Overheating Buick sabre 3.8l

I know right? First post and its messed up. Got a cc Skylark with Buick engine. Right off the bat checked impeller. 3 out of 12 blades still on so replaced it and flushed with hose for a bit. Checked Compression 120-130psi so we're mostly good there. Also checked thermostat and its good as well. What is going on now is i assume i have bits of impeller left jammed up somewhere probably the check valve. But my fear is since this thing got Hot >230F (got her in before touching 240) it melted some bits up somewhere.... haven't checked the water pump i have assumed it is a normal automotive one not sure if its worth diving into yet but might as well now. It stays cool at idle and with hose, but when you run it she spikes up. Seems to be a clog or low flow somewhere. Already checked the idiot stuff like the pick up valve made sure it was already open. Any ideas or tips would be appreciated. Looking to get her back on the lake asap.

~Stone

*Edit*~ Just ripped it apart, Thermostat housing and water pump are clear, flushed the engine with the hose all the flow seemed good, no particles or anything came out. All this i think points towards to the pickup being slightly obstructed. Had to take a break Florida sun too hot today haha.

Our very own Marty Mabe has a Skylark with a Buick. He found out the hard way that you must use a oem Sherwood impeller. Quite a few of us witnessed it first hand. I believe he had some new Sierra replacements that just would not pump. Put in a oem Sherwood on Art Cozier's recommendation and it worked. So if your having trouble with it cooling check that.

Here is a sherwood impeller,see the ridges on the sides of the blades,that is what is missing on replacement ones.

Old Impeller.... I was suprised it was even staying cool for the last couple weeks

Sweet thanks, And those ridges make all the diff? seems strange but i"ve seen a far share of that.

Yeah i guess little things must add up

Lol... I remember opening my pump seeing blades all chewed up after a certified PCM mechanic said she was perfect and seaworthy the day i purchase from dealer! Others here might say you should get 600 hours and 10 years out of an impeller and your don't change till your gauge says you are running hot but common sense should tell you spend 15 mins and just inpsect it before you end up with issues. And go OEM as they are like 20-28 bucks each.

sweet guys thanks a lot. Yeah its a velvet drive not sure bout it having a cooler. thats for tomorrow to find out. will prob find a spool of radiator hose to replace all of it... sure theres dryrot somewhere i cant see.
Short story its my grandfathers and due to some job troubles now renting an room from him on his property and the fam has just neglected and tore this ole girl up and hardly any maintenance done whatsoever... now i have the time and not so much money I commandeered her and doing what i can to get her or lake worthy haha. Will need to be painted soooon, got bad spider cracks all along the bottom

Welp..... Just got back inside....found the trans oil cooler.... Bad news is its a chocolate milk factory inside the trans.... T___T I know some crazy people use motor oil to hydraulic fluid in these things but this has debris and sludgness.... Couldn't tell you how long its been like this. So rebuild kit on ebay is like 120-450 depending on how in depth i want to get.



I have half a mind just to pull the motor trans and all the trim and go ahead and fully restore the thing slowly as per funds

So so far the water flow is routed like this: pickup - oil cooler - impeller - tsh < water pump/engine > tsh - exhaust

And if you also notice the leaky fuel line you get bonus points

Hey Mike,
3.7 liter I think. 2-BBL right? It has different exhaust manifolds than mine. Yeap- Junk Sierra Impellers ! At least for Our Classic Correct Crafts
I'd change the fluid a couple times in that tranny--- These things are like tanks--- hard to destroy them. Maybe check the tranny cooler to make sure it hasn't burst- or insides trashed.. SkiDim has them .. PCM Impeller RP061015...   Only Sierra item worth anything- Sierra 18-3140-9 Gasket.




E-mail me

mtmabe@northstate.net

GO VIKINGS !

I have been fighting an overheat situation for a while now. just the port head fore mostly. Funny thing is more water flow out the port exhaust than the starboard. I looked up the info on the impellers I bought and they are made by Johnson. Perhaps time to look and see if thats my problem. Wonder if it could do it on one side only? Sorry for the hijack.

Jr even though mine was just the brand of impeller, try just going through all the plumbing anyhow... to about 30 mins for me to and i found way more problems than initially was trying to repair... But that's 40+year old boats for you :P what you can try to do is see if you can source whether water is making it to the exhaust, put it on a hose without running it and disconnect the plumbing till you find out where the flow is reaching or not reaching. might have a clog somewhere.

Hey dumb thing I did when i first started messing with it. Make sure your raw water intake if it has a valve on it make sure its open. It tricked me once ;)