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!

 

[Cyndi]

I figured at first it was just b/c i might have been out of h2o or something simple like that..... so it gets checkd out not a problem there......ok so thermostat has 2 be one of the problems and a blown head gasket...is there anything else that can be causing it ??? the engine in it only has about 63k out of a 93 eclipse and it was swapped a couple of months ago..... any suggestions?

 

[mike9146]

Go to the dealer and buy a new fan switch. It's on the lower driver's side of the radiator. I'm assuming that your fans don't come on. If they do come on before the temp needle gets past halfway, your radiator could be clogged. Also, remeber that you need coolant_and_water, not
just water, or you'll overheat.

 

[Cyndi]

k i hadnt thought about that but the themostsat fans are working

 

[turboholic]

Originally posted by Cyndi
I figured at first it was just b/c i might have been out of h2o or something simple like that..... so it gets checkd out not a problem there......ok so thermostat has 2 be one of the problems and a blown head gasket...is there anything else that can be causing it ??? the engine in it only has about 63k out of a 93 eclipse and it was swapped a couple of months ago

-How's the condition of the water pump? with a warm (not hot) motor, start the engine, open the coolant cap, coolant should be flowing fairly quick if the water pump is doing it's job, also remove the alternator belt and spin the pump pully by hand, it should spin easily with little drag on it.

 

[Krac_Hed]

I just got finished with a huge overheating problem. Mine would be fine at idle (fans worked), but woud start to overheat on the highway. New waterpump and thermostat, but the problem was still there. I was about to rip into it to change the headgasket when I heard something. After driving my car (above normal temp) I pulled into my driveway and turned off the car. I popped the hood and listened to my car filling up the coolant resevoir when I heard a hissing noise. It turned out one of the hoses (thermostat to turbo line) had a pin sized hole in it.


Cliff's Notes Version: Check your hoses.

 

[Cyndi]

thanks hoses i'll prob switch out jic it seems to b a head gasket...

 

[turboholic]

Originally posted by Cyndi
it seems to b a head gasket...

-Do a leak down test.

 

[Wobble]

My car keeps overheating, well not really overheating, but running warmer than i wish...

the problem is because i have a 1g head and thermostat on my car, and now my "low" fan doesent come one, only the high fans come on when the car gets really hot.

how do you hook up the fan temp/switch on a 2g to a 1g thermostat? were are the wires..etc??

PLEASE help, right now i have to manually switch them on and off and its irritating!

 

[TODD DA HUSTLA]

y dont u just rig it.. so that they are always running.....tap into the ignition ....so wwen u turn the car on the fans come on and stay running...cars goes off fans go off

 

[Wobble]

I thought about that but my friend says that you can ruin your fan motors that way.

 

[Doug99RS]

Running the fans all the time will eventually wear them out, prevent the car from getting to normal operating temperature and also cause a check engine light. The 2g's have radiator fan relay circuits that are monitored by the ECU/PCM. If you bypass this relay it will cause the CEL to come on.
Doug

 

[Wobble]

ok i just though of something, when we did the head swap.. we used a 1g thermostat... im pretty sure we also used the coolant temp sensor that was in it.. insted of mine.. so i have a 1g coolant temp sensor being read by a 2g computer..

any thoughts?

 

[Deleted member 9465]

Check Thermostat, radiator, OIL LEVEL which is very important to keeping your engine cool, and those stupid heater hoses. those things suck!

 

[Wobble]

it is.. for a fact... NOT the oil, coolant or thermostat.. its the sensor..

you can sit there and watch the temp climb and climb and the fan DOES NOT come on untill its gets very hot (not danger but hotter than normal) then it comes on in HIGH setting... but only long enough for the temp to get below the HIGH fan level.. which is still hotter than normal... the LOW fan never comes on.. because the sensor for it (i believe) is off of a 1st gen, and the ECU is my 2g ecu..

ALSO!

if you read the VFAQ it describes a 6 bolt (1g motor) swap into a 2g and it SAYS "Reuse 2G sensor including oil, water temp, etc"

so that plays to my theory that the 1g sensor cannot be read, at least not properly by the 2g ecu.. im having a fit trying to find a 2g sensor, half the parts houses flat out dont carry it or can order it, the other half have the GAUGE sensor, but not the one for the ECU..

time to visit satan i guess.

 

[datsun510dude]

this happened to me the other day and i removed the rad to check the flow, it was fine, fans work, new cap, new thermo, hoses good, so I believe its the head gasket. Talked to my friend/mechanic at mitsubishi (head mechanic) and he said it sounds liek a head gasket. (when i started the car up, a small amount of white smoke came out of the exhaust. So im going to get thehead gasket replaced with a metal mitsubishi one and ARP head studs

it was fine with me too until i hit freeway speeds, once it started to overheat, there was no bringing it down.

Is there any tech article on the headgaskets for these?

THanks

 

[loreak]

oil should be dark brown/black, a blown headgasket will make it light and milky looking because coolant is getting mixed in


when i first got my car i was having issues with losing water through the overflow bottle, it doesnt do it as much anymore, but i can never keep my radiator topped off, if i fill it it and open in in a week i cant see any coolant, and it takes like half a gallon, now it doesnt all leak out but at least a good chunk of it goes away pretty quick then it stops and its fine

maybe im having a headgasket issue, although i ran 25psi at the track and didnt have any problems, but my car is trapping alot slower then it should be so maybe that could be a cause

 

[EclipseGSX13]

Heres the problem, My car is overheating bad. The needle get to the 3/4 line and stays there, if its stop and go traffic its a little higher. It will even stay high driving 70 down the highway. It has only been happening the past 2 days, and I'm out of town at my girlfriends somy options are limited.

Heres what I know: the fan is comming on but doesnt help the problem. Upper radiator pipe gets hot after about 5-7 minutes of driving. Water boils in the overflow tank and then out onto the ground. I took the radiator cap off to see if the fluid was flowing, Im not sure what I was looking for but the fluid level did rise before the car got hot (does that mean the fluid is flowing? if not how do I tell if its flowing). I am going to go change the Thermostate in about 15 minutes, to see if that is the problem?

If its not the problem then I'm not sure what to do. I cant do a compression check to see if the headgasket is blow ( at Girlfriends house), and I dont know how bad it would be to drive home like this (3 hours of highway driving). The temp was this high most of the way down here, so I dont know if I did any damage then.

Any help or opinion??

Thanks,

 

[Aikouka]

Seen the same exact symptoms before (tank boiling and overflowing, wasn't a pretty sight.)

It's more than likely your thermostat, and you're changing it, so your problem should go away.

 

[gotdsm?]

When you take the cap off and the car is running it should be pretty apparant that the coolant is flowing. If it isnt or your not sure add some more coolant and some water. You can just purchase "Zex" it's already pre mixed. Add the coolant until you see the coolant flowing. Sometimes not enough coolant will cause you to overheat as well. I had that problem after I replaced my thermostat and I forgot to add coolant.

If you have to drive it home, defiantly take some coolant and replace that thermostat before you drive it home with a 180 degree one.

Let us know the outcome after you have done that.

 

[DaTurboTalon]

I had the exact same symptoms, it was my thermostat! If your coolant was leaking into your engine you would be getting white smoke....

check coolant levels

 

[EclipseGSX13]

OK fixed it, It was only the Thermostat !! whew

Word of advise, dont go searching the threads if you think you already found your problem. It will just get you worried over nothing (usually)

Something else I found out dont follow the VFAQ on this on, Its wrong!! believe it or not.
here a link to the pic thats in the VFAQ.
http://www.myzero.com/engine/thermo.jpg

The thermostat is not under the water outlet fitting. Its at the fitting for the lower radiator hose. I used this diagram and then had to reseal this part up as well.

Another problem, damn Advanced Auto gave me the wrong thermostat (go figure, @$$holes)

 

[gotdsm?]

Umm weird. Mine is where they show in that diagram.

I just replaced mine like 3 weeks ago.

 

[EclipseGSX13]

thats really weird then. We both have turbo 4G63's. Anyone else know anything about this

 

[Aikouka]

You've got a 2g, and he's got a 1g. Maybe there's a difference in them, even though the FAQ states it's for any year.

 

[wishihadatalon]

i just had this prob. changed thermostat fixed for a day. had to get new cap b/c it wasn't pressurizing system. then a couple hoses went bad. finally get it all fixed and now my radiator light stays on but the car runs cooler than it ever has for me.