Nissan Repair: 88 camery problems, blown head gasket, temp gauge

Question
I have a 1988 camery with the the v6 twin cam, The motor runs like a dream, but when it gets hot it shuts off. The problem is that when i try to restart the car, nothing happens. I have a new starter but for some reason it won't kick in, but if you let it sit and cool for a while it will finally start. What would cause that to happen? Plus i had a problem with the thermostat, so I took it out. Now it seems to run very hot and the fans never stop running. Even with the fans on it seems to be over heating but the temp. gauge still reads fine. What could cause this other than a blown head gasket?

Answer
Hi Dennis -

I assume when the car gets hot, the engine just cranks and does not start. If this is so, then most likely it is the ignition module. This is located in the distributor. When too hot, it just fails, cuts the engine out, then it has to cool before restarting.

As for the overheating - sometimes, if you remove the thermostat it gets worse. Water travels TOO fast within the cooling system and the water does not stay long enough in the radiator to cool down. If you do not like running a thermostat, then just take the guts out, and replace the outer portion. This way, at least the water will slow down to cool in the radiator.

Hope this helps -
aloha
calvin