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!

 

[krummel21]

I installed a new radiator and slim fans and the car is still getting hotter than it should. When I have the a/c on it will raise the temp gauge and the check engine light comes on. If I turn it off it will cool down enough to turn off the light. When driving though the temp gauge stays fine whether the a/c is on or not. I can tell even with out the a/c though it is still hotter than it should because when I turn off the car and let it sit for a couple minutes when I start it up it will rev really high until I drive for a little bit. What would be causing this?

I also live in Florida so it is alot hotter here but I don't think I should be having this problem.

 

[Smurf2gGSX]

check the rad. cap i was having horrible overheating problems it was that, its a cheap too.

 

[Pekkle]

Check for air in your system, and your coolant temp sensor.

 

[krummel21]

Does this sound like a blown headgasket?

 

[Pekkle]

Is your exhaust blowing white smoke, and do you have to refill coolant every now and then?

 

[krummel21]

There wasn't any white smoke when I started the car and I haven't noticed any lately. THe coolent was completely full when I took off the cap too. I don't know if this is a lagitamit test or not but I just took the radiator cap off of the car and watched to see if the water moved but it just stayed still and started to come out the top. Would this mean headgasket is blown or just something in the way?

 

[tjbiker031]

It could be a restriction somewhere in the line.. But i think it would overflow with the cap off anyways. When i had my RS, it would over heat and it was a thermostat (something to check). If you had a blown head gasket, you would know, you would have white smoke blowing out your tailpipe almost constantly, coolant in your oil, and having to add coolant into your system. Mostlikely it is something small like a bad thermostat. Change that first and go from there...could be a water pump too!

Here is a link to help Mitsubishi Repair: 97 Mits Eclipse overheat/check engine, coolant system, constant headaches

 

[dave99gst]

what coolant mix are you running ? 50/50 ? ( more water will cool better )

 

[krummel21]

It is 50/50 the only thing is I'm here only for the summer and have to go back to Iowa where it gets really cold in the winter. Do people usually run a different mix around there?

 

[just90gs]

I installed a new radiator and slim fans and the car is still getting hotter than it should. When I have the a/c on it will raise the temp gauge and the check engine light comes on. If I turn it off it will cool down enough to turn off the light. When driving though the temp gauge stays fine whether the a/c is on or not. I can tell even with out the a/c though it is still hotter than it should because when I turn off the car and let it sit for a couple minutes when I start it up it will rev really high until I drive for a little bit. What would be causing this?

I also live in Florida so it is alot hotter here but I don't think I should be having this problem.

you siad you just put new fans in. Are they wired to pull the air to the motor check that. Also check to see if you have a small leak in any heater hose's or coolant line's going to the throttlebody. If you can put a coolant pressure tester on it. If you want just to make sure your theromstat is good you can also put a lower temp theromstat in it. which would be a good thing for the motor. check those thing,And the cap like he said.

 

[ghettoslide]

Also since you just installed fans make the shroud is positioned right. If not you could get flowing air through and around the radiator, instead of just through. Also may sound lame, but make sure your fans are wired correctly. Make sure they are pulling air through the radiator and not trying to push it back out through the radiator. What that means really is make sure they are turning the right direction. Let us know what happens. I have a few more things you can check if need be.

 

[heckles]

Im with just90gs, check the fan wiring, if the polarity is reversed the fans will blow towards the front. the high idle could be low coolant.

 

[Jeff99GS]

Check the fan wiring and shroud for sure.

Sounds like you don't have any leaks if the coolant is right under the Cap when you open it. I think you should hose out your Radiator. I mean the FINS on the outside. Take the Radiator out of the car and HOSE it out in the opposite direction the air flows. Sometimes dirt and debris can clog up the Radiator enough to reduce its cooling abilities.

Then hose out the inside of it too.

 

[ragdollstalon]

do you have a massive front mount on a restrictive style bumper? i had the same problem with my 2g. take the fans and mount one on the front of the ac condensor itself and make it "push" the air across it. basically your front mount and ac condensor are not letting enough air across it at idle and the air is getting trapped between the turbo and radiator.

the ac condensor is heating up the air even before it get to the radiator, so the radiator is now trying to cool down using hot air! if you push more air across the condensor, the condesor stays cooler and thus making the air going to the radiator cooler!

 

[91turbodsm]

UPDATE: So I took the car back to the mechanic because it was still over heating. And they found that I have low compression (rings) in one of my cylinders and they said they put in new valve guides. But I was driving it around, and it still is overheating. And also, they put a diffuser? right under the radiator to push air up through it. I was thinking of switching over to like 80/20 antifreeze/water. Oh, and also, the water in the over flow has a ORANGE tint to it? This is WITHOUT the a/c on

Andrew

 

[Nick2gGST]

i had an overheating issue, my solution was replacing the radiator car...the gasket on mine overheated and cracked so there was crappy coolant flow when driving ### all the pressure was getting out. do you have any pressure built up in your top radiator hose?

 

[Nick2gGST]

nevermind just read it has too much pressure in the hose..hmm... could the radiator be filled with gunk still after the headgasket blew causing it to not flow properly? do your fans work? and did they resurface the head after they did your headgasket?

 

[91 TSi GP]

you can try to flush your system with a garden hose

 

[eclipse_16g]

alright i installed my punishment racing fmic, after this car seems to over heat everywhere. i tried bleeding the coolant lines and still overheats, i bought a mishimoto radiator with slimline fans and also took out my a/c to give more room to the radiator, and still keeps getting really hot. any suggestions?

 

[Smurf2gGSX]

check the usual stuff like the thermastat.

I had an overheating problem a little while ago and it turned out to be my radiator cap was bad.

 

[91 TSi GP]

i had an issue with my car overheating, i replaced the thermostat, added another fan so one was pushing and one was pulling (both wired to stay on all the time) and i wrapped my manifold. After i did this i have yet to see anything about 190 degrees.

 

[91turbodsm]

Nick, I just put in a brand new radiator from punishment racing, so I hope its not full of gunk. I wouldnt think so. Also yes, both the fans are working. And yes they resurfaced the head when they put it back on.

Andrew

 

[frankenstein406]

the hose that was flexing is it new or newer?

 

[Evil94Evo]

Ok, I've been unable to find anything specific about my scenario and I have a feeling I might know the main cause I just want to get some insight.

92 awd laser, Mods are ETS fmic (I think this is the main problem). 16g, 3" exhaust, all heat shields installed, only one fan but it seems to work right.

The car can sit and idle or be at 2-3k rpm and not have any problem even with the hood shut. As soon as I drive it about a mile it will start to creep up in temperature it will get hot enough eventually to start boiling out the overflow.

There are no "bubbles" when the rad cap is off and its running, I've done a hydrocarbon test on the radiator "air" and it turned up with no hydrocarbons meaning a good headgasket, the compression is fine also.

I've taken the thermostat out and it helps just a tiny bit (maybe). I've flushed and added chemical flush to the coolant and I've tried 100% water which I heard actually cools better then antifreeze?

I guess I'm wondering is the ETS kit blocking out all the air that the radiator needs? The 92 front bumper design basically allows for no airflow other then to the fmic.

I'm going to try replacing the radiator with another one I have that was from a ok running car. Oh, and I've tested the heater core and it seems to flow quite well.

Let me know what you think it might be??

Thanks,
Paul

 

[jdodds]

try another radiator that you know is good. We just ran into that same problem on a skyline with an aluminum radiator. The guy thought the radiator was fine cause it was an aftermarket unit. he replaced everything but the radiator. Turns out the rad was clogged.


Just take the radiator out and flush it really good with a hose