need help diagnosing overheating problem....been at it since 8am today.

[supergoat]

Ok, here is what is new or cleaned on my car...
-New Waterpump
-New thermostat
-New Radiator hoses
-New turbo coolant feed/return lines
-Radiator flushed
-No leaks anywhere
-New radiator cap

Ok, here is the deal. Normal operating temp for my car puts the needle about 1mm past straight up. Yea I know, my pocket logger batteries are dead and I can't drive my car to go get some more so I can't give an exact temp right now. Also when I fill up the coolant and run the car, when I shut it off good bit comes pouring out the overflow.

Anyhow, that is fine and I can live with thet. However sometimes the needle climbs up to almost the red area, but only for about 30sec or so and then falls back to normal for the rest of the drive. But it climbs suddenly and falls back slowly. And earlier I stopped at Autozone and all was good. I get in my car and as soon as I start it the temp shoots to the red and slowly falls back down.

Does this sound like I have air in my lines? I'm pretty sure I "burped" the system properly but maybe not. That is the only thing I can think of. Any tips on getting air out of the system if that is indeed the problem??

Thanks guys. And help is very much appreciated.

[AwdEi]

Just let it idle with the radiator cap off and keep adding what until it is full. I may take a few minutes for the thermostat to open, so dont be impatient.

The radiator may be bad. Also, to check the thermostat, grap the upper hose when the car is at normal operating temp. If its hot, it opened. Or maybe you got a thermostat too hot, which doesnt open when it should. The people there could have grabbed the wrong one.

Hopefully, it is not the head gasket that is clogged.

[jpolizo]

When you put the thermostat in, there's a little hole with a dongle thingy in it; that hole needs to be at 12:00-high. If it's not in the right position, you will get an air bubble stuck at the top of the thermostat housing and any other bubbles in the system will get stuck there. That may or may not be your problem.

Get a kitchen thermometer and stick it into the radiator and idle the car -- see what temp you get.

Also, watch the coolant while it's idling and see if you see any bubbles coming up out of the engine.

Good luck!

[Defiant]

Originally posted by supergoat
However sometimes the needle climbs up to almost the red area, but only for about 30sec or so and then falls back to normal for the rest of the drive. But it climbs suddenly and falls back slowly. And earlier I stopped at Autozone and all was good. I get in my car and as soon as I start it the temp shoots to the red and slowly falls back down.

Sounds like a sender or gauge going tits-up. Do you get overheating symptoms, such as pinging? Get batteries for that logger and find out what the coolant's really doing.

[Enigma_Man]

I know my temperature will climb up to around 206 degrees right as it's warming up, then come back down again to 200 or so, but the needle goes up about 2-3 MM past straight up on the stock gauge when this happens.

I had always just figured the thermostat just took a second or two to open, or the water took a second to start going through the radiator, so the heat kept going up for a second.

But... the gauge never has been near the red mark.

-Jesse

[91eagle_tsi_awd]

are the fans coming on???there a sensor on the bottom of the radiator too,might want to check that out ,and if worse come to worse,u need a new head gasket

[BUCK]

You may want to check your Base Timing.

Sounds like a sender or gauge going tits-up.

I concur there.

are the fans coming on???

Good question!

When you put the thermostat in, there's a little hole with a dongle thingy in it; that hole needs to be at 12:00-high.

The Manual is kinda weird on this - It shows the Turbo Thermostat Housing & identifies it as N/T Housing - The dingy-thing is positioned over the port in the Thermo Housing that ducts to the Turbo Coolant Line if I recall correctly (12 o'clock?) - I just cut my Dingy-Thing OFF with some Dikes (can't wait to see the replies on THAT) so it flows a little thru the small hole to the Turbo at all times.

The Manual then pictures & ID's as a Turbo Thermo Housing the plain-jane Thermo Housing with no internal ducts or ports for Turbo Coolant lines & a Thermostat with no-dingy thing.

[supergoat]

I should clarify, the thermostat is around 1000 miles old and this JUST started happeing in the last few hundred. miles.

I'll get batteries for my logger and see what my highest temp is.

Thanks guys!

Oh, and yes both fans come on.

[Defiant]

Originally posted by supergoat
I should clarify, the thermostat is around 1000 miles old and this JUST started happeing in the last few hundred. miles.

Thermostats have no wrists, so they have no watches. They might work ten days or ten years. They just don't have a clue.

[crankbender]

It seriously sounds like a thermostat to me. Or a pump is not flowing well.

As for burping the system there isn't much to it.

Star the car in hte driveway and watch the temp gauge. find out where on the temp gauge the water begins flowing through the radiator. I am willing to bet the radiator stays cold till you get too hot. This is a deffinate sign the thermostat is bad.

[AL92]

If the water pump is pumping water and there are no leaks in lines,rad etc than only things left to cause overheating is non working therm,bad rad cap or blown head gasket or non operating fan and of course low coolant.And rad caps and therms are pretty cheap..