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!

 

[alpinestars1239]

i found out it was the head gasket. it let go for some reason.
thanks for your help!

 

[jrohner]

i found out it was the head gasket. it let go for some reason.
thanks for your help!

Warped head or bad or miss-torqued head bolts? If not the head gasket may have went because of the overheating issue, which then causes an even worse overheating issue. The most common cause of a bad heat gasket is overheating. Take your time refilling the cooling system when you get it back together.

 

[alpinestars1239]

well its my friends car and he was getting on it alot in the first 100 miles. i did the stock rebuild for him and im sure the stock gasket just didnt like the abuse. i've never had this problem before though ahah. we're putting a 4layer metal gasket on now.

 

[eclipsepunx]

If it was a stock mitsu head gasket than you need to smack your friend. Takes a lot of abuse to blow one.

 

[alpinestars1239]

yea i told him he's on his own fixing it. ahah enough favors.

 

[spydaski]

Did some searching, not a whole lot of luck. I drive my car about 3 times a week. And she has been running fine, no problems, just did a little work not too long ago, Magnus SMIM, CC delete, and fuel lines. Well today I started her up, let her run for about 15 minutes, I like to let my car sit for a little while and get my oil pressure down. Well when I was leaving, I saw my temp gauge, stock, was alittle high. Didnt think much of it, but I kept an eye on it for awhile. Well about an hour after driving it, and one restart later, she started getting hot, almost maxed out on the gauge. Couldnt figure out why, so I sat with the engine off, but accessory on to let it cool down. Then I started back up and the car remained normal for the rest of the ride home.
Could this be a thermostat going bad? or something else. This is the first time that i have had a problem like this. thanks in advance.

 

[4Gmoney63]

My car was overheating intermittently like that and it turned out to be the thermostat. Its cheap and easy to replace so its worth a shot.

 

[JayRolla]

Make sure you fans are kicking on. If they are I would go to the next step of replacing thermostat. Going with a 170* will drop temps by about 10*.

 

[Dr Vic]

Hi Guys,

I just took my talon out just to test it after putting in a rebuilt motor. The car is overheating like crazy. I noticed the upper hose was hot and some fluid is leaking out of the heater hose connected to the thermostat housing. Ive attached a pic where the hose is attached to in the thermostat housing. I also noticed that the lower hose was not as hot as the upper hose. Im thinking my radiator may be clogged up since some coolant is backing up and my fans are not turning on despite the car overheating. Am I right? Is there a way I can clean up the radiator if it was clogged?

The second thing I want to ask is regarding this incident where my ground wires started smoking really bad. This happened twice once when I started the car the second was when I just turned on the ignition without starting. The rubber covering of the ground wire connecting the intake manifold and the body smoked till it was almost charred. I did notice though that the ground wire from the trans to the body was not connected. Do you guys think it might have been a short and that was only because the ground wire from the trans was not connected?


Vic

 

[ali]

get a new thermostat

 

[Dr Vic]

I looked at the haynes manual and it said if the upper hose is hot then there is flow through the thermostat. The sensor that activates the fans is in the lower part of the radiator right?

 

[rush2252]

Okay.. I would stop and go back and recheck my work if I were you. Something obviously isnt correct or your ground wires wouldnt be smoking. It may or may not have to do with your other issue but I would say theres a good chance your fans arent coming on because you have a short or something wire incorrectly. I wouldnt risk destroying the engine harness/ecu as tracing burnt wiring and electrical problems can turn into a nightmare really quickly


Kolby

 

[antilag]

If your upper hose is hot and your lower hose is not then it is either the t-stat or your water pump. Yours fans don't come on because no hot coolant is getting to the sensor at the bottom of the radiator to make them come on. I would start with just changing the t-stat.

 

[raekwon]

please change that Thermostat asap and check your fan switch. You can usually tap it with a paper clip or something to make it stay on.Good luck

 

[Dr Vic]

where is the fan switch?

 

[rush2252]

If your upper hose is hot and your lower hose is not then it is either the t-stat or your water pump. Yours fans don't come on because no hot coolant is getting to the sensor at the bottom of the radiator to make them come on. I would start with just changing the t-stat.

STOP telling him its something mechanical when there are other issues involved. DID YOU READ THE OP... he stated his ground wiring was smoking. Something isnt hooked up correctly. If you dont go double check your work and something blows up please dont come crying back to us that a water pump and thermostat didnt solve the issue.


Kolby

 

[Dr Vic]

I read a post just now which kinda seems similar to what Ive experienced. When I'm testing the car out I don't have one of those red covers on the positive terminal of the battery. I think this is probably the reason.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/problem-diagnosis/57039-car-dies-burnt-ground-wire.html

 

[Jaybird947]

Ok so Rush you were right! my dad Finally helped me out and he got it in time. its running like a raped ape! I LOVE MY DSM!

Thanks a lot everyone for your time and help. I really Appreciate it!

 

[rush2252]

No problem. Glad you got it running again. Who says you cant teach and "old dog" new tricks


Kolby

 

[Afroclipse]

Sounds like CAS to me, I had the same problem and did what you did and more but sooner or later the no start kept happening more frequently until I switched to 1g CAS. Somehow your dad got the CAS and Crank sensor to agree again and it started, mine agreed then disagreed over and over again.

 

[Jaybird947]

Well it has a little trouble starting in the mornings. I have to give it a little throttle but then after a few cranks she'll fire right up.

 

[wase1212]

okay so my car has recently just started doing this. I have a 96 awd talon tsi.. and when im idling.. (sometimes rolling.... or at speeds up to 40km/h) my water temp starts rising.. and i get really scared cause it rises slowly.. then shoots up.. but then as soon as i get moving.. like as soon as i reach 60 km/h it shoots back down. I dont understand whats wrong. I have coolant in the car.. i recently just got my oil changed...so if anybody can tell me why? thatd be really awsome. Oh i have a turbo timer in the car. and recently i havent been letting it go off.. i just turn the car off.. would that maybe a reason why?

 

[RayBan GST]

check your overflow tank if its full or if the coolant inside it is boiling ? check if you have any oil in there ? what is the color of your coolant


it can be a simple fix as a Radiator cap not sealing propoerly and letting your coolant go to the overflow can

check everyhting and check if you have air in the system then you need to BLEED it off


when was the last time you changed you water PUMP?

 

[IE Spyder]

Are your fans turning on? Let it idle and warm up to see if your fans kick in.

 

[boostx]

Sound like the fans are not comming on as what IE Spyder said..