Car Overheated / Overheating / Overheats [MERGED]

[NTRCOOL]

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!

 

[oVer-Boostin]

Well, when I turn the AC on, the car overheats. When i turn the AC off, the car goes back to normal operating temperature. By the way Im in AZ.

 

[EVOL_TURBO]

your car is overheating because it is 180 degrees in Arizona!

Have you checked to see if your fan is coming on with the a/c? Is your coolant level ok? Are you running 50/50 anti freeze/water?

 

[oVer-Boostin]

haha its actually 110 today. I have new 50/50 coolant in there. Fans come on...everything looks good.

 

[EVOL_TURBO]

I wonder if your a/c pump is going out? It could be that your engine is having to work too hard to keep the pump turning.

 

[oVer-Boostin]

ac pump is the same thing as the compressor right?

 

[EVOL_TURBO]

Correct.

 

[EVOL_TURBO]

Also, make sure your belt is not too tight

 

[Ja17Bmx]

Also check for "things", such as bugs, leaves, etc... in between the condenser and radiator.

 

[oVer-Boostin]

the condenser is the radiator looking core infront of the radiator right? it has a LOT of bent fins and small rocks stuck in between the fins...

 

[Ja17Bmx]

Yes, thats the condenser, if its really messed up like that it could be blocking air from going into the radiator.

EDIT: after thinking about it, it definitley sounds like a fan problem, but anything blocking flow isnt good either

 

[oVer-Boostin]

right, but how can it cause the car to overheat at idle when the ac is on, but when yout turn off the ac it goes back to normal operating temperature. All that while the car is parked and running.

 

[EVOL_TURBO]

How hot is it getting? Do you have a reading or are you looking at the stock guage?

 

[oVer-Boostin]

stock gauge. It gets pretty high withing a few minutes. I can sit there and watch it climb. fans work just fine though..

 

[EVOL_TURBO]

Is your car lacking power when the a/c is on?
What is your idle rpm with the a/c on?

 

[oVer-Boostin]

nope isnt lacking power. and the rpm im not sure

 

[bvass]

I have a similar problem when it gets over 105 degrees in AZ and I have been trying to figure it out for a year now. The car temp. goes up to 237 degrees when it is 118 outside but not at idle. It happens while cruising on the highway.

If you fix yours please let us know what was the cause of your problem.

 

[EVOL_TURBO]

TRY THESE TWO THINGS:

Idle the car with the a/c on. VERY, VERY carefully feel between the fans and the engine to see if you can feel a good amout of air being pushed toward the engine from the fans. If you don't feel a lot of air, your condensor and/or radiator fins are too "clogged up".


The next time you are at a stop and it starts to get hot, bring the RPMs up to 1500 - 2000 and hold it. See if it cools down or if it continues to get hotter. If it does help and the tempurature goes down, you may have a coolant circulation problem (thermostat, water pump, dirty system?).

 

[EVOL_TURBO]

In case you can't tell, this has got me thinking!

Are both your heat shields still on?

 

[boostnbuds]

i think your secondary fan isnt kicking in are you sure both fans are running?!

 

[oVer-Boostin]

yup, both do

 

[Nors]

No coolant leaks? Try adding water wetter to the radiator? Lower degree thermostat?

 

[PieEyedPiper]

0. ensure fans are operating correctly (looks like you've done this)
1. clean your rad and condenser
2. fix bent fins on rad and condenser
3. use a higher ratio of water and coolant mix like 60/40 or even 75/25 water:coolant.
4. don't use more than one bottle of water wetter. This product impairs your coolant efficiency. Sure, use a bottle to prevent corrosion and the like but don't go crazy like some of the people here and use 2-5 bottles.
5. inspect/replace thermostat
6. report back

 

[Defiant]

haha its actually 110 today. I have new 50/50 coolant in there.

30% antifreeze gives you the best coolant. You'll only want 50% when you make a run to Williams in the snow to catch the train to the South Rim.
However, it's not enough to make the difference between overheating or not.
First question is, what are you measuring the temperature by? If it's the factory gauge, replace the sender, your thermostat and the radiator cap.
Worst-case is a failing and inefficient water pump impeller.

 

[EVOL_TURBO]

How Is Your Overheating Issue???

 

[Nicarlo1]

I dont even know where to start.

Just recently ive been starting to get many many problems with my car ( eagle talon 95 tsi awd )

Im gonna start with the over heating problem. It started when I took my car out of storage this spring. When i get on the highway and am just doing the speed limit i take a look at my temp gauge and this is what i see

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#1 If i turn on my heater full blast while im still driving the temperature will drop almost by half (abit more then a quarter). I checked the prestone and its full (although it seemed abit foamy).

#2 I also have a problem where my engine starts knocking at an idle and sometimes even at low rpm. It usually goes away if rev the engine. I think i have what is called dirty lifters so im gonna try doing another oil change.


#3 Another problem I have is on occasion when i start my car the idleing seems weird so i go to rev the engine and all u hear is the b.o.v go off between 1500-2500 rpm very loud (same sound as when i spool it up to full boost) and the response time is very slow.
It somewhat reminds me of the time when my piping came undone and it wasn't drivable so i was thinking it might be a leak ? Also when its acting like this i notice that my air/fuel gauge is running on rich not sure if that tells anyone anything.

#4 Then i also have on occasion when the car is acting weird and idling very low it will randomly start doing a weird idle. I caught it on camera and the video can be seen here http://youtube.com/watch?v=LA_7bIM9kBw . I check the throttle cable while it was doing this and it was not at all movie which i kinda found weird.

#5 And finally last but not least. There are at times where i will be driving normally and then the car will just "cank out" ;the engine doesnt die or anything but there is a sudden jerk in the car (like if i was trying to brake but its not braking). This usually happens alot more when problem #3 is happening and i try to boost the car.

I dont know where i should start but as u can see i dont know if it would be just better to install a new engine in it. Although my current one only has 130km but it might be cheaper if i do a swap.

Anyway any help would greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your help and time. I will keep you all informed.