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!

 

[mnetwork]

I've flushed and changed the coolant many times. I always get a little bit of brown gunk in the bottom of the overlow bottle after a while. I don't think stop leak was ever ran in this car.

 

[95 'clipse RS]

ok, i just wanted to make sure. but anyways it does sound like the heater core is clogged, or you may be right about the water pump too. it either sounds like something is clogged or not getting enough pressure. is the water pump leaking at all? like through the weep holes. what temp rating thermostat did you install by the way?

 

[mnetwork]

Never had a leak at the pump. I have a 170 degree and before this a 180 OEM.

 

[95 'clipse RS]

have you checked coolant flow from the head? take the radiator cap off, start the car and allow it to warm up fully until the thermostat opens and look at the coolant, it should be rushing from the head into the radiator. if it does that then that rules out water pressure at idle.

 

[mnetwork]

I've done that many times, but I never really looked to see if it was rushing or not. Would it even be easy to notice if it is rushing. Usually the coolants starts to raise a little and randomly spills over a little as it gets warmer...

 

[95 'clipse RS]

yeah it will do that, its a little messy but you will definately be able to tell if its rushing. it should look like water coming out of a water hose and nozzle as if you were washing a car. it wont actually come out and burn you or anything, it should be aimed right down the hose. but if it looks like that then you have pressure at idle.

 

[mnetwork]

Just did a compression test for the hell of it... Starting from the crank..

Cyl 1: Between 160 and 165
Cyl 2: 170
Cyl 3: Between 170 and 175
Cyl 4: 180

 

[mnetwork]

Well with the numbers above my headgasket is still fine from the last time I did it... If somone who has had water pump impeller issues could report their issues that would be very helpful...

 

[95 'clipse RS]

well heres a thread i found with a similar problem, its pretty recent too. http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/333803-coolant-not-circulating.html

as for the the compression results, there is supposed to be a max of 14 psi difference across cylinders. it looks like your results are pretty much pushing that.

 

[91DSMdragin]

first i would check the ALT. fuse under the hood. i had the same problem a while back went through everything! felt like i was beating my head against a wall for about a week. hope you find your problem.

 

[stevo911]

The fluculating sounds like low coolant in the rad or a sticky thermostat.

 

[mnetwork]

well heres a thread i found with a similar problem, its pretty recent too. http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/333803-coolant-not-circulating.html

as for the the compression results, there is supposed to be a max of 14 psi difference across cylinders. it looks like your results are pretty much pushing that.

Yeah.. it's weird. Cyl 1 is a tiny bit low and Cyl 4 is perfect. Cyl 2 and 3 are normal. Cyl 1 isn't that low though. I definitely don't have a headgasket problem though.

 

[mnetwork]

So I went outside before.. took the rad cap off and let the car get up to operating temp... The coolant level where the cap would be rose a little so I squeezed the hose to get it down so it was down by the passage way. I put my finger in it real quick and I felt a little something.. not too much movement though. Then I took a dried leaf and took a tiny tiny piece off of it and put it in the coolant where the cap would be, the leaf didn't shoot past it kind of sat there. How does coolant usually look when you open the radiator cap, this is something I've never really payed attentiont to....

 

[flying_eagle]

When mine did that all i took out the thermostat and checked if it was sticking and sure enough it was might help good luck

 

[mnetwork]

You checked if the thermostat was sticking? This is a brand new thermostat...

 

[asexton6969]

Dont overlook your cap, pressure test the cap as well. Use a coolant pressure tester to see if it holds the psi indicated on the cap, typically 15-16 psi is normal. Or just replace it, if you dont have a tester handy.

 

[mnetwork]

Update: I took off the water pump tonight... it was some aftermarket one with the closed fin style. There was a little surface rust on the face of the fin wheel, but it seems fine besides that. I'm going to just put a new Topline one in for the hell of it. If this doesn't solve it what are some other possibilities?

 

[PIMking]

I hope you are doing your timing belt while your in there.

Besides your car wasn't overheating. The fans dont kick on until something like 215* ( dont know if thats right but close)

These cars run warm and like to. I think your a little paranoid.

 

[mnetwork]

The timing belt is a Greddy one and is very very new. Only a few thousand miles on it at most... Also fans are supposed to come on at 200 and the car was hitting 220 on the highway just cruising. At 210 the car starts pulling timing, if it is pulling timing that is not normal temps...

 

[PIMking]

On my DSMlink I havent messed with it but the coolant CEL doesn't come one until 234. I know last summer the fans wouldn't kick on until at least 212 because the autometer gauge is in the thermostat housing.

 

[mnetwork]

Well stock it is 200. And even with both fans on full blast and sitting coolant temps rise above 200. The car is not supposed to run this hot. Normal crusing would be 190s or maybe low 200s on a hot day. 220 isn't dangerously hot, but it is up there and a bit more than it should be. It was only in the 80s when this happened, what is going to hapen on a 98 degree day. Does anyone have any ideas to check if this doesn't fix it?

 

[95 'clipse RS]

So I went outside before.. took the rad cap off and let the car get up to operating temp... The coolant level where the cap would be rose a little so I squeezed the hose to get it down so it was down by the passage way. I put my finger in it real quick and I felt a little something.. not too much movement though. Then I took a dried leaf and took a tiny tiny piece off of it and put it in the coolant where the cap would be, the leaf didn't shoot past it kind of sat there. How does coolant usually look when you open the radiator cap, this is something I've never really payed attentiont to....

did you wait until the thermostat opened? or did it even open at all? and it should look like a little river of rapidly flowing coolant/water.

 

[mnetwork]

did you wait until the thermostat opened? or did it even open at all? and it should look like a little river of rapidly flowing coolant/water.

I have a 170 degree thermostat and I waited till it was at 186 or so.. If I stick my finger in I can feel a little movement, but not too much. Visibly it doesn't seem to flow too much. Putting in a new water pump on Wednesday when it comes. I'm not sure what brand this one was. It is a closed fin kind, doesn't seem bad at all. Going with a Topline OEM style this time.

 

[95 'clipse RS]

it honestly sounds like the water pump, if the thermostat was actually stuck closed it would overheat badly. but with the fact that you're saying the water isn't flowing well, and from the first post that when you rev it up some it drops the temps, it sounds like the pump. if anything, revving the car should make the problem worse, unless the increased rpm is making the water pump build the pressure that it needs.

other possibilities to overheating could be air trapped in the cooling system, a clog somewhere, a stuck thermostat, bad water pump, bad head gasket, not enough coolant in the system, radiator cap not maintaining proper pressure, or a leak.

are you sticking your finger in the coolant when its supposedly 186 degrees?!

 

[rush2252]

I would also pull the heater hoses off going to the heater core and flush it well. If the heater core is plugged off and your air locked in it then this could be a prob. I dont see the water pump you pulled off being the problem if the impeller is still attached and you can spin it freely.

The water should be moving really quickly when you remove the radiator cap. I would focus on the heater core. The fact that you said it wasnt blowing hot is your key. You have to remember too that coolant line run to the throttle body and turbo if your seeing temps upwards of 220 thats no bueno. As for whoever stated normal operating temps are 216 or whatever number that was.. where the hell did that come from? A normal car import tuner domestic runs around 195 thats common sense. If your running 220+ your pulling timing. Water boils at 220 I remember that from the 4th grade.

to the OP just because you have a fancy cap and new thermostat dont assume they are good. Ive sold alot of parts in my lifetime and Ive seen many new parts be bad. Go rent a pressure tester and pump up the cooling system and see if you have any issues there.

Kolby

Just thought of this. You havent re routed any belts after a power steering or ac delete have you? nvm thinking out loud.. I dont supposed it matters because all the accessories are driven off the crank in our cars. i was remembering my buddy trying to reroute a serpentine system after removing his A/C he ran the belt on the wrong side of the water pump and it wasnt pumping correctly man it took him weeks to figure that one out!