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Car Overheated / Overheating / Overheats [MERGED]

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NTRCOOL

Probationary Member
24
0
Apr 10, 2002
Richmond_Va.
OVERHEATING? The issues and their solutions have remained the same- either you don't have enough cool air reaching the rad, there's a cooling system obstruction which is preventing coolant from circulating, or your head gasket has failed and is allowing coolant to be consumed or pushed away from the engine.

Discuss all possible overheating problems and solutions here.



OK,
I just left my house to go over to my GF's,and happen to look down and see my needle right before the red mark. This just happened out of nowhere. I stop the car as quickly as i can, and pour in some coolant(Coolant a little low). Still same thing. Welp im in the middle of the road, and HAD to get it home. Im only 5 min from my house. I decided to try and make it(I really had no other choice). Welp I drive no faster than 20mph, and the temp needle is BARELY into the red the whole way.And occasionaly to the left of it. Am I ok?? Do ya think any damage was done?? And im thinking either thermostat, or water pump. For each of those, whats a round about $$ figure to get replaced?? Any info you have would be GREATLY appreciated!
 
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I think there must be a leak becuase one time I jacked my car up and saw water leaking on the ground. Know it doesn't oil becuase it dried up pretty quick.
 
If you have to refill the overflow bottle you're losing coolant somewhere. Check for any external leaks first. If you don't have any then you might have a bigger problem like a head gasket, cracked block/cylinder wall, etc.
 
you should drain your oil and put some in a clear container to see if any water separates out into the top. Knowing whether there is water in your oil will tell you immediately whether you have water leaking out of the coolant system or into your cylinders.
 
Okay, so every time I drive my car, after 15 minutes of driving, it starts to over heat with my temp gauges going near red line. Now I notice the car is smoking from the hood, exhaust seems okay. When I look under the car, I see coolant dripping from one of the hoses and not the radiator. I replaced the water pump a few months ago and just took it to the mechanic to get my hoses looked at, they pressured it and said my hoses we're okay and couldn't find any leak. There was nothing coming from the radiator as it seemed okay too. The mechanic was a chick, and she was telling me it could be your head gasket , the radiator fan spins, though the AC fan doesn't. And it also doesn't have coolant, but I drive without AC anyways. I was trying to tell her maybe I just need to flush out the radiator and she claims that it wouldn't help me. So I was like okay...and drove off with my over heating car very slowly until I arrived home. What could it be?[/I]
 
I'm guessing you already checked the leaky hose for cracks? First rule:K.I.S.S= Keep It Simple Stupid. Do the easy stuff first and chaulk it up under "routine maintenance." Most hose wear is on the inside so point a light in it and squeeze it a little. If and cracks appear then replace it. Could be more but I wouldn't know becauseI'm not there to see for myself. And I don't get the relevence of telling us your mechanic was a woman.
 
1st thing to do is find the leak and stop driving it before you blow the head gakets

also coolant really doesnt help cool you engine as much as it keeps it from rusting and keeping the bearings in your water pump oiled so i would add some coolant in there if i was you
 
your coolant lines are tired and worn..start the car up, let the T-stat open up and once it starts overheating, squeeze the upper radiator hose and you should be able to see/hear where the pressure is leaking from.(try not to burn yourself)
 
I wired both my fans to a 12v relay and a kill switch so that they kicked on everytime i turn the key to my car. I didnt have heating issues but i figure a cool motor is better then a crisp one. Might wanna consider it.
 
There is enough coolant in there, but every two days I gotta replace it. I got to find the leak, I checked all the hoses and could not find a leak or a torn through them. And even pressured the radiator hoses and it was on the safe level and was showing no signs of loseing coolant. Very werid, though white smokes still is coming from my hood. Not dramatically but noticeablly. Water pumps replaced like I said, radiator seems fine. I really just don't know what to do. I really think its the head gasket. Another sign is that when I pull my oil dipstick out, the oil is a little bit watery and I heard thats a sign of a head gasket replacement. Though when the female mechanic checked it out she claims my oil was okay, just a little bit dirty and I tried to point out the oil dripping fast from the dipstick. Maybe she doesn't know what the hell shes doin.
 
If your oil has coolant in it it would look like chocolate milk, then your headgasket is blown. Go and take a look at your oil again and see if it milky.
 
Well I barely got my car to start today. It seem's to be getting worse. Does anyone have any explanation of why my car could be getting so warm? Is that probably the cause of my starter not working correctly? I checked my temps in dsmlink yesterday just idling and they didnt go above 190.......
 
Have you tried any of the recommendations that have been given to you? If so what did you find? If not, that is the first thing you need to do, check for external leaks, (easiest test) if yes then find it and fix it, if no, then check the oil for water in the oil, if yes then you have a blown head gasket or your block is cracked.
 
I couldn't tell if this was covered or not, but does your thermostat ever open? Or does your temp gauge go from cold to hot without much of a rest at the middle? Most thermostats are fail-closed, meaning that when they fail, they stay closed causing your engine to overheat.
 
Replace the radiator cap and thermostat. Make sure you thermostat is installed correctly as well. Also, commonly overlooked areas are the coolant lines running to and from your throttle body and your heater hoses. Check all connections and replace any hoses/clamps that look suspect. These parts are all cheap and can be had for under $100, total.

And +1 on the 70/30 water/coolant mix, especially in Florida. You could even go more water/less coolant if you wanted. Hope this helps.

Pete M.
 
Okay thanks for the advice everybody. And yes I will try the 70/30 mix. Usually it's straight up coolant. Also I was reccommended for a head gasket sealer when I put it into the radiator I think it's called Dura Seal and I'll buy it in Autozone when I go today. I'll keep you updated, to stop the leaks for now wherever there comin from because I can't find them at the moment maybe your right about replacing the clamps. I'll keep you updated tho!
 
My talon kept over heating like you are talking about. I had no leaks. Replaced everything from t-stat to hoses, waterpump. I also tried using head gasket sealer. My oil never discolored (turned milky) but in the end it still ended up being my head gasket.
 
Straight coolant?! :ohdamn: You are wasting a lot of money by doing this especially since it just leaks out. If you can see the coolant dripping out, you have an untightened clamp or a leak in one of your hoses. Don't waste any more money than you have to. The small, cheap things first.
 
Straight coolant? Gah!

Use distilled when you follow the above recipe.

Also, note that when you hit 3/4 on the factory gauge, you're already at a dangerous point. Logging coolant temp, I can tell you that just a 1/8" on my factory unit could mean 180* or 220*. Big difference.
 
+1 on distilled water. Forgot to add that bit. Thanks.
 
No worries. I run 90/10 most of the year and would hate for someone to follow suit with tap water.
 
I had similar issues to what you had and it ended up being my head gasket. The smoke is most likely from coolant leaking and getting burnt in/near your cylinders. If you replace the head gasket it will fix your smoke and coolant problem
 
^^^Had the same problem. I ended up replacing almost everything in the cooling system before I broke down and put a head gasket in it. By sound of it I think you may have the same problem, especially if your oil is milky looking or looks like chocolate milk, as previously mentioned. That smoking from under your hood when your car starts to overheat is most likely the coolant turning to steam. The steam usually has a sweet smell to it and is slippery when you get it on your hands(don't burn yourself if you try it, and be extremely cautious when your working with a hot or overheating cooling system)


For diagnostic purposes its cheaper to run as little coolant as possible. And if it doesn't get cold enough to freeze water where your car is, I would run a minimal coolant mixture all the time(90/10 as previously stated) is a good idea. Coolant has less of an ability to transfer heat than water, so the more coolant you run the less efficient your cooling system becomes.

+1 on head gasket though
 
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