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!

 

[hdoerr]

Well at this point I think that the thermostat is your cheapest, fastest, and last option. Your Rad. would have to be very badly clogged for that to be the problem. Try the thermostat and cross your fingers. Good Luck.

 

[BoBbOrAzE]

I'm really not sure, the thermostat could very well be the problem.

Just as I put on the FMIC this all happened, so that led me to believe it was something other than the thermostat. Yet perhaps now that shes working harder, the thermostat is now proving to be the issue.

Also I didn't realize they were so cheap. I'm going to go now and pick up a thermostat and new cap. I'm going to forget about that second bottle of water wetter, as I don't think thats going to help the overall issue.

Any more help is GREATLY appreciated, I'm checking this thread like every minute.

 

[viprez586]

Does your A/C system blow cool?
If the system is inoperative/ hasn't worked in a while there is a good chance the condenser is clogged and blocking flow to the radiator.

This is something often overlooked when it comes to a vehicle overheating.

 

[BoBbOrAzE]

As I said the A/C belt is off, it hasn't run in a while. So basically I click on the A/C as a simple way to have both the fans running, yet not really the A/C. I think thats ok?

 

[FLASH1970]

I would put in a new thermostat like others stated. If that doesn't work, I would lean towards a radiator clog. Maybe it was flowing just enough to keep the car cool before you installed the front mount.

 

[hdoerr]

Make sure your fan runs at top speed when the car is warm + leave your cap off and check out how well the coolant flows when the thermostat opens and closes. If it doesn't flow well then your water pump may be bad or the rad is blocked.

 

[BoBbOrAzE]

By clicking on the A/C both fans run at max, so that seems ok. I'm leaving now to go grab a stat and new cap. Check back in 20 min.

Thanks so far though!!

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[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

I'm betting stat or how's the condition of your head gasket?

 

[Bigglesworth87]

Well, start with the easy stuff. Check your coolant level. Have you tried to burp the system yet? Are you losing fluid? So, your not running the AC any more? Remove the AC condensor then. If its not being used, its just blocking air flow to the radiator. Do you have stock fans or after market? Replace the thermostat.


I dont think you saw this post though.. This post helped me out.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-engine-fuel/200575-help-im-overheating-heres-how-fix.html

 

[BoBbOrAzE]

Coolant level is all good, not losing fluid. The next owner will most likely be putting on a new AC belt so I'm leaving the condenser for now. No never burped it, going to do it after the swap. Stock fans, yes I saw that post, thats where I got most of my ideas. Just wanted more personal opinions etc.

My compression was excellent last time I checked, before the FMIC install. So unless it somehow happened recently, I think the heads ok.

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Here goes, check back in a little bit.

 

[DSM1G90]

..Looks like a Saturn/Chevy "T-stat" due to that outer seating gasket on the flange. Water Wetter is good though...

Take the radiator out and flush the crap out of it. Bet it's full of rust and junk. Then flush out the block with the heat control open to flush out the heater core as well.

 

[01QuadDak]

I beleive the other member was trying to say that even the though the A/C is non functional, you still have the A/C condensor on front of the radiator.
My 1g rad was okay, i blew it out with air as well, but when i pulled it out of the car, there was a bunch of crap(leaves, small rocks, bug chunks) between the radiator and condensor that no amount of air would ever remove.

 

[BoBbOrAzE]

Swapped everything out, I'm going to let the RTV cure and test it all in the morning.

Yeah, at the very bottom of the condenser there is some leaves, but its nothing major. If the stat and cap don't work, ill consider pulling the condenser to open up more airflow. I'd just give it to him on the side to reinstall later.

Its definitely a little different from the stock. Yet I watched the guy look up my car in the system and thats what he gave me.

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[Boostjunki84]

Did you get a 180 degree t-stat? What t-stat did you have before?

 

[Side_Show]

Well my car over heated becuz i put a mishimoto radiator and the draincock suck which caused a slow leak. Now that it over heated i had no oil pressure when it cranked. When i popped my hood, oil was spilled on my tranny but i dont know from where. I had just put the car a back together like a month or so ago. At that time i changed the head gasket, timing belt, tensioner, idler. Also changed every gasket and seal on my engine including vavle stem seals. I also got some ARP head studs, EGR Block off, eliminated A/C & charcoal canister, and cruise control cable. Basically did like everthing do have this shit mess up on me again so i figured the hell with it and i'm gonna take the engine out and really rebuild it a lil better. Tell me what u think of my lil list

Bored 85.5mm
Deck
Align honed
Crank polished and balanced
Wiseco 9:1 & Eagle rods
Cometic Head gasket or mitsubishi multi layer
Arp Main studs
Topline revised lifter, valve guides, rockers
front cover with oil pump (already have)
BC springs & retainers
I was thinking of some BC cams but i would be using it for a 14b for a while then be upgrading to Evo3 16g, so should i got 264/272 or just str8 272s
Felpro Engine gasket set

I'm just looking to make this car more reliable with a lil more potential which i why i'm basically going to do this. I'm not really going to go all out with this car becuz it's my DD and i already have plans for my GSX. the only other think i would to this Laser is just get DSM link, walbor 255, injectors, and wideband, but thats later when i get back on my feet because all the stuff i'm doing is from my unemployment checks.

 

[jram53]

Swapped everything out, I'm going to let the RTV cure and test it all in the morning.

Yeah, at the very bottom of the condenser there is some leaves, but its nothing major. If the stat and cap don't work, ill consider pulling the condenser to open up more airflow. I'd just give it to him on the side to reinstall later.

Its definitely a little different from the stock. Yet I watched the guy look up my car in the system and thats what he gave me.

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that thermo don't look right...if you got it from autozone take it back thats not the right thermostat i work at AZ and that thermo looks nothing like the ones we sell for these cars they look like your old one

 

[Boostjunki84]

that thermo don't look right...if you got it from autozone take it back thats not the right thermostat i work at AZ and that thermo looks nothing like the ones we sell for these cars they look like your old one

I've looked into the t-stat differences extensively. NAPA, AZ, Advance, Carquest, and O'Riley's, all sell different looking t-stats. IMO, the one that seems the best, and closest to Mitsu-OEM is the Stant t-stat they sell at Advance; I use the Stant 180 degree t-stat. It is also the only one I found with the actual 180 degrees printed on the box. The AZ ones were the next closest.

 

[interex]

In my opinion 9.1:1 pistons are a little much.
272 cams would be good, and a mild head job would be great too go with it if you're considering an E3 16G.
I also would use 3G lifters rather than "topline", and an OEM Mitsu Engine gasket kit.

Just my $0.02

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

It would be interesting to see if the original t-stat was bad. You can put it in a pot of water, turn on the stove and heat it up to see what temperature it opens at. Of course you need a thermometer. I bet it's just not opening up all the way.

 

[BoBbOrAzE]

Yeah, that stat is the Stant 180 deg one. I put the old one in boiling water, opened up fine around 190+...

I added a bottle of wetter and drove her around. There is plenty of pressure in the system, still overheats. At idle with the fans blowing, shes fine. Yet whenever I accelerate or even rev the engine, I can practically watch needle rise and fall.

I notice though that I'm not getting any hot air at all. I've always had the fans pointing away and the windows open so I suppose I never really felt it. Its just the ambient air, yet perhaps its just the heater core door unhooked and the system is fine. Either way this is making me lean even more to going and getting her flushed.

I'm going to mess with burping the system. As well as I've been adding coolant to the reservoir and letting it draw from there, I'm going to add a ton directly into the cap and let the rest just leak out naturally.


I hope something more serious isn't an issue

 

[twack]

Maybe your heater core is clogged.....not fun

 

[BoBbOrAzE]

Fixed it!!

Could be a multitude of things though.

I ended up filling her directly and added a ton of coolant. I did an extremely thorough "burping" with the engine off and on. I removed all the junk that was between the condenser and radiator. Drained some coolant and added a ton more water.

Shes solid now though, no heat or extra fans and she stays perfectly cool!

THANKS to everyone as always. I hope this thread plus pictures will help just as much on top of the others.

This will be my last fix on my GSX Oh well I still have my 90 gs 1.8l

 

[gregalmighty]

Heres the problem I'm having: 95 tsi overheats but only at idle. If I'm sitting in traffic or if I leave the car idling for any period of time greater than 5 minutes the temp gauge starts shooting up and coolant starts coming out of the overflow bottle. As long as I start moving when the temp gauge starts going up it goes back to normal. If I don't let the car sit and idle for long it will never overheat. Some things I have noticed are neither fan will kick on, AC doesn't work and the car burns some oil which I believe is unrelated - stock turbo having 125k on it.

I have read just about every overheating thread and going by what I've read the fan temperature switch is most likely bad. My question is where exactly is this switch located on my car? I looked around the lower area of the radiator on the passenger side but I don't see it. Also when I was looking for a replacement from jnztuning and I don't see the switch on their diagram either: JNZ Tuning Online- OEM Mitsubishi Parts . Also in the Haynes manual it references the fan temp switch but doesn't give any info on it.

I need help locating the switch to replace it and advice on any related sensors or anything which would cause the problems I'm having. Also I'm going to be replacing the thermostat, waterpump and radiator cap. I know those are going to get mentioned so they're on the list. Thanks guys!

Edit: After a little more searching I found that the 2g radiators don't have the fan temp switch on them like 1g's do. Should I actually just be looking at the temp sensor located at the t-stat housing?

 

[Side_Show]

you don't think the revised toplines would be good enough, haven't heard anything bad about them. Don't u think by raising the compression from 7.8:1 to 9:1 it perform a lil better. I know low compression is good for like hi-boost but i think the 9:1 should help a lil more b4 the turbo kicks in.

 

[viprez586]

I beleive the other member was trying to say that even the though the A/C is non functional, you still have the A/C condensor on front of the radiator.
My 1g rad was okay, i blew it out with air as well, but when i pulled it out of the car, there was a bunch of crap(leaves, small rocks, bug chunks) between the radiator and condensor that no amount of air would ever remove.

Just for reference I was talking about foreign material entering the A/C system breaking down the compressor oil + refrigerant, causing an internal clog in the condenser. But yes you should inspect the cooling fins as well and blow out any material trapped in between the bars and fins.

Good to hear you fixed it though!