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!

 

[thehyena]

get your water pump tested asap, if there is coolant by the belts that would be my first guess

 

[TURFNNSURF]

I agree with Hyena, get the water pump checked out.. Might be a seal or bearing going bad, that's causing the leak.. Did you check your oil to see if nay coolant/water was there.. That would tell you if you have a crack in the block or head gasket leak..

 

[Turboholic22]

hey guys, my dsm is overheating and leaking coolant. but the weird thing is.... my coolant tank is always full but it still leaks so much. any thoughts??..

 

[13secGST]

my first guess would be your water pump.
second guess would be head gasket?

 

[pimpngear]

Well.....two words
Plastic
Waterpump

 

[Boostit]

i recently was having a very similar problem.. turns out a coolant line (small rubber hose about half an inch thick and 3-5 inches long) had a leak on it and when i started getting on it, i would spray like a mofo.

it wasn't a visible problem until it completely snapped when i was racing my friend's RX-7.. needless to say, i got hot really quik.. but all is well now.

 

[Slanted J]

Where is it leaking coolant?
When does it over heat (idle, boost)?

First thing to do is change your Thermostat.

If your leaking from a hole in the radiator or hose, replace it.

If your leaking from a seal or gasket (check other things first. It might just be leaking becasue you are over heating, but its not causing the over heating)

If your radiator is pretty cool, but the temp is High, it could be the water pump.

Hope this helps some

 

[eclipse13]

my friends car was over heating really badly and leaking coolant all over the engine. He tryed everything and it ended up being a bad thermostat. Sounds like the problem that you are having....good luck

 

[ECLIPSE4x4]

You guys have to be a little more specific when asking questions. You could have an answer 5 posts ago.

Thats like me saying. I get in my car , start it and drive but it is not running right. What is wrong with it?

Remember, vague questions, get vague responces.

What have you done, If anything?

 

[Storme]

Last week my `92 Talon blew a coolant line coming from the thermostat housing. I replaced that but the car was still overheating. Now, it seems a new problem is erupting.

My radiator fans are not coming on once the temp gauge starts passing the half mark. The heater works most of the time but then sometimes stops working (still blows, just cool air). I figure the thermostat is busted and picked up a new one. But would a faulty thermo cause the radiator fan to not kick on after temp.

Could I be looking at a faulty switch ontop of a faulty thermostat?

[Edit:] I wanted to also add that when the temp gauge spikes, turning the heater on or ac on does make the fans move and brings the temp back down, if that helps diagnose the problem more.

 

[jott5555]

could be sensor or it also could be heater core

 

[Defiant]

Hm. Heater core going cold sounds like blockage- I don't think a DSM will hold air in the cooling system (like my old Alfa Romeo did, until I learned about the bleeder valve on the head, duh [not applicable to DSMs, don't panic]). Try giving it a thorough reverse-flush, possibly even with an acidic cooling system cleaner (off-the-shelf at the parts shop), then look very closely for any leakage afterward. Also check the condition of your heater hoses, maybe they're going soft (not likely to choke off the heater, still).

 

[Bestwestranger]

Bought this car 2 weeks ago, with very little problems. Today as I was going to work, I pulled away from the stop light at wot thru 1st and part of second gear. A moment later my temp guage was almost pegged. I stopped for a few minutes to cool down, and very carefully cruised to work, stopping repeatedly. I turned the a/c on to run the fans, and they came on, but by that point I had puked enough coolant that it didn't help. After work I changed the t-stat, which was all but destroyed, and let it run for about 10 minutes. The fan cycled about 3 times, so I called it good. On the way home I drove very respectfully, and the temp stayed down, and I could hear the fan kick on and off. Two blocks from my house I layed into it thru first and part of second gear again, and just before I pulled into the driveway I noticed the temp needle almost pegged! Whats the deal? I figure it is a sensor or a switch, but is there a way to narrow it down?

 

[ArticNemesis]

If your fans are cycling on and off, and it's puking coolant when the temp almost pegs on the stock gauge, then it's not electrical.. Are you logging anything.? When you say it happens after you get on it at WOT, it makes me think that your EGT's are goign to be high, from combustion being extremely high. Is it possible that your engine is running "too hot" so the coolant can't cool properly?
Another thing, do you have an Mitsu waterpump on or a generic one from the parts store. Are both of your radiator hoses getting hot.?

 

[Bestwestranger]

The fans do not come on at all after the temp spikes, only when the a/c is turned on. Everything was fine untill I got on the go pedal. After both instances the fans would not come on by themselves, like they should. I was not willing to wait it out and see if thye came on! The previous owner took very good care of this car, and did tell me that the pump had just been changed, along with the timing belt for the second time (100k mile mark), and that the overheating problem had just started when he moved here (Phoenix). But, he only had a problem running the a/c for extended periods when the outside temp was over 100. Today has been the coolest here for at least 6 months. This is the first time I have had this problem, but definatly not the first time I have run the car hard. I have freinds to impress, and Honda's to waste!

 

[hose101772]

Pushing coolant?A compression check might not show up anything abnormal on a headgasket on the way out.I've gone through this before.Nothing out of round with any check-compression-coolant pressure test-new radiator,thermostat,radiator cap-yet it would blow coolant out under boost.Retorqued the head bolts and it quit.

 

[Dieselboy]

Depending on where the car originally came from, the coolant/water mixure may be a little too much off. Remember that your coolant fill expands under different outside conditions, hence the reason there are 30/70, 40/60, 50/50 and so on coolant/water mixes. You may want to flush the radiator and refill with a mix more suitable for your region. For the hell of it I would check the oil and see if there is coolant in it. If there is, you have a blown headgasket...

 

[Bestwestranger]

I spent about 5 hours yesterday replacing what appears to be a perfectly good water pump...I am now under the distinct impression that I do indeed have a bad head gasket! After reading the posts to my problem, and talking with a few people at work, I am really sure that that is the problem. I pulled a couple of plugs last night and found that 1&2 looked good, but 3&4 had a coating of white crusty crap on them. So, looks like a new gasket for me! Thanks for all your help guys...

 

[Bestwestranger]

Interesting note: after discussing the prob with my Snap-On dealer, he said that when he worked for Ford, he had the same problems with the '80's SVO Mustangs. They too had a turbo charged 4cyl. and would have the same problems. The head gasket would start to go belly up and the only time they would loose coolant is during hard driving conditions. The engine would pressurize and seperate the head from the block just enough to let coolant past the head gasket!

 

[Bestwestranger]

Well kiddies, here's an update: since swapping out what appeared to be a good waterpump, I have had no other cooling problems. I replaced the fan relay which seems to have cured the "intermittent" fan condition. I have not noticed any loss of coolant, though on the way home tonight my low coolant light kept coming on. After cooling down, I checked the water level, and it was fine. Where is the sending unit for the light? I would like to test it. Also, I seem to have developed a strange little whining noise above 2500 rpm. Its not the turbo, its been whistling and whining since I opened up the filter can. Could it be the new pump? My idle surge seems to have gone away too, maybe I didn't get the timing belt exactly back to its original position...

 

[1990EclipseGSX]

OK, so a month or so I installed a Victory Performance FMIC on my 90 GSX. I opted to keep the steel bumper for protection and facia mounting purposes. Now it took me awhile to get the steel bumper properly cut, so I ran my car around for awhile with no front facia at all. The car ran perfectly with the facia off, no overheating problems whatsoever. When I finally did manage to get my bumper and skin back on, whamo...coolant temps around 230 in a very short time. So, I took the bumper cover back off and drove it around with just the steel bumper and the car ran fine. At this point, I decided to order a Fluidyne radiator and a second 12" slim line fan. When the radiator arrived, I put it and the second fan in, filled the system with coolant (50/50 W/A), put the front bumper back on and whamo, temps of 230 again...it took a little longer this time, but still hit 220 within 15 minutes. The car does not heat up at idle whatsoever, only when I am driving. Also, the a/c causes it too overheat much faster and if I run the heater on full my coolant temps never go above 200 with the bumper cover on. My thermostat is working, my fans turn on, there is no oil in my coolant or visa versa, no coolant on the belts, both radiator hoses heat up, coolant system is flowing, and my heater works even at idle, and i am not blowing any white smoke. I think that I am overheating because the Victory FMIC is blocking the radiator too much with my steel bumper, but the two people I have talked to seem to think that I am overheating because of something wrong with my car (headgasket mainly). Since my car is a 90, I do not have the luxury of removing my steel bumper to create some venting because it is needed to mount the bumper cover and $200 is just too much to spend for a bracket. Besides, the kit claimed to be fully streetable, and isn't driving around without a steel bumper illegal? My engine only has 50,000 on it since its rebuild and I don't think it is my headgasket because it is not showing any signs of a blown HG, or water pump for that matter... I'm also running a tdo5h 20g at 16 psi if that helps anything, and the rest of my mods are in my profile. Does anybody have any insight as to what is causing my car to overheat?
Thanks,
Chris

 

[Willjs7]

Why are u doing a 50/50 mix? You live in the southwest try lowering the coolant lvl 1st off and see what it does.

 

[1990EclipseGSX]

I don't live in the "southwest" exactly.....Angel Fire is above 8,000 ft., dry, and its pretty cool all year round and VERy cold in the winter. Plus my car has never overheated with a 50/50 mix before.

 

[NOSNUSE]

Do you still have the lower plastic piece installed, it flows air to the radiator, this is a common problem on these cars with FMIC, the only other thing is to install a push fan on the other side of the radiator. Hope this helps you out a bit.

 

[1990EclipseGSX]

I pulled the middle piece out the other day, didn't help to much unfortunately. I will look into getting a pusher fan for the other side of the radiator.
Thanks