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]

Both should be engine-temperature. If the shop has it now, just tell them to not hook up the coolant lines when they assemble the motor again and instead, just loop the waterpipe to the thermo housing. It'll save you the headache.

Should this be the same for the radiator hoses as well? They should both be the same temp? If not, then what are reasons that could be? I feel like I've seen them different temps before...

 

[jhood99]

No , they haven't showed me the old parts. About the compression test , I think that's the only thing that's left. If it is my headgasket , I refuse to let it get done by mitsu , unless it's free of charge.

 

[LiquidX]

It better be free after all that money you blew because they said it fixed the problem when it obviously didn't especially if it's the head gasket. Freaking dealerships!

 

[blcknspo0ln]

The only time your upper radiator hose is hot and the lower radiator hose is cold is when the thermostat has not opened yet.

 

[mnetwork]

The only time your upper radiator hose is hot and the lower radiator hose is cold is when the thermostat has not opened yet.

Yes, I know that, but how about when the top is hot and the bottom is mildly warm? What would that mean?

 

[turboglenn]

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.

same here, after years of trying every slim fan there is and doing every other thing i could think of i stuck the OEM fans back on and built IC pipes to fit around them... No overheating since

I personally think that unless it's a drag car slim fans suck... MY car now makes 431 horse daily driven on E85 (and yes i push it hard EVERYDAY at 30psi and i am on stock fans and radiator with NO ISSUES at all... IMO ALuminum radiators and slim lines are just for looks on these cars and another gimmick to make money. I've never seen gains from them on anything except mustangs and other V8 cars

 

[mnetwork]

same here, after years of trying every slim fan there is and doing every other thing i could think of i stuck the OEM fans back on and built IC pipes to fit around them... No overheating since

I personally think that unless it's a drag car slim fans suck... MY car now makes 431 horse daily driven on E85 (and yes i push it hard EVERYDAY at 30psi and i am on stock fans and radiator with NO ISSUES at all... IMO ALuminum radiators and slim lines are just for looks on these cars and another gimmick to make money. I've never seen gains from them on anything except mustangs and other V8 cars

I almost feel like the aluminum radiator makes the car run hotter. Right after I installed it months ago I let the car idle. I felt like the temps climbed higher at idle than they did before. I cleaned out my stock radiator last night and checked ot make sure it wasn't clogged at all. I'm going to put it back in when I get the car back and see what happens...

 

[goodluck_laser]

Ok so first off yes I've checked for leaks, rad cap holds pressure, I tried getting all air out of system by running it to normal temp then undoing cap and keep adding coolant till it wont take anymore, after I did that took it on the highway quickly still overheated, and yes thermostat is in properly but I've heard of ppl using non-turbo thermo in turbo whats the difference?
turbo talon what are you talkin about with baffles?
o and ya fans are kicking in when sitting idling.
a day or two ago I took it for a test drive and car didnt have the power it had before so I dont know what that means now but I know I have to change my drive belt.
And one more question for everybody I was thinkin about changing my water pump for safe measure and I have a parts car but a non turbo will the pumps change out? 90 non-turbo to 91 turbo?

 

[ek9hatch]

okay here we go i looked and looked and couldnt find any answers so im posting this thread in hoping to get an answer here we go.

first off my car is overheating when i get on the throttle and cools when im driving normal
i replaced the thermostat and still the same but when i replaced the thermostat i saw metal flakes in the coolent and i was like what is this. so i decided to do a coolent flush on it and only about half gallon in there so i thought it was a clog in the radiater so i ran the water hose full blast and it was flowing freely so i did the same to the thermostat housing and the same freely so i put everything back together and come to fill only half a gallon and still metal flakes in the coolent i drove for like 10 mins and man was it boiling with steam the car doesnt smoke and no cel lights on indicating a sensor gone bad. and before i took the car for a drive 10mins the coolent was full when i got back it was low so i added some to the full mark again and let cool when i went back it was low i dont see any leaks what so ever in the hoses or coolent on the floor i only have a front mount but i dont think that is doing it.please help what is this metal flakes and why only half a gallon

 

[95420A]

You could be leaking under pressure. I had a couple pin holes in my radiator and it would only leak when I was driving it. Also how new is your water pump. In either case you should have had to put in way more than a half gallon after doing a flush. Maybe a blockage in your water pipes?

 

[wondersb]

get hold of a coolant presure tester and make sure the cooling system holds at least 13lbs for at least a couple min. water under presure boils at a higher temp then water that isn't under presure. That will make it over heat. also at higher speeds or rpm's there is more water presure inside the system that will cause a small leakage whitch will show little sign but will still overheat. a little thery.

 

[ek9hatch]

i dont know how old the water pump is but i thought it leaks when its getting bad and yeah only half a gallon went in and do i replace all coolent lines and then see and what are those metal flakes. and i took off the cap and had started the car and i could see the coolent flowing like it should. how do i unclog the water pipes if thats problem without taking everything apart and when i did the flush i didnt have the car on do i have to run the water hose while its running i mean i dont know i assume u use water to flush.

 

[goodluck_laser]

yup a theory but definately a theory im gonna check out and see if it tells me something thanks

 

[southrneclipser]

ive previously got the same problem and ive replaced everything except the radiator. if anyone has an after market radiator for a 2g 420a they want to sell let me know. ([email protected])

 

[cookmeup272]

And im pretty sure MAP is having a sale on mishimoto radiators. I got one in my car now

 

[DSM BoosT]

Ok this is weird so that's why I come to you guys!

I have a 95 talon tsi FWD and when I'm driving the line where its supposed to be normal on my gauge for the oil temp it goes passed it but not to the next to last line where its going into the H anyway ill put a picture if needed, it only goes up when I'm driving on the highway but when I get off it goes to the middle then when Idling it goes down to the L. Is the sensor broke??? Do I need more Rad or coolant fluid???? also if this helps it cools down when heat is on so that's why I don't think the sensor is broken cause I'm taking heat out of the engine bay so I DUNNO HELP!!!!!!!! fast responses are greatly appreciated thank you!!

 

[Joe Cool]

If it is on the left, next to the factory boost gauge, that should be the oil PRESSURE gauge.
That gauge will fluctuate like that and is normal under those kinds of conditions.

If you have an aftermarket oil temperature gauge, which it doesn't sound like you do, that would be a totally different case.

As long as your COOLANT gauge, the one on the right that looks like a little boat, is staying near the middle when fully warmed up, you shouldn't be overheating.

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[DSM BoosT]

haha thank you that's what I thought but its been fluctuating more than usual its probably because its been getting hotter every day so yeah thanks again!

 

[Colt4G63 also]

I almost squirted cheerios out my nose when I read this one.

 

[1gDSMike]

That has happened to me before, some metal in the coolant. Turned out my waterpump was scorching the side of the housing. Hope this helps.

 

[jhood99]

New Update:
They say that the car is pushing coolant in cylinders 3&4 when the car is under load. They say they don't know if it's the head or the head gasket..? Anyone have an idea , im just done with the car. I want to get it fixed then sell it.Should I just buy another head and headgasket and kill two birds with one stone or can there be a bigger problem at hand?

 

[One Equals Two]

Alright, I've been trying to read up on a bunch of different posts related to overheating, but realized that I couldn't come up with one definite answer. I apologize in advance if it's a total "newbie" kind of thread, but I haven't been able to locate anything regarding my type of problem.

IT'S ALSO LONG, SO I APOLOGIZE (but long story short, it seems like the A/C triggers it to overheat in any circumstance: freeway, city, day, or night, hot or cool regardless if it's fine otherwise.)

Car: 98 GST, very large intercooler (I thought this might be the problem), running 21 psi, CAI, stock rad, stock TD05? turbo, aftermarket BOV, computer tuning thing (I can't remember what it's called), running rich according to the air/fuel meter....

So, my car overheats (duh). I'm used to cars and the typical overheating kinds of problems, however, I can't quite put my finger down on this one, so I am guessing it's actually two or three problems.

**Note** 3 days ago, before I bought the car, I let it run for 30 minutes idling in 95 degree weather in the sun and had no problems. Now, it does this.....

(What it does): At first, when I bought it, I flipped the A/C on and was driving to the gas station. I got stuck in stop and go traffic and the temp gauge went up next to the "H", so I pulled over, switched off the A/C and flipped the heater on full blast. This did nothing and the car's temp kept climbing. I shut it off. The heat was hot, so I am getting coolant flow from the water pump.

It took me 2 hours to complete a 15 minute commute because I was continually starting and stopping (Grrr!!).

I got it home and the coolant was boiling like crazy, so I figured since it was a hot day, it was just too much. So I topped it off with coolant and took it for a spin. It was still 95 degrees, so I used the A/C again figuring that I was on the freeway and it was okay. But I was wrong, the coolant temp at 65 mph rocketed right back up to 3/4 up (sorry, no aftermarket gauge) in a matter of a minute, so I switched off the A/C and the coolant temp went back down to the original "slightly below middle" mark. However, I again got stuck in stop and go later and the temp slowly picked up until it got to "H". I shut it off and waited. Then I filled it with a little coolant and drove it to my girlfriend's. It was fine the whole way. The coolant was still boiling though and leaking out the overfill spout.

Then I got it to my shop and flushed it, added WaterWetter, a new thermostat (there was none before), and figure I'd be good because there was a LOT of crap in there.

BUT I WAS WRONG. Actually, I drove from my shop to my house and it didn't even get hot. The coolant wasn't boiling at all and the temp gauge never moved, even with punching it and waiting at a couple of traffic lights. Then I took it on the freeway for 15 minutes and it never got hot either. After the freeway I was stuck in stop and go but it didn't get hot. I parked it after 20 minutes of driving and the coolant wasn't even boiling. I thought it was solved. UNTIL I TURNED ON THE A/C, and 2 minutes later the coolant temp shot right back up to H, but this time the top radiator hose exploded and left a beautiful plume of smoke out the hood. I'm really stumped now....

(Guesses)
At first I was thinking that it was the intercooler blocking too much airflow, but that wouldn't explain the freeway overheating as well.

Then I thought it was a bad radiator cap because the coolant was always boiling, even at the middle mark of the temp gauge (I know it's not accurate, but it gives me an idea).

Now I don't know. It runs perfectly fine without the A/C in any circumstance. But at the same time, under any driving circumstance, it overheats WITH the A/C. Both fans kick on just fine, so I can't understand how the A/C manages to overheat the car everytime in any way. I'm confused, please help. Thanks guys!

 

[Scuba_Steve]

What size/type of fans are you running?

 

[GSXSixteenG]

Get rid of the a/c. Problem solved

 

[blackGSX2g]

Now I don't know. It runs perfectly fine without the A/C in any circumstance. But at the same time, under any driving circumstance, it overheats WITH the A/C. Both fans kick on just fine, so I can't understand how the A/C manages to overheat the car everytime in any way. I'm confused, please help. Thanks guys!

Because your A/C condenser just adds that much more heat to the air that has already passed through the FMIC before it gets to the radiator. Unfortunately, A/C and large front mounts don't typically get along. Best bet is to add ducting to the bumper/IC/condenser/radiator and use your factory cooling fans.

This is, of course, assuming your HG is in good condition, your water pump/thermostat work 100%, and your radiator is working efficiently.

Also, if you want to put less of a load on your cooling system, think about switching to an air to air external oil cooler instead of having the coolant warm/cool it.