, Should the fan turn on in the same way as this previous forum post for a different model? cause I think It a faulty wire now.

4- I plan on getting a newer radiator from a junk yard, same model with a fan bolted on but looks different and covered in mud. do you think 40 dollars is a little much for a used radiator? the hack who was there saw how much it meant to me to find the right model car, no thanks to my friend informing him, so that might be the extra 15 so $s.

5-Whoops almost forgot the gauge that says the temperature reads nothing, which part needs to be replaced or tested?

6- Im a little lost on where to find the thermostat, should be in the hose to the RADIA but it not there like a previous post that wasnt answered...

Thank you so much, I didnt know where to turn before I found this page. the mods are great people to distribute knowledge that shouldnt be kept away from the public. Even though this car was a $10 hand-me-down from my best buddy who treated it as a true beater car. I still had to buy 3 new tires(he would ebrake over speed bumps sideways....) and fix the joint on the remaining wheel costing 220 (more than 2/3 my pay check)

This car is all I have other than a chevyvan with a sleeper top and a quadro-jet(les than 9 m/gal) and a broken master cylynder, I got that for free.... so fun to drive till the door stopped closing....
I almost lost hope when every body told me it wasnt worth the money and my dad almost towed it to the junk yard, but he didnt want to trouble himself so It still has a chance to mob like in its golden years which was right up to when summer started....

enough aboot me, any and all help in maintaining and restoreing this car will be gladly accepted!

"We're not worthy, we're not worthy!"

 

1 Here is a pic of the distributor firing order.

2 For headers, do you mean an exhaust header? Or do you mean cylinder head? If cyl head, I would clean it very well along with the deck of the block. Use a razor blade after removing larger chunks of gasket to make sure it is clean.

3 The fans work in the same way.

4 I do not use used radiators myself, so I don't know if thats fair...maybe so. Shop around on the phone.

5 There is a sensor that has one wire attached to it that is brown/white. That is what makes the temp gauge work. It is on the front of the engine toward the back.( If you were looking at the engine standing in front of the car)

6 The thermostat in located in a housing on the back of the cylinder head (opposite the timing belt) where the upper rad hose attaches.


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Hey thank you man I really appreciate it. dont want to be drilling you for information but I dont have any choice, I am about to move and I will need more than a bike to get to work and school...

1 On the distributor is there a picture on how to align it? because the ill advice I got from my cousinlaw was to remove the the distributor, how should it go back on? exactly where it was before cause once I set the timing belts it will change. I assume its kind of important where this goes even though it locks in, the casing must be at the right position.

2 on the cyl head I feel like a dumbass cause I sort of scratched it, What kind of gasket sealer should I use? I read an article that said chemical sealer is the best.

I jiggled the fan wires and viola! it works again. now all the water that boils out will cool it down, RAW

3 Although I did read that neglect of the cooling system will cause the head gasket to blow you in ways you never imagined...

I am planing on back flushing my crap filled radiator and trying some plastic cement on the 3-4 in cracks on each side. A desperate attempt cause a new radiator is not something I want to buy, but how bad could a used one be?
If its metal I wont have to worry that much i would think, but what kind of problem does one run into with a radiator?(other than leaks)

thank you for your help you are my savior

 

The distributor is easy as it will only go in one way. First properly align the timing belt. now notice the two "tabs"sticking out the dist gear that fits into the cam. If you look closely you will notice the tabs are off center and will go in easily when aligned properly.

I would not recommend any sealers on the head gasket as they are a dry fit design. If there is a scratch that will not hurt anything, but I would think again about a gouge.

I had a VW in the past with with a cracked radiator plastic tank and tried to fix it the same way. It did not work for very long before leaking again. If it has overheated the seals that seal the tanks to the radiator have been compromised and will most likely leak too. Been there, done that. I bought a new radiator for my Protege and it cost $110...but worth it to me. The risk you have buying a used radiator is you don't know if it leaks too or it might be restricted. Plastic tank radiators are not repairable like the older metal tank types.

 

you are awsome, Ive never had to do much engine work, so I feel very lost especially when bolts are hidden in grease. but thanks to you every step of the way I feel sure I will have this car in better condition than when I got it!!

earlier today I bought some sealer thats chemical based, It said it would fill up to 0.050 IF you use their special spray to clean it.... well I wasnt about to bike to the store and back up a big hill so my dad said just to use sand paper to get the surface prepped then I wiped the grease that got back on, off with thinner. I finished the gradual torqueing (to about 65 lbs, is that enough?) just as I had to bike off to work. Im about to start putting everything back together so well see if what I did worked tomorrow, heh the guy at the store said the sealer was over kill.

Since I bought this putty cement a couple month ago I might as well just attempt to salvage this junker radiator, the biggest problem is that the fan torques the plastic and opens the hole again!! I did see metal radiators at the junk yard a couple of weeks ago if I could get one, and the only worry is a leak, I know lots of people with welders, and by restricted you mean not enough dissapation?

PEACE[8D]

 

Spec for head bolt torque is 56-60 Ft lbs on the second step. The first step is torquing to 35-40 ft lbs. A pic shows proper sequence for torque.

What I mean by this is not enough water flow through the core. Calcium and other deposits build up inside the runners and can restrict the flow.


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whoops I had a torque diagram from the 88 model... so it was the same order only mirrored. should be all right. except I torqued a little past 60, but this might be aceptable as I did use this copper collored paste, It at least makes me feels better....

I understand now I thought just smaller radiators but just smaller passages. I said this be cause the junk yard radiators are shorter but I think fatter.

Have you heard of and mineral break down washes? That would remedy it without shelling out what little cash I have on a brand new radiator on a rundown car. Yah doesnt sound like I care but it would be better that the silicone coated one I have now with a faulty cap, but maybe putting antifreeze in will be for the best....

Thanks again for your help

 

No I have not. From previous experience with older radiators and using a chemical flush will usually cause leaks. Being that the radiators that will fit these cars have many years of use on them I wouldn't try. Introducing a chemical flush to the radiator will find the weak spots causing multiple leaks.

 

point taken. the only reason Im so persistant on not spending that much on this car is cause any number of things could go wrong so I dont think its a worthy investment. like the brakes....they all ready had a period where they schrieched sooo Im pretty sure that they are way over due. they are still warped so I figure that its gonna be a lott of work to get that proper. I also over torqued one of the pulley bolts and a middle engine cover bolt. they broke in half, so that means the rest dont have much name say.

But other than that I got this baby running, and its almost like it used to be except the radiator blows the cheap silicone apart like nothing. a new radiator would look so out of place.

Although I got out the dents and scrubed it now Im about to wax it, so shell be purty, purty soon

 

Ok so I got it back together, only now it has half the power it had before, now my new(junk) radiator blew a hose cause the timing is off and the wasted energy turns to heat... Is their an outline for getting the timing belt ailigned and the distributor positioned right, I tried useing a stobe with the mark but it is worse and doesent idle but dies. I dont know if you have experience getting the engine aligned so it can make it up a hill not going 5 mph, its just kind of embarrasing.