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!

 

[95fwdtsi18psi]

No, the thermostat just sits int he housing, make sure the o-ring was on it when you installed it. The water pump could have went out I suppose, is there any coolant on the pump its self? It could be leaking out of the weep whole if it is going out. Just replace any coolant hoses that are corroded and or look bad. Don't forget to flush your whole system while you are at it.

 

[habitatguy187]

I'm more concerned with the timing belt side of the motor. Reconnect your hoses, fill the system with water (just temporary in case it keeps leaking) and remove your timing belt covers to see what's going on over there.

 

[EagleTalon1993]

I would also get a chiltons or haynes manual usually <$20 to show how the cooling system is configured to make sure all your hoses are routed correctly. Once they are top it off with water only as habitatguy187 says and see if it leaks around the water pump area or anywhere else if it's holding the water then drain refill with the proper coolant/water ratio and your good to go.

Also depending on how long it ran hot there may be a head gasket issue or warped cylinder head (I Hope not) check to see if any water is mixed in with your oil.

I had to replace everything related to the cooling system on my 93 Talon from the radiator water pump heater core fans hoses thermostat and housing (I broke the original housing overtightening it) all the components were rusted out from the previos owner running it on just water with no coolant. Good Luck

 

[EagleTalon1993]

I would also check the radiator cap and make sure the spring isn't worn and the seal is good

 

[Bubbs Malone]

I 2nd that, my cap was bad and caused some grief.

 

[lude000]

well as its been said burp your system and check your cap

 

[slickers111]

Check for a crack/leak in the hose, make sure the cap is on, and put in some more coolant.

 

[Anger890]

Fill the cooling system, rent, borrow, beg, whatever needs to be done, get a coolant system pressure tester. Put 16 lbs of pressure on the cooling system. Find and fix all leaks that are present. Do not run the engine until you can veryify you are not dumping coolant out a hose or bad seal. Once you can be certain you have no external leaks, run the engine, get a piece of wood or a long handled screwdriver. Position it on the water pump and listen to see of the pump is moving water. Are the accy belts that drive the waterpump on the car?

You say it got hot, how hot are we talking? The way you talk about the white smoke pouring out, it makes me think your head gasket took a vacation to no longer intact land.

 

[95fwdtsi18psi]

You say it got hot, how hot are we talking? The way you talk about the white smoke pouring out, it makes me think your head gasket took a vacation to no longer intact land.

Drugs will send you to that god forsaken island. Our lesson of the day: Don't do drugs!

 

[BryanCenterfitt]

well i would say do a pressure check on the head, make sure that u did't fry any thing(rings,piston...ect..)
The hose you are showing does in fact look like a vac. hose, that would be one reasion your idle would be running away, plus, u may wanna chack the coolant temp sensor, it will be on your thermostat housing, should have two wires going to it, when u ran out of coolant you could have fried it, and that can also have affected the way your car runs....

 

[maladora_ai]

heres a good "basic" checklist for ANYTIME have overheating probs

1.check coolant level
2.remove thermostat all together(temporary) put thermostat housing back together and run
3.check radiator fans to make sure there running
4.check oil for milky grey color (good indication head gasket warped or broke)
5.if all these turn out ok do a coolant system flush

cheap generic way to do coolant sytem flush
1. remove thermostat bolt housing back up
2.disconnect upper radiator house
3.stick garden hose in radiator turn on water facet and let the car run for about 5 mins with water still runnning

4.turn off car
5.replace thermostat with new one


as for the white smoke i cant say for sure without actually being there but it could be steam building up and coming out of the overflow bottle or if there isnt an overflow bottle the steam could be coming back through the overflow "hose" that is supposed to be going into the overflow bottle.

if after the "basic" checklist and everything is ok with that,

then you may need to either have the radiator rodded out or replaced

anyway hope it helps

 

[Dert]

That would actually keep it cooler, as the coolant would always be recirculating through the radiator, the thermostat doesn't open until the coolant in the motor reaches a certain temperature.

If the thermostat was stuck open the car would probably never reach operating temperature in the winter, as the coolant would always be circulating through the cold cold radiator.

yep you are 100% correct as my car (up here in Canada) was cold as hell all winter last year, it would never heat up, but this past winter I replaced the thermostat because mine was stuck open and what do ya know...lovely heat! so scratch the thermostat being stuck open as this is not the case....possible water pump failure???

 

[_Adrian_]

If the thermostat is stuck open it shouldn't overheat.
pull the thermostat out and refill the cooling system and run it with out it.
If it still overheats would look at a water pump replacement, if not then you problem lies somewhere else.
Do this and then check back with us.

 

[giovanniv]

Ok so my dad "test drove" my car the other day and started to have a little too much fun with it and it overheated. Now it didn't get bad at all like we got home and we smelled some like burning coolant so we open the hood and sure enough the overflow bottle is full. So far what I have changed is the lower rad. hose, thermostat to a OEM 180, and a blown rad. fan fuse. What else could be wrong with it? I'm stuck....

 

[KING4ADAY]

this happened after you replaced the parts? are you gettting heat from the heater in the car? when you start the car up is the coolant in the overflow tank? is it sucking down when running? is this an overflow tank or just the filler tank? does the temp gauge work?

 

[giovanniv]

No it overheated and then I procceded to purchasing all the parts. I do get heat and there is also some overflow in the overflow tank but it never gets sucked in and the temp guage does work. I also bought a new radiator cap.

 

[KING4ADAY]

are you leaking coolant , the only time this happened to me was when i had a leak in the system so it wasnt building up pressure enough to work properly. hopefully not blown head gasket

 

[eeeewidner]

Are your cooling fans coming on at the right time. It should be around 210 degrees.

 

[Bubbs Malone]

When you replaced the hose, did you burp the system. I found that air in the system really causes trouble with these cars.

 

[giovanniv]

When you replaced the hose, did you burp the system. I found that air in the system really causes trouble with these cars.

I defently hope it's that cause I didn't do that. I just put coolant and let out as many airpockets out as possible with the car off I will try to burp the system tomorrow then!

 

[canada4g63]

could be a head gasket, depends on how hot he got it. Alummin heads don't like getting hot if your head is warped get it shaved, then put a 4layer MLS head gasket on it with ARP studs.

 

[Calan]

Kids should never let us old hot-rodder dads drive their....errr....umm... I mean I'm sure it's nothing he did

You shouldn't really see the coolant level in the overflow fluctuate while the car is running, but it should be at a different level between when the engine is hot and when it's cold. The radiator cap lets the coolant system "breathe"; it will both bleed excess pressure to the bottle when it's hot, and suck it back into the engine and radiator as it cools down. But it's normally a somewhat slow process.

If you haven't seen it yet, read through this article about head gaskets; it may give you some ideas on what to look for.

 

[cjk123]

Alright I am completely stumped and need some help. So my car has started to overheat. My radiator fan won't kick on no matter how hot it gets. Now if i turn my a/c on, both fans will turn on, but that is the only way I can get either fan to turn on. Without them both on of course the car begins to overheat very quickly.
Now here is everything I have replaced trying to fix the problem, some of them were done before this issue even started, but it had always ran slightly hot and sometimes would begin to overheat but if i pulled over, turned the car off and then back on, everything was fine. But all replacements have been in the last week and the issue started two days ago.
1. 160 degree thermostat (never used anything other than the stock 192 before and wondering if this could be involved somehow??)
2. Temperature sending unit also called the temperature switch
3. Coolant Temperature Sensor
4. Cooling fan switch (both on the thermostat housing and the bottom of the radiator, the bottom of the radiator one I think is called like the thermo temp switch or something like that, but I was told they're the same sensor so I replaced both of them)
5. The radiator fan relay

Yet for some reason the fans will only kick on if a/c is on and even then it seems to run slightly hot. I have been looking and cannot see any leaking from my water pump.

I really really need some help on this one because I cannot figure it out for the life of me and I obviously cannot keep driving my car while its running hot.

 

[Shaggy_357]

I don't know what to tell you about the fans unless there is a short in the wiring. However, it shouldn't be overheating THAT quickly, are you sure your radiator cap is still good? Also, you might check for a block somewhere in the system, maybe the hot coolant isn't making it to the sensor, and that's why your fan isn't turning on when it's supposed to. A way to check this, depending on where the clog is, is to feel both sides of the radiator after you run it. If both sides aren't the same temperature, you have a problem. Good luck

 

[cjk123]

I will try to check for a clog tomorrow. I have ran water through from a garden hose several times and it seems to be fine. I will try that though. I think my radiator cap is fine, its only a couple months old and there is no leaking from it or hissing or anything. I guess i'll just replace it for the hell of it but I don't think that is the issue.

If there are any more suggestions please keep them coming, I am willing to try anything I can at this point.

I tried that stuff and still overheating and the fans not turning on. I couldn't find a clog anywhere.