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'm curious what size/type of slim fans you are using and if you are pushing or pulling?
What CFM are you pulling (or pushing) through the rad?

Also are you positive the fans are doing what you think they are i.e. pushing or pulling?

I know the polarity needs to be changed and the fan blade flipped over to switch the direction of air flow for some fans.

I'm sure you probably have this correct it's just something I was thinking about. I hope you figure it out though best of luck

I am using everything seen here: Talon/Eclipse radiator kit with shroud

I have the fans wired to pull air through the radiator from the front of the car. They are even jumped at the relays so that if one comes on, both come on.

Which ECT sensor? The 2 wire one goes to the ECU (which controls fans) and the 1 wire one goes to the dash temp gauge.

The one that the ecu reads was replaced, the larger one.

check your radiator cap. If it is not holding pressure your coolant will boil at a cooler temperature. In turn heating up your engine faster. I had the same problem change the cap and it fixed it. You also need to make sure the fans are moving the air towards the back of the radiator.

I have the Greddy cap and I don't see anything boiling over into the overflow or anything like that.

i just went through this not to long ago.here is what i did, i replaced my slim fans with the stock fan and ac fan combo.i wired them to stay on all the time and havent seen over 210 on the highway.

You're saying you went back to stock fans?

 

[donniekak]

Stock fans cured my high temp issues on my gvr4. None of the slim fans move as much air. My galant ran cooler with just the passenger side stock fan than with 2 puller and 1 pusher slim fans. I live in arizona and it was 117* yesterday.

 

[mnetwork]

There has to be something being missed though. It isn't even a fan issue... it gets hotter when cruising then when idling. Is it somehow possible theres a some super small crack in the block that wasn't seen or something like that?

 

[miniturbo23]

do this take of your hood and run it like normal and see if it over heats, we have problems with realeasing the heat from our engines.. trust me you probably gonna need a hood with scoops.

 

[93blacktsi]

i put the stock fans back on.after a certian speed the fans really dont do much.its the air that hit the rad that does most of the work.have you done a duct work that will make air hit the rad?the fmic wil block most of it.

 

[mnetwork]

The FMIC is not the problem. I have had the same setup for years and this is only something that has been going on in the last year and is still going on after the new motor.

 

[debbie]

Just trying to throw in a few more thoughts for you, can you remember when you first start having trouble, like was there something that you done or changed???
Also if you had a crack in the block I would think that the crack would have to lead some where then you would get oil in the water or vice versa, could be wrong there but just a thought.
Also you can get a test that involves a chemical, you put the tester with the chemical in the coolant filler so it touches the coolant and it reacts if there's the slightest bit of carbon dioxide from the exhaust in the coolant but again I think that's more for the head gasket and may not be applicable here.
Mentioning the head gasket Have you rechecked the head bolts since you had the work done I read you need to re-torque them after a couple of heat cycles.
Sorry if I have not been much help but the more ideas the better right.
Just another thought you could also do a pressure test on the coolant system and see if you had a leak somewhere even the smallest one will give you a problem.

 

[mnetwork]

I've been having heat problem since last summer around after I did my head gasket. The summer before that I never had problems with heat. Through the winter the car wouldn't run below 193. After it started getting into the spring I'd start seeing low 200's and more when doing pulls. Now in warm weather I'm seeing like 213 while crusing. It pretty much seems exactly the same with this rebuild. The shop is trying to brush it off and I don't know what to do. I did all this mainly because of heat issue, the tunability issue, and the miles on the motor. They made up some bs that they saw temps drop a lot just after changing the temp sensor, but when I drove it it was the same for me. I gave the car right back to them for that reason and another unrelated reason.

 

[tljohnson1]

If the heater core was clogged it could cause the vehicle to overheat. Also take a pyrometer and check ## radiator in several spots to see if there is a clogged spot. If there is a clogged spot it will show a higher temp than the other spots you check.

 

[DSM_PWR]

Im having this exact same problem with my 1g...

Ive replaced/done everything except take everything apart and get the block hot tanked incase of a clogg..

After reading your thread, im starting to consider this "crack" in the block issue

 

[mnetwork]

If the heater core was clogged it could cause the vehicle to overheat. Also take a pyrometer and check ## radiator in several spots to see if there is a clogged spot. If there is a clogged spot it will show a higher temp than the other spots you check.

I was thinking about this. If the heater core was clogged how would it cause the car to overheat? Isn't the heater core an accessory to the coolant flow, not in the middle of it? I didn't think that coolant HAD to flow through the heater core before it could get to the other side.

 

[770eclipse]

I have the fans wired to pull air through the radiator from the front of the car. They are even jumped at the relays so that if one comes on, both come on.

I know your problem. If your fans are in front of your radiator they NEED to be pushing the air through towards your engine. If they are pulling then when you get up to cruising speed the wind coming into the bumper is met by the air that your fans are pulling. Therefore causing the air to basically stop and overheat the car. Change this and I know it will fix your problem. Trust me I did the same thing and the car overheated. If you don't believe me just try it what do you have to lose?

hope this helps
Justin


and no a heater core blockage will NOT cause your car to overheat

 

[timmmyg]

You have checked and/or replaced the CTS correct?


edit: I just reread that you had. A problem I had when I couldn't figure out my temp problem was that the CTS I got from Advance Auto Parts didn't fit correctly and the little probe wasn't long enough. It's an idea, I got one at AutoZone and it worked like a charm.

 

[mnetwork]

I know your problem. If your fans are in front of your radiator they NEED to be pushing the air through towards your engine. If they are pulling then when you get up to cruising speed the wind coming into the bumper is met by the air that your fans are pulling. Therefore causing the air to basically stop and overheat the car. Change this and I know it will fix your problem. Trust me I did the same thing and the car overheated. If you don't believe me just try it what do you have to lose?

hope this helps
Justin


and no a heater core blockage will NOT cause your car to overheat

The fans on these cars don't go in front of the radiator, they go in the back and they pull air through the radiator which is how I have it setup.

You have checked and/or replaced the CTS correct?


edit: I just reread that you had. A problem I had when I couldn't figure out my temp problem was that the CTS I got from Advance Auto Parts didn't fit correctly and the little probe wasn't long enough. It's an idea, I got one at AutoZone and it worked like a charm.

Yes, and it is an OEM one.

 

[MidnightTSI]

I am using everything seen here: Talon/Eclipse radiator kit with shroud

I have the fans wired to pull air through the radiator from the front of the car. They are even jumped at the relays so that if one comes on, both come on.

That is a sweet setup. If I were you I would double check just to make sure they are indeed pulling air through. I had my fans wired so I thought they were pulling and they were actually pushing. My car was doing the exact same thing you are describing. It would start to heat up more the faster I went because I was pulling the hot engine heat into the rad and the fans were working against the air hitting the front of the fans.

If you are positive then don't worry about it. I just know it's easy to mix them up when swapping the wires reverses the blade direction. But I guess since these come with plugs you shouldn't have to worry about it.

 

[mnetwork]

That is a sweet setup. If I were you I would double check just to make sure they are indeed pulling air through. I had my fans wired so I thought they were pulling and they were actually pushing. My car was doing the exact same thing you are describing. It would start to heat up more the faster I went because I was pulling the hot engine heat into the rad and the fans were working against the air hitting the front of the fans.

If you are positive then don't worry about it. I just know it's easy to mix them up when swapping the wires reverses the blade direction. But I guess since these come with plugs you shouldn't have to worry about it.

Well the plugs were just generic plugs. You can fell the fans blowing and if you put a paper infront of the front mount the paper will stick. I also don't fell that is pure movement that makes the heat. I feel that it is constant rpm and load (such has inclines).

 

[blcknspo0ln]

Are you checking on DSMLink what your temperatures are (I'm assuming so). As strange as it sounds, I am going to suggest getting an external water temperature gauge. This way you can tell for sure that your coolant temperature system is out of whack. If there was a crack in your block, chances are you'd get a mixed oil/coolant in the oil pan, check that for sludge. Next is to see if your headgasket was installed incorrectly. Do a leak down test (buy a cheap kit at harbor freight). I had the same mystery overheating years ago and it turned out the cometic headgasket I had was leaking pretty bad, but didn't break the cylinder wall, so I got no smoke.

Oh, yes a clogged heater core would do this. It will restrict the flow of coolant throughout the system (so it'd have a tougher time cooling). Just check the two heater hoses going into the firewall and make sure they're "the same temp"

 

[mnetwork]

Are you checking on DSMLink what your temperatures are (I'm assuming so). As strange as it sounds, I am going to suggest getting an external water temperature gauge. This way you can tell for sure that your coolant temperature system is out of whack. If there was a crack in your block, chances are you'd get a mixed oil/coolant in the oil pan, check that for sludge. Next is to see if your headgasket was installed incorrectly. Do a leak down test (buy a cheap kit at harbor freight). I had the same mystery overheating years ago and it turned out the cometic headgasket I had was leaking pretty bad, but didn't break the cylinder wall, so I got no smoke.

Oh, yes a clogged heater core would do this. It will restrict the flow of coolant throughout the system (so it'd have a tougher time cooling). Just check the two heater hoses going into the firewall and make sure they're "the same temp"

I am sure that it isn't the headgasket since its been like this before and after the new motor build. I was trying to find a coolant flow diagram, but couldn't find one. A clogged heater core could do this? Does everything have to pass through the heater core circulate or is the heater core sort of an accessory to the loop? I hear mixed things about the heater core causing this.

 

[brassc2007]

have you checked the radiator itself for a bad or blocked core i read most of the posts and didnt hear any mention of that

 

[brassc2007]

to me it sounds like a blockage somewhere because at faster rpms you coolant is circulating faster and if it is being block it will run hotter than when you are idleing and the coolant is circulating at a lower rate of speed. Sometimes the water pumps also rust or corrode away and cant circulate the coolant fast enough.

 

[dsm8883]

i also say check the rad. get a temp gun and check the temps on the rad from side to side up and down.

 

[mnetwork]

Well it is definitely not the water pump, I did a new water pump last month and just put it on the new motor. The radiator is brand new as well. Could someone explain how and where the heater core is in the circulation? Does ALL of the coolant HAVE to pass through it, or is an accessory to the loop?

 

[cody92talon]

i am also curious about this because i have a 1g that is doing the same thing. it started this after replacing the head gasket also. i have replaced everything to an still no solution. does anyone have this heater core answers?

 

[blcknspo0ln]

The coolant has to pass through, the system is a whole system with no accessories. I'm not sure which side is IN and OUT, but there are two hoses that go into the heater core. The first one is from the tail end of the water pipe and the other is on the thermostat housing. They are 3/8" in size.

 

[debbie]

I am sure that it isn't the headgasket since its been like this before and after the new motor build. I was trying to find a coolant flow diagram, but couldn't find one. A clogged heater core could do this? Does everything have to pass through the heater core circulate or is the heater core sort of an accessory to the loop? I hear mixed things about the heater core causing this.

Remember you said you had problems after you changed your head gasket?
I think this is the problem, i cant remember if you said what gasket you used but i would try a OEM one as they make a good seal.
You could try and take the two heater core pipes that go into the fire wall and connect them together with a piece of metal pipe to see if that helps.