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Overheating after mechanic worked on my car.....

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187dsm

Proven Member
54
0
May 4, 2014
Palm beach, Florida
I just got my car back about a hour ago from a mechanic. They did the clutch kit, fork and pivot ball.

I took the highway and it's about 25 mile ride to my house. As soon as I pulled off 95, I noticed temp rising up and ac getting hot. I drove for another 3-4 minutes and temp got higher so I shut the car off. When I got out there was smoke coming from under the hood from the coolant (not a lot but noticeable) .and the coolant in the resovoir was boiling or bubbling.

Now what... I try calling the mechanic and no answer. I'm stuck on the side of the road and I don't have the money to get it towed.
 
I agree. they must of left a plug/sensor/hose off the car. I would go some where else and have previous shop reimburse me for the new shop work. i had a shop pay for my hotel and repairs when they screwed up my car while i was on a trip.
 
I would do a compression check if the cooling system pressurizes very quickly and the bubbles keep coming. I had a buddy take his ca swapped 240 to a repair shop, he did not make it a mile down the road before it overheated. the owner of the shop took the a car out and beat the piss out of it and popped the head gasket, I know this because i USED to work there.
 
Hold on ,,,,,, isn't this the expensive mech, who had worked on this car before it was yours? ? ... since he dropped the tranny he could of left unsecure your heater hoses, since they run parallel to your tranny bell housing, or a number of other things, please Find out. About your injectors seals, try extreme, or stm. But those things ware out, I don't see why your grease monkey would have touched them but if he did he failed you there too. Ex :"it's not you its me" Dump Your mech. Buy a repair manual and make good use of this site, keep us posted.
 
It sounds like it was doing better with a good burp of the system. The fan kicked on as well and it ran for 10 minutes without overheating. You said before that it didn't kick on the fan yet now it worked, acting like an intermittent problem. Makes me think a bad wire connection to kick on the fans or a dirty contact in the relay (sometimes makes connection sometimes not). After fixing the fuel leak I would start it and let it warm up and see if the fan keeps kicking on, maybe swap a known good relay to the cooling fan (pirate the A/C relay). Also you could test the coolant sensor. Also check your grounds. Bad grounds can make sensors act funny.

Hey do you have ecm link? You could just go on there and trigger the fans off and on to test them instead of running the car. You could even change the fan kick on point while the cars running so you have some room temperature wise so you don't overheat it just for testing.
 
I would do a compression check if the cooling system pressurizes very quickly and the bubbles keep coming. I had a buddy take his ca swapped 240 to a repair shop, he did not make it a mile down the road before it overheated. the owner of the shop took the a car out and beat the piss out of it and popped the head gasket, I know this because i USED to work there.

Yeah I didn't want to go that route yet and scare the pee pee out of the guy but yeah that is a possibility.
Know a guy personally that worked for a reputable ford garage and yeah they would "test" out hot cars. Heck they even abused little festivas. pull the ebrake, cram it in fwd, gas, cram in rev, gas, back and forth and the car would lunge and hunch. Then they put it on the lot and sell it as new. Ever notice new cars have a couple hundred miles on them sometimes?
Ever see the gas monkey garage episode with the F40 the mechanic crashed? Yep Only a guys million dollar baby, pride, and joy.
Another guy I know worked at a tow garage and they towed a guys 454 swapped S10 pick up tubbed out, roll cage, custom paint, etc that the mechanic rolled on the interstate. No plates, no insurance, and was never supposed to even be driving it. Huge mess with police, insurance, lawsuits, impounded hot rod in limb for over a year.

All that is why I always take a picture of the odometer with date and time showing if and I mean if I ever let a mechanic touch my car. To me giving your car to a mechanic and you leave is like giving someone a rental car. You know they will abuse it and not care. Sorry I do know a couple I would trust but most I wouldn't. Trust to do the work? sure. To not "test" out my toy? nope.
 
I agree. they must of left a plug/sensor/hose off the car. I would go some where else and have previous shop reimburse me for the new shop work. i had a shop pay for my hotel and repairs when they screwed up my car while i was on a trip.
I was thinking of doing this... I don't want this mechanic touching my car anymore. But what if he decides not to pay? Im stuck with both bills.? That's why I wanted to talk to them first but I'm still in a bad situation.

I would do a compression check if the cooling system pressurizes very quickly and the bubbles keep coming. I had a buddy take his ca swapped 240 to a repair shop, he did not make it a mile down the road before it overheated. the owner of the shop took the a car out and beat the piss out of it and popped the head gasket, I know this because i USED to work there.
I thought of this too.. I tried to make it to the hop before they were done so I can go with him on the test ride or whatever . but when I got there he had already driven it and he said I was good to go. Compression check sounds good. I can get a kit from an auto store right?

Hold on ,,,,,, isn't this the expensive mech, who had worked on this car before it was yours? ? ... since he dropped the tranny he could of left unsecure your heater hoses, since they run parallel to your tranny bell housing, or a number of other things, please Find out. About your injectors seals, try extreme, or stm. But those things ware out, I don't see why your grease monkey would have touched them but if he did he failed you there too. Ex :"it's not you its me" Dump Your mech. Buy a repair manual and make good use of this site, keep us posted.
Yes this is the expensive mech that worked on it before it was mine..I plan on keeping my car for a long time. I seriously need to invest in a manual and you guys can be a lot of help. I'm not too experienced but I always wanted to learn everything. And I know I can do it with this site and tools.
It sounds like it was doing better with a good burp of the system. The fan kicked on as well and it ran for 10 minutes without overheating. You said before that it didn't kick on the fan yet now it worked, acting like an intermittent problem. Makes me think a bad wire connection to kick on the fans or a dirty contact in the relay (sometimes makes connection sometimes not). After fixing the fuel leak I would start it and let it warm up and see if the fan keeps kicking on, maybe swap a known good relay to the cooling fan (pirate the A/C relay). Also you could test the coolant sensor. Also check your grounds. Bad grounds can make sensors act funny.

Hey do you have ecm link? You could just go on there and trigger the fans off and on to test them instead of running the car. You could even change the fan kick on point while the cars running so you have some room temperature wise so you don't overheat it just for testing.
I thought the fan didn't kick on before.... But I don't know when it's supposed to. When I had the a/c on they came on. Before, I didn't know what I was doing and I just turned the car on for a few seconds without ac and concluded that my fans weren't working. I was wrong. ECM link? Not sure what that is. The only thing I have which I haven't messed with at all is the apexi super afc neo.
 
And You guys are a big help thank you very much. I was so excited to get my car after the clutch and then I couldn't even make it home. :( I just want to be on the road again.
 
You can get new seals and insulators at napa! Or order from STM, extremepsi,jnz, any vendor on here has them!! I would take a coolant pressure tester with you and pressurize the system. You should find your leak in minutes this way!!
 
I would do a compression check if the cooling system pressurizes very quickly and the bubbles keep coming. I had a buddy take his ca swapped 240 to a repair shop, he did not make it a mile down the road before it overheated. the owner of the shop took the a car out and beat the piss out of it and popped the head gasket, I know this because i USED to work there.
I always mark the milage before getting out of my car if i ever have to take a vehicle in, however, i mostly do all my work now.

You can get new seals and insulators at napa! Or order from STM, extremepsi,jnz, any vendor on here has them!! I would take a coolant pressure tester with you and pressurize the system. You should find your leak in minutes this way!!
Harbor Freight has a box of seals for 5$, just make sure to get some Vaseline.
 
They are all the same seals! The pte kit comes with insulators top oring, and new tip. If you get the napa kit they usually come with all 4 pieces, you could try the fic kit. In your photos you are looking at the injector sheet that ripped and all bus up! Those are there to keep debris and stuff from getting around the injector oring. The problem is the sheet really doesn't fit the pte injector the way it does a fic or oem injector, which is why yours are torn. If you want to do a freshin up the seals just order. 4 injector orings, 4 lower insulators, and 4 new sheets if you wanna try them again. You may need to trim them or just leave them off. If its to wide and doesn't allow the injector to push in all the way, you will have leaks for sure! STM,extremepsi, jnz has every kit for oem to pte to fic if you need to get a part number or just order them! ;)
 
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They are all the same seals! The pte kit comes with insulators top oring, and new tip. If you get the napa kit they usually come with all 4 pieces, you could try the fic kit. In your photos you are looking at the injector sheet that ripped and all bus up! Those are there to keep debris and stuff from getting around the injector oring. The problem is the sheet really doesn't fit the pte injector the way it does a fic or oem injector, which is why yours are torn. If you want to do a freshin up the seals just order. 4 injector orings, 4 lower insulators, and 4 new sheets if you wanna try them again. You may need to trim them or just leave them off. If its to wide and doesn't allow the injector to push in all the way, you will have leaks for sure! STM,extremepsi, jnz has every kit for oem to pte to fic if you need to get a part number or just order them! ;)
i don't know the difference between oem pte or fic.. Lol. So the link for napa that I posted is good? I want to replace it so I don't have another problem. There's a napa store about 5 miles from my house. Rather do that than order online
 
I think so! What year is your car? You should fill out your profile on your page! It can help others help you faster! Just go into napa and tell them your year make and model and what you need. They should have a 4 pack of every one you need, or a pack with 4 pieces for 1 injector, so you would need to buy 4 of them to do all 4 injectors. Just make sure to get enough to do all 4 injectors! This is what I get when I look up your car. http://m.napaonline.com/parts/PartsList.aspx?t=?Ntt=&Ntk=Category&N=599001+101997+50050+2050016+4050011+5999999+26895&Ne=25000
 
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Just get the whole thing complete so you don't have to piece them

EXAMPLES:
 

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My question was ... These will work with my precision injectors? I didn't know if the kit was different between oem and aftermarket injectors and fuel rail
 
Got in touch with my mechanic. He said he never took off any coolant hoses or injectors. He offered a tow to his shop for his to diagnose it. Waiting for the truck now. I told him I didn't have any cash he said not to worry about the money. Once my car is there is he gonna rack me up on bills or should I trust him
 
So I guess I'm screwed. The mechanic fixed my fuel problem by unbolting the 2 screws on the fuel rail and tightening it back up. Odd.
They did some tests for my overheating. They said everything is good but they put a different radiator cap on and told me to keep an eye on the temp gauge on the way home. And to call if I make it or not.
As soon as I got off 95, boom temp gauge started rising. When it hit 3/4 I shut it off and looked at my resovoir. Little bit of bubbling but it was completely full to the top.
I called my mechanic and told him what happened.
He said the only possible thing now is the head gasket.
But he doesn't do head gaskets ....
He said there's nothing more he can do for me.

All this bs happening, my car isn't the only thing overheating. My brain is even worse
 
That was going to be my first guess. If your seeing bubbling in the reservoir. Then, I would get a compression test. It could be 1 of two things. You drove the car too long while it was overheating or he drove your car to hard during testing, which is a great possibility. Man that sucks. In all honesty you can really do it yourself. I've done 2 and it's not that bad. Take it off yourself. Take the head to a shop and let them rebuild it (cut it, valve job, dip it, etc). Make sure you take it there assembled with the cams on it. Purchase a gasket kit and build it back. Get some new head bolts as well. Setting the timing is tricky.

Or take it back to the shop and raise hell. LOL.
 
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