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!

 

[greathuskie]

stock i think. i think teh car is pressurized really good though (i accidently took it off after like 20 minutes and it freaking geisered off), maybe i will go buy a new one tomorrow?

 

[LiquidX]

With the coolant cold, pinch the line running to the over flow bottle with your fingers. While doing that squeeze the upper rad. pipe. If you feel coolant rushing through the over flow line then you need a new cap.

A non sealing cap will allow the coolant to go into the over flow bottle when it starts to heat up and is effectively not pressurizing the system leading to hotter temperatures. Can potentially add air into the system as well.

 

[greathuskie]

one thing to add is when i was filling it with air (running the car with tstat cap off and filling it with air) it was bubbling up slowly when i think it was entirely full, i dont remember if it went away when it was finally full, but it was a white bubbling up that sorta dried on the tstat housing and surrounding houses.

 

[4G63conquest]

If it is bubbling it is the headgasket. When you do a compression test that only test the volumetric compression. When air is in there and fuel is sprayed and ignited it is around 2500psi. Here is a link to a thermodynamics website that will help explain that.

Design of an Otto Cycle

I had a mls that I could drive all day and never overheat. It would only push coolant in 4th gear pulls and even then not overheat. The problem was the load in 4th gear is greater on the engine and would cause elevated cylinder pressures and the problem. This was on a Buschur Racing engine so the work was all proper. Switched to a composite HG and I will never go back I hated that thing.

 

[greathuskie]

If it is bubbling it is the headgasket. When you do a compression test that only test the volumetric compression. When air is in there and fuel is sprayed and ignited it is around 2500psi. Here is a link to a thermodynamics website that will help explain that.

Design of an Otto Cycle

I had a mls that I could drive all day and never overheat. It would only push coolant in 4th gear pulls and even then not overheat. The problem was the load in 4th gear is greater on the engine and would cause elevated cylinder pressures and the problem. This was on a Buschur Racing engine so the work was all proper. Switched to a composite HG and I will never go back I hated that thing.

ill take a picture tomorrow of the bubbling after i do a proper coolant/water mix and replace the cap. you will never go back to an MLS or a composite?

 

[chenk18]

I hate to state the obvious, but make sure your fans are wired correctly, I was confused on it. Also, I had a similar problem and I tried putting the stock fan back in because my mishimoto fans did not have shrouds on them. Before I put the stock fan back on, my temperature was rising uncontrollably, now it is normal.

 

[BLINKY619]

how long does it take to get high temperature? if 5mins then im pretty sure that your gauge is trash...

 

[Chris05]

My gst was overheating... check the fans if they're turning on, I had a coolant leak and one of my fans was not turning on by temperature.. start with the basics

 

[mosul210]

OP I don't want to insult your intelligence, but here are some basic things to look for.

check to make sure fans are coming on properly

next check for leaks (don't forget the heater core lines), sometimes the radiator develops hairline cracks usually at the neck

properly burp the cooling system to eliminate trapped air

replace the thermostat if you haven't done so (even if you think its fine)

check the water pump - see if its leaking, or making any noise


Start with those simple item checks, and let us know when completed or if you've already done them.

 

[gst fat]

OP I don't want to insult your intelligence, but here are some basic things to look for.

check to make sure fans are coming on properly

next check for leaks (don't forget the heater core lines), sometimes the radiator develops hairline cracks usually at the neck

properly burp the cooling system to eliminate trapped air

replace the thermostat if you haven't done so (even if you think its fine)

check the water pump - see if its leaking, or making any noise


Start with those simple item checks, and let us know when completed or if you've already done them.

X2 what he said! Our cars get extremely hot and get all types of leaks, start off small and work your way up to the headgasket, don't part out the car over a headgasket!

 

[68442]

My 97 was getting into the 220s. Put a lower t-stat, wired in 2 fans, water wetter, added heat shields and cut my front bumper. That put it into the 180s to mid 190s in 85 degree weather.

 

[greathuskie]

ive said like 3 times my fans are wired to come on all the time via dsmlink, there is no leaks, i filled it for 10 minutes while letting it run to get hte air out then moved the car and saw no leaks. thermostat wouldnt cause the car to run hot, which is the issue.

i will double check everything today, im sure its one of those issues, particularly a bad coolant/water mix or air in the lines etc, but i cant seem to figure out why it would run so hot with seemingly no issue.

 

[spydergotboost]

if it is a leaking head gasket as soon as you start it from cold rev it up a few times then go squeeze the upper rad hose if it is hard then you got cyl pressure in the coolant. and did you get a true reading of temp from a non contact temp gun yet? it could be your temp sending unit is shot, and your not really even over heating at all.

 

[greathuskie]

things im changing today:

1. oil
2. coolant/water (gonna try to get to 50/50)
3. PULL thermostat for the time being, will replace if this is fixed.
4. radiator cap
5. triple check for leaks, though im pretty sure i dont have any
6. check water pump (though im pretty positive its fine)

ill let ya know how it goes. pulled coolant last night it looked fine, just kinda foggy but was only a greenish white color from my mix i was using (###### 90/10 water or whatever it was i had to refill it so much)

 

[thewraith]

Go rent a coolant system pressure tester from your local auto repair store. This will expose any pinhole leaks.

 

[greathuskie]

just ran car without a thermostat, not a single bit of difference except how long it took me to get to that temperature. also ran a 1.1 bar radiator cap. did everything on the list except for oil, but its hard to expose pinhole leaks, i will know in hte morning if i have any.

 

[greathuskie]

so there was a hole in the line that goes from back of tstat housing to the water pipe on the left side of the block, so i got that fixed. also added a 1.1 bar radiator cap and ran a coolant pressure test which came out good after that. got on road, car didnt go above 203, until i stopped to idle for about 5 minutes, then car rose to 210 and never went down, by the time i got home it was 216. this still doesnt make much sense.

 

[spydergotboost]

you have to have something restricting your coolant flow some kind of scale/rust maybe blocking the cooling passages in the motor or radiator.id take the radiator out and back flush with a garden hose and see what comes out. normal flow in case you didnt know is in the radiator from the top and out the bottom. so try flushing it from the bottom to the top .

 

[greathuskie]

radiator only has like 50 miles on it since i bought it though?

 

[knochgoon24]

Have you tried any ducting?

And do you have your A/C on while this overheating is occurring?

Maybe you need more than just one 14" fan. And is the fan a pusher or puller? If it's pushing, is it in front of an a/c condenser?

And do you have an FMIC?

 

[EclipseTical]

so there was a hole in the line that goes from back of tstat housing to the water pipe on the left side of the block, so i got that fixed. also added a 1.1 bar radiator cap and ran a coolant pressure test which came out good after that. got on road, car didnt go above 203, until i stopped to idle for about 5 minutes, then car rose to 210 and never went down, by the time i got home it was 216. this still doesn't make much sense.

Another thing to consider:

Do you have a big FMIC (fill out your profile!)? FMICs are notorious for blocking airflow to the radiator. While driving air is being forced through the FMIC & the radiator; when you stop the car airflow drops and the car overheats.

There are a ton of threads on here about custom ducting solutions for cars overheating after a FMIC install.

 

[knochgoon24]

I'm actually having issues with my car right now in this heat. If I try to run the a/c while driving between 35 and 55 mph, the car starts to overheat. Above 55 and it gets enough airflow. Below 35 and the load on the engine is low enough that the fans can handle it.

I think I might try to add some ducting this weekend to see if that helps before start spending too much money chasing a problem.


Moral of the story: Try some ducting.

 

[greathuskie]

gonna work on a little scoop under the radiator this weekend.

 

[Killian]

Check the flow of your radiator i actually bought a brand new radiator and come find out the system was crimped shut i got it replaced for free but it was a head scratcher for a bit.

 

[xhackerekx]

for me mishimoto radiator maybe is ok for high speed no for DD car i used mishimoto now with 2X14" pull type on radiator and 1X12"push fan for A/C, only temperature go like 20F up with A/C never have problem like this with OEM radiator try fight with this i install carbon hood with big vent cut bumper and i make ducting from stock places fog lights nothing help maybe only 5F down on temperature outside over 90F with speed smaller like 35 MPH.

check exhaust leak on manifold/turbo gasket when u have leak on this point hot gases going directly to pipe under manifold and coolant temperature slowly going up and make same symptoms like head gasket included bubbles.