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!

 

[holo]

ok i was looking under the hood and the wires to the fan are all melted they were touching the exhaust manifold?? i am currently fixing that i'll see if it solves the overheating problem.

 

[assault187]

while you fixing that, check the fuse for the fans if the wires are melted. They may have grounded out and popped a fuse.

 

[Backinajiffy12]

Ok so today my car went past the 3rd line on a 4 mile round trip. and i was like WTF. so i wanted to see if the coolant was flowing and it wasnt? and after a second it started to overflow and bubble over. does that mean my thermostat is bad?

 

[mephist0]

Any updates on yer problem?

 

[Backinajiffy12]

your Temp sending unit or sensor could be bad.

 

[talon14turbo]

Any updates? Did you ever put the thermostat & antifreeze in the car?

 

[Stainbox12]

Yes, since i know, my problem was not a clogged radiator, a cap, a themostat or any of the above, i opted to tear down the engine. I sent the block to a very reputable machine shop here in my country, to have it checked and decked, they told me it had .003 warpage, wich i think it was probably causing the overheat. The head was sent to machine shop to have it decked too, before i teared down the whole engine, and in fact it was warped, but i thought it was going to solve the problem, but obviously it didn´t. After reassambling the engine with the decked block, and putting new rings on too. I started the car, i left it idling, but i didn´t move it, the temp needle got close to the middle after around 15 mins but never got straight up. i opened the radiator cap after that, and it didn´t spray water out as it was doing before. But one of my fans had a short and it began throwing smoke, so i had to remove it because it went bad. I saw a small water leak from the radiator, which i still need to check, and im also looking for a new fan, probably a slim one. I have a cometic head gasket custom made for my application, which i reused and i torqued it with the stock head bolts to 80lbs. I still need to take the car for a drive, but i havent had a chance since i´ve been really bussy working. But this weekend, ill probably ride it a bit around to see how it behaves. I do follow a rule of thumb here: If my engine overheated because a hose went bad on the turbo and i drove it with no coolant or very little coolant on it, and it still overheated all the other days after that, then it definatly not a bad cooling component. We are talking here about the engine taking a dump, by warping, and in extreme cases which i think was mine, then the block got warped too. I don´t see any reason, to replace a water pump, check the radiator replace hoses, try a thermostat, if i knew from the beggining that i overheated because i ran it with no water/antifreeze, there´s no bandage fixes for overheating. This is just deck WARPAGE. Ill post an update whenever i drive it a bit, with no signs of overheating. Wish me luck.

 

[jking29]

You shouldn't ever reuse the stock head bolts. You really should replace them with new or better yet a set of arp's.

 

[Stainbox12]

Wrong. 6bolt engine head bolts are reusable. 7bolt engine head bolts are non-reusable because they stretch. Btw, there was a thread around in another forum, proving that 6bolt head bolts were stronger than arps. I´ve been building this engines for a while already, so i know what im doing. Thanks for the heads up though.

 

[holo]

the fans are controlled by a relay not a fuse. i replaced the wires but the fans still won't turn on. i let it get to 75% on temperature gauge and they still did not turn on. any ideas?WTF

 

[holo]

ok i replaced the relay for the fan and they both turn on now. thanks for your help assault187!!

 

[Stainbox12]

Alright. It has been resolved. I took out the car, for a drive, and it didn't overheat. So it was the block in fact that was warped. This usually doesn't happen in cast iron block, but it's known to happen. I also sent my radiator to get cleaned and pressure tested. I was afraid that maybe, the head was cracked somewhere, and it was throwing out compression to the water, hence caussing the overheat. But now that the block has been resurfaced and the head is decked as well, im running a cometic head gasket, custom made for my application with no signs of leaking. If you have any other questions, or similar problems, for the ones looking for an answer, let me know. Thanks for all the help given.

 

[MidShipCivic]

Wrong. 6bolt engine head bolts are reusable. 7bolt engine head bolts are non-reusable because they stretch. Btw, there was a thread around in another forum, prooving that 6bolt head bolts were stronger than arps. I´ve been building this engines for a while already, so i know what im doing. Thanks for the heads up though.

Cite the info you are referring to regarding the head studs vs head bolt.

No one really likes using hex oem head studs they like to deform.

 

[Stainbox12]

They deform on the top you mean? I've never had a problem with it. You actually deform them if you slip the HEX tool. And you are right, i guess its studs and not bolts. Anyway, i think we are getting off topic here. I just posted my solution for people with similar issues.

 

[MidShipCivic]

NO oem use bolts arp are studs and those HEX actually do deform... I had to use so much downward force to remove them .

 

[xreaction122]

my car has been famous and i thought i was over with that.

the list of things ive replaced less than 1000miles agounishment racing radiator core with 2 slim fans running at all times/OEM thermostat/1.3bar cap/flushed and new coolant/water +bottle of water wetter/brand new coolant lines around the engine bay/up+low samco radiator hoses.

pretty much everything you can do to a car thats overheating related.


im thinking either the thermostat is crap or the headgasket but it shouldnt be blown since that was replaced not more than 10000 miles ago..im not seeing white smoke.

ive been running for a long time without the overfill tank but it never overheated when i didnt have one..i just put one on and no good..

it started doing this ever since i put my 1g tb in..WTF
maybe the passages are blocked idk. but its getting worse and i got new lines when i put the tb in

any other possibilities???

 

[GSX93DSM]

A head gasket can blow at anytime. Too much boost with stock head bolts. Too much torque on head bolts. So many possibilities overall wear and tear. I would start with thermostat and gasket first. Make sure you bleed it good.

 

[xreaction122]

A head gasket can blow at anytime. Too much boost with stock head bolts. Too much torque on head bolts. So many possibilities overall wear and tear. I would start with thermostat and gasket first. Make sure you bleed it good.

well the engine is practically new. ARP head studs in it also. i did not run the car more than 20psi. and what are you telling me to bleed??

 

[nyTalonTsi]

When you change your thermostat use some sealant on the housing. After you finish, take off your

radiator cap and start the car while the engine running top off the radiator. Let it run till it reaches

normal operating temp. Do this to make sure you remove all air from cooling system. GL

 

[TalonTsi31]

i put a 160 thermostat in mine and it solved all my problems.

 

[xreaction122]

little update on my problem.

i got a brand new 170 thermostat today and drove it for around ~15 mins and WOW!

its worse. flushed the coolant and added a bottle of water wetter this time.



what does this come down to...head gasket??

my compression is fine and im not shooting out white smoke.

WTF

any more obvious ones?

 

[xe0]

little update on my problem.

i got a brand new 170 thermostat today and drove it for around ~15 mins and WOW!

its worse. flushed the coolant and added a bottle of water wetter this time.



what does this come down to...head gasket??

my compression is fine and im not shooting out white smoke.

WTF

any more obvious ones?

If you want to rule out a bhg do a leakdown test, it's the sure fire way. I had a problem like this before and it turned out there was a blockage in the heater core . After i reamed that clean, all was good. Are you sure it's been bled properly?

I like to rev it up to about 4k and hold it steady with the radiator cap off for about 3 seconds then a quick race to 5-6k and back to idle. It seems to help push out any trapped air. Also, make sure you have the heater on while your doing this.

Good luck, Adam

 

[No_Skillz]

If you want to rule out a bhg do a leakdown test, it's the sure fire way.

I also had a blown HG with no symptoms other than overheating. Compression test was normal. Leakdown is the way to go at this point, esp if your overheating just randomly started. Besides, weather is cooling down, even a weak cooling system (which doesn't sound like your problem) should have an easier time beginning around this time of year.

 

[xreaction122]

I also had a blown HG with no symptoms other than overheating. Compression test was normal. Leakdown is the way to go at this point, esp if your overheating just randomly started. Besides, weather is cooling down, even a weak cooling system (which doesn't sound like your problem) should have an easier time beginning around this time of year.

oh...i was hoping it wouldn't come down to this

the weird thing is that for the first 10 minutes, the temp goes up and down from overheating to normal operating temp. but once you drive for more than 15 mins, the needle just stays up there

hmm could it be the water pump??

 

[No_Skillz]

oh...i was hoping it wouldn't come down to this

the weird thing is that for the first 10 minutes, the temp goes up and down from overheating to normal operating temp. but once you drive for more than 15 mins, the needle just stays up there

hmm could it be the water pump??

Could be... but if your lower radiator hose is warm/hot, that means coolant IS circulating. You could also check by taking off the radiator cap and watching the movement of the fluid. Once the car reaches 170*, thermostat should open and coolant circulates. If flow of coolant is slow or stopped, it definitely is indicative of a waterpump (esp since you just replaced the thermostat). Have a rag or two ready since some coolant will flow out when the car warms up.