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!

 

[Jdiddy2k4]

Okay thanks

 

[ktmrider]

Yep, t-stat is going.
If you replace look into the "fail safe" models that go full open if/when dying. Prevents overheating, downside is no heat if in a chilly area.

 

[Jdiddy2k4]

Thanks. I swear I was driving earlier in the day and everything was just fine. Hopefully nothing is messed up with the engine since it got to high hot temps for a few seconds before being able to turn it off and letting it cool down. Also should I also replace the radiator cap?

 

[ryanallan]

I had the same symptoms. it was my t-stat.
i paid ~$40 for an OEM t-stat, t-stat gasket and rad cap.

 

[talonalex92]

Might as well replace the whole cooling system! Hahah. Really, a new thermo would be fine. A cap isnt necessary but its not going to hurt!

 

[Jdiddy2k4]

So someone mentioned a "failsafe" t-stat and seeing as how I know nothing about the kind I need to buy would this be a good one? It is a 180 which is the original temp

AutoZone.com | Shopping | Parts | Product Detail - Thermostat

or should I just go to the dealership and get an OEM one? Also I see the gakset, but along with the gasket they show an O-ring would I need one of those to replace the t-stat also? If these are not good could you direct me to a place to buy a reliable one


On a side note, is there anyway I could check to see if anything has been damaged or any signs I could watch out for?

 

[BUCK]

You certainly want to stay w/Stock Temp for ECU, etc... I've always preferred the "Vented" ones with a small 'bypass" hole in addition to the large Valved port - Even if I drill the small hole myself.

 

[Jdiddy2k4]

So I bought the failsafe t-stat and was looking in the chilton manual and it shows a jiggle valve on the t-stat that looks like a hole. I don't see the jiggle valve on the failsafe I bought , but I do see like a gold piece that moves in and out. Is this the jiggle valve?

 

[greddyturbo19]

i bought a failsafe thermostat and my overflow continues to fill up and over flow every day and i replaced it again and still the same thing

 

[bane3d]

i bought a failsafe thermostat and my overflow continues to fill up and over flow every day and i replaced it again and still the same thing

My experience in the past with symptoms like this was a blown headgasket causing back pressure. Is your overheating or just overflowing? If it's overheating, you can take it to a mechanic and they can do a hydroncarbon test for about $25 and tell you if you have a blown headgasket.

d

 

[Jdiddy2k4]

Well hopefully that is not the case for me . But I just bought it and silly me listening to the autozone lady saying all I needed was the t-stat and o-ring. I said I need a gasket and she said that is it. Now I look at other posts and it seems she didn't sell me the gasket for the t-stat housing now back to autozone.

 

[4G63kidd]

So my 1G DSM keeps overheating. Everything was fine when i first got it... i did many runs in the canyons... first thing i did was change my power steering belt the one that connects to the alternator... then in a week my water pump blows so i replaced it.... as soon as i started driving it it overheated.. so i changed the radiator cap... and this time it still overheated it just took a little longer.... then i replaced the upper Radiator hose and the lower... again it overheated and it took even longer to overheat.. then i changed the thermostat and it was doing fine and all until i went up the canyon halfway the car overheated now i dont know what else to do ive checked the radiator it has no cracks all the wate comes out from the disengage hose thats on the canester i dont know why its doing that any help??? anybody??

 

[talon187]

ok first off how long did it over heat for? and did it go all the way over to the red h ? or just alittle over normal? if you went to the red H for a decent amount of time you ###### wraped the head. if thats the case you need a new headgasket and need to resurface the head. if you didnt mess up the head you might want to check the water pump could be bad. Or try a mechincal gauge. my car said it was over heating but when i put an actual gauge on it the car was running at normal temp

 

[My1GLaser]

Definitely do a compression test. You could also rent a coolant pressure tester from Auto Zone and find the problem that way. Make sure to take all your spark plugs out because you might be able to hear pressure bleeding past the head gasket into the cylinders if that is your problem. Alternatively, it will tell you if you have a coolant leak somewhere that does not show up until the car is under load and driving down the street. My friends car leaked coolant and we could never find it when the car was sitting and idling even with a coolant pressure tester. But after he drove it around and parked it there was always coolant puddling under his car from a mysterious source. It turned out to be the head gasket. I never did a compression test, but I am sure that one would have exposed the headgasket leak.

If your head wasn't warped, resurfacing isn't 100% necessary, but advisable. The OEM HG only requires a clean surface that is below the specs for warpage, but I would personally ALWAYS resurface the head whether N/A or turbo. As for putting it on without a torque wrench, if you didn't get the right torque, did you at least follow a tightening sequence? On ANY sealing surface you tighten the bolts from the center outward in a criss-cross pattern. If you don't and you tighten from the outside inward or something you will actually pull a gap toward the inner bolts that is impossible to get rid of especially when things begin to swell because of heat. You can get away with that kind of stuff on some sealing surfaces, but you have about a 1 in 100 chance of it not being a problem on a head gasket. Sorry Man!

Please get a torque wrench. Sh_t, even a Harbor Freight one for $20 is better than nothing.

 

[talon187]

If its the head i would say get arp head studs a resurface the head and do a mitsu 4 layer metal headgasket i got one and i love the thing my buddy is running 45lbs of boost on his race talon with it and it handles the load with np

 

[ktmrider]

So I bought the failsafe t-stat and was looking in the chilton manual and it shows a jiggle valve on the t-stat that looks like a hole. I don't see the jiggle valve on the failsafe I bought , but I do see like a gold piece that moves in and out. Is this the jiggle valve?

Yep, the failsafe does not need a "jiggle valve" since it opens up and does not block water flow when/if it dies.

 

[Jdiddy2k4]

Ok so I just went out to the garage and pulled the T-stat. Does it look like it would be the culprit? I know the picture is kind of blurry, but what I see is the middle black piece is all the way at the top and doesn't seem to move at all. I tried boiling it on the stove in hot water and it doesn't look like it moved any either.

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[Jdiddy2k4]

Well it seemed to be the t-stat. It is holding rocksteady a little under the middle and I test drove for about 20mi and it held perfect. Good thing for this site or I wouldve paid dealership prices to have it put in . Now if only me getting no heat could be solved as easy as this problem. Thanks all that helped

 

[FlatBlackAndy]

I did the coolant mod that stop coolant from flowing to the Throttle Body. It started pushing my coolant out of the overflow. I undid the mod and it still does it. I replaced the radiator because it had a pinhole in it. I thought maybe air was getting into the coolant system causing it to do that. But that wasn't the problem. The thermostat is brand new. Along with the water pump and headgasket.

Its a 1993 Eclipse n/t Turbo.

This is driving me nuts does anybody know what it could be??!?

 

[Avionixx]

Did you loop the coolant lines (engine side) or did you just block them off?

 

[91 Turbo Mitsu]

Does it push out coolant from the time you start the vehicle or only when it reaches operating temp ? Does it do it at idle or cruising? Give us this info and we can help.

 

[ekanddsm]

go rent a coolant pressure tester put it on the car cold and start it up and watch the pressure, it should move until the engine starts to get warm

 

[TerribleTSi]

this car is a non turbo to turbo conversion??? blown head gasket is what it sounds like

 

[V8notENUF]

[QUOTEDid you loop the coolant lines (engine side) or did you just block them off?][/QUOTE]
+1, Bet they were just blocked off. Meaning not enough coolant is getting circulated, causing the car to overheat. Could also be the Radiator. Did you get a new or used radiator?

 

[FlatBlackAndy]

Did you loop the coolant lines (engine side) or did you just block them off?

They were looped.

Does it push out coolant from the time you start the vehicle or only when it reaches operating temp ? Does it do it at idle or cruising? Give us this info and we can help.

After it warms up it will do it at idle and it will do it even worse while driving.

this car is a non turbo to turbo conversion??? blown head gasket is what it sounds like

Yes but it is a rebuilt turbo engine. Head gasket is brand spankin new.

Could also be the Radiator. Did you get a new or used radiator?

Used radiator but it is in good solid condition!