Engine overheats, but it doesnt.. haha

[WhoopOi]

So a few days ago all of the sudden from my hour drive home from work, my car overheated. It passed the line and I had some smoke come from the engine bay (but it never hit the red).

So I walked to my local walmart to buy coolant and put some in. My coolant light has always come on, but my car has never overheated.

I started it up, started to drive.. it stayed hot. Then all of the sudden BANG it shot down to normal temp.

I thought things were fine.

So a few days later (aka this morning) I'm driving to work and it overheats, but I keep driving it. I pulled over and let it sit.. I did the same thing. I sat for a while, started it up, and drove for a bit then went to normal. When I pulled over the overflow was filled to the top.

On my way home it was fine till that final stretch. It NEVER crossed that hatch mark and I kept driving it. I'm not sure what the problem is. I have no smoke coming from the exhaust, I see no leaks from the upper and lower radiator tubes. I can't do the test of telling if one is hot and cold if it ran fine for a while then goes hot.

I'm going to replace the thermostat tonight, but what else could be the problem? I also noticed the overflow is empty now. I'm just at a loss right now

~Drew

1.8L 93 laser with 170k miles on it
Manual

 

[thiazole]

Your thermostat is most likely the problem.

 

[spoonman]

You have a pressure leak most likely from a bad radiator cap. If there is a loss of pressure the over flow tank will fill up. And the pressure added by the cap raises the boiling of the water in the system.

 

[spooling 1g]

are your fans kicking on?

 

[bobby180360]

i agree u might have a cap issue if u can get your hands on a pressure tester for the cooling system try it, if it tests fine your cap is shot (only thing that isn't in the pressure test), and the thermostatic couldn't hurt to be changed....

 

[WhoopOi]

are your fans kicking on?

Yeah, the fans kick on.

I purchased the thermostat, however it didn't come with a gasket, so I didn't attempt it last night. I'll just buy a new cap for the hell of it while I go in to get a gasket this morning.

I'll just be late to work today; that's all. I'll keep you posted on the situation. Thank you all for your input. If you think of anything else, please tell me.

~Drew

 

[Darknight968]

keep us updated

 

[WhoopOi]

keep us updated

Well, I switched out the thermostat, along with the radiator cap.

Everything works fine.

I checked the thermostat in a pot of boiling water. It sprung open, but was hesitant on staying opening, and re-opening after it cooled off a bit. It was just an extra safety measure to get a new cap. It was only $6 for a piece of mine.

Thank you everyone
~Drew