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!

 

[Rob10_99]

Flush the damn thing

 

[johnmarines]

+ 1 on the thermostat

 

[Lawn_ornament]

Pressure-test your radiator cap as well. If it's not sealing well or holding sufficient pressure, your coolant will heat up rapidly. That being said, if it still takes the engine a while to warm up to operating temp (10 min. or so), then your cap is likely good. If it shows normal operating temps after only 2-3 minutes, your cap is most likely not holding pressure.

 

[kthackst]

Make sure your fan is coming on while you are are at idle.

 

[KevinRR]

I had a similar problem car would over heat when I get of the highway end up to be my radiator cap. I would change the cap and thermostat first.

 

[tjbiker031]

Thanks everybody for the help. it turned out to be a small leak on the hose that runs from the cap to the reservoir. fixed that and she runs good. But i am planning on changing the thermostat and cap in the near future for piece of mind.

 

[natertater]

does everyone know where dubai is? im pretty sure they dont have napa, advance, or anything like that over there. and yes, it gets hot as hell there. i think your gauge just gave out, since you are UAE because it sweeps all the time, its so hot. but for a place that is 40C (104F) on a good day, im going to say that 104c (219F) at high point is normal. just hard wire the fans in like they said. i know you dont want to hear that, you would rather have fans come on normal. but you are in a hot place! i would hard wire. i live in socal, its not near as hot there, but i am wiring mine in so they run all the time. its just my thought man. at those normal temps in the desert isle, have you went to a stronger radiator cap? something with more than stock pressure? closer to 18lbs or more? even with stock spring pressure, the coolant will still boil at temps like those out there.

 

[RayBan GST]

well yes dubai is very hot

as for the temp 104 is not normal man lets be real, i checked my car today and there was some white smoke at idle and sometimes when i stop after a run?? nothing major just little puff of white smoke if i rev after idle.
i checked my water level and its still the same and my oil level is the same as well? what i am burning exactly to get this white smoke????i dont know.

if i give up and soon i will, i will just put the car in the company of mitsubishi and pay a huge bill and will change my head gasket i guess its failing. or just sell it off.

i have foam with the coolant at start up and then it goes away and then some bubbles. and then when my car reaches the normal temp at idle it will start smoke , just a bit nothing much.


i put this product to seal the head gasket its called abro but i dont think its doing its job, i can still see this product as particles inside my radiator and water. ???///

 

[viprez586]

Don't put that crap in your cooling system.

White smoke = coolant
Black Smoke = fuel
Blue smoke = oil

 

[nyTalonTsi]

Not to jack but im having the same problem. Bought a new cts that didn't work, car wouldn't start so i put the connector back on the old one which isn't seeing any coolant and is just hanging there.

My temp gauge only rises at times in idle, then drops back right on the ~ symbol. Today in idle my temp gauge sky rocketed very high, fan stayed off but the car didn't seem like it was overheating. Shut it off for a few minutes then the needle went back to normal.

Some of these cars have ghosts.

 

[RayBan GST]

just to update you guys , i am sure i have a blown head gasket and valve seals, i am buying a complete head gasket kit today and once i receive it i iwll do the job. this love story of overheating and things turned out to be a DAMN HG. i am going with the graphite gasket kit i read a lot of good things about it ( full kit with bolts and seals at USD 52) on ebay it looks like a good deal. if you think that the graphite gasket is not good please warn me now before i proceed. i dont want to buy MLS becasue we dont have good mechanics here to resurface the head and take the extra mile in installing the MLS gasket. if you think and agree that the graphite is good for up to 16 psi please encourge me guys.

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

I've never heard of a "Graphite" head gasket. Unless you're talking about the stock style Composite gasket. In that case, throw some ARP head studs in it and you'll be good. I run the cheapest Fel-Pro HG from O'Reilly's and ARP studs and run 25-30psi on my S16G daily.

 

[RayBan GST]

I've never heard of a "Graphite" head gasket. Unless you're talking about the stock style Composite gasket. In that case, throw some ARP head studs in it and you'll be good. I run the cheapest Fel-Pro HG from O'Reilly's and ARP studs and run 25-30psi on my S16G daily.

here it is have a look

95+ MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE TURBO HEAD GASKET BOLTS KIT 4G63:eBay Motors (item 200287732565 end time Nov-07-09 10:41:52 PST)

 

[nyTalonTsi]

I'd just try to get an oem headgasket. Might as well do it the right way with some arps. MLS will be harder to get it to seal. I know you don't have much options because their isn't any part stores around you.

How did you come to find out its the Headgasket. I know you said your smoking white, it cant be condensation since its hot in your location. Did you start the car with the radiator cap off and water was leaking out like crazy fast?

 

[RayBan GST]

i have crazy foam in the coolant, my coolant has bobles and my car get hot pretty quick , iam running 104 c all the time , plus there is white smoke from the exhasut and i think my valve seals are going or my t25 so i will just fix the head gasket and the valve seal with one damn KIT and will see if its not fixed then i will go all the way with 16g kit . these cars just suck you dry even though last time i floor it was maybe 2 months ago , i really drive my car very carefully and i dontget on it and yet giving me hard time ???/ just strange. i dont learn my lesson and this is my third DSM already these japanese eclipses that we have here are not for a country with hot weather. its a fact.

 

[viprez586]

Not to jack but im having the same problem. Bought a new cts that didn't work, car wouldn't start so i put the connector back on the old one which isn't seeing any coolant and is just hanging there.

My temp gauge only rises at times in idle, then drops back right on the ~ symbol. Today in idle my temp gauge sky rocketed very high, fan stayed off but the car didn't seem like it was overheating. Shut it off for a few minutes then the needle went back to normal.

Some of these cars have ghosts.

The CTS uses the waterneck as a ground when installed. Like most CT sensors.

How did you manage?

the car didn't seem like it was overheating

Did you use you're thermal vision?

Start with the basics, "burp" the system, run with the radiator cap off until operating temp, then turn the heat on max to burp the heater core. Verify power to fans and that they turn on. Fix your CTS. Replace your cooling system cap and thermostat if you have no record of them being replaced. While your at it you might as well do a CLT and compression test. Hopefully you don't have a blown HG like the OP.

To the OP: Spend the extra money, get the block + head resurfaced, run ARPs and MLS HG. It's worth the piece of mind. You get what you pay for so you might as well fork out the cash ONCE so you don't have to rebuild it again when you overheat(or detonate,etc. etc.) from a blown cheapo HG. You get the idea. Best of luck on the build, you've officially entered into a money pit like the rest of us.

 

[RayBan GST]

thx viper, well as i mentioned before iam going with this graphite HG because they DONT know here how to seal a MLS gasket and iam confident about it. i bought the HG kit already and im just waiting it to reach me. if this graphite HD is good for 40K then i will be happy and hope i will sell my car before it blew again. i will change with the HG the valve seal and all the gaskets and then hope and pray it wont overheat or give white smoke. so i will keep you updated , i am also ordering a 16g from ebay just incase my turbo seals are gone so i will fix it all at once. no plans to run more than 15 psi at the moment.

iam just waiting for my car after the HG job and the new Turbo to break so it will be a great excuse to switch her with 350Z Nissan. i saw a black 2008 350z and i fell in love. its for 17K USD an i can get it at installment for 300 USD per month. no down payment nothing. and registered and insured.

i will keep you updated

cheers

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

So, you're fixing your car just so you can break it as an excuse to buy a 350z?

I wouldn't buy a turbo from ebay. There are plenty of threads here on why not to.

 

[RayBan GST]

So, you're fixing your car just so you can break it as an excuse to buy a 350z?

I wouldn't buy a turbo from ebay. There are plenty of threads here on why not to.

dont take it as a fact cause if i dont love dsm this will not be my third eclipse im just saying that iam really fed up from fixing and buying parts and going to the mechanic im 31 years old and i have kids i will fix it nicely this time and hope it wont put me down. my friend bought a 16g from ebay from crxracing and its working just fine ( the whole kit with the J pipe for 289 USD) i heard good and bad things about ebay turbos but im really not going to push more than 15 psi.

thanks

 

[viprez586]

+2 Ebay turbos are junk, unless you have justmx inspect and rebuild it.

 

[greeneyesgirly]

i have a 91 tsi awd with an evo front mount 160 degree thremstat and till over heating when driving ? maybe bad rad cap or thremostat. need help

 

[coppersmith]

So thanks to a local shop my car is no longer overheating so long story short my car Was pushing coolant When i boosted Which made me overheat they figured it out and replaced the HG, studs and rebuilt the head. Car ran ok when I left the shop not breaking up whatsoevr but i did notice it cut off and wouldnt stay on(tune I assume) a couple times. I didnt pay it any attention so I went home parked it, was about 75 degrees when I drove it.
So I went out at night about (55 degrees) to have a little fun it drove good at first then it started to cut off at idle again, also when I boosted up to about 12psi it would break up bad whether I floored it or not, now it has gotten worst it is doing it at like 6-8 psi now, could this be the plugs? what do you guys think? When the car had cut off earlier in the day the check engine light came on first then the car would cut off, then the ECU made a loud clicking sound then car started to run properly again
anyone know what this could be? oh and iam running on E85 boost is usually at 19-20 psi

 

[nyTalonTsi]

Could be plugs if the shops never replaced them after the labor, or used some crappy plugs but i doubt it would make the cel come on.

Id pull the ecu since you heard a noise from it?? Open it and check for any capacitors that don't look right. Might also smell fishy.

 

[coppersmith]

ecu seems ok no burning smell or anything, checked my receipt doesnt look like the shop changed the plugs...may just be the problem, but what threw the cel?

help

 

[coppersmith]

So thanks to a local shop my car is no longer overheating so long story short my car Was pushing coolant When i boosted Which made me overheat they figured it out and replaced the HG, studs and rebuilt the head. Car ran ok when I left the shop not breaking up whatsoevr but i did notice it cut off and wouldnt stay on(tune I assume) a couple times. I didnt pay it any attention so I went home parked it, was about 75 degrees when I drove it.
So I went out at night about (55 degrees) to have a little fun it drove good at first then it started to cut off at idle again, also when I boosted up to about 12psi it would break up bad whether I floored it or not, now it has gotten worst it is doing it at like 6-8 psi now, could this be the plugs? what do you guys think? When the car had cut off earlier in the day the check engine light came on first then the car would cut off, then the ECU made a loud clicking sound then car started to run properly again
anyone know what this could be? oh and iam running on E85 boost is usually at 19-20 psi