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!

 

[lilbro717]

idk if anyone else said it, but try burping the system

 

[ClipseAPG]

Hey guys, I have been having a serious overheating issue which is leaving me stumped. As of now, I have no thermostat, I have both fans turned on at all times through ECMLink, and a huge overheating issue. The car needs a tune and it has gotten upwards of 280 degrees. I have a CEL which I haven't been able to get checked out due to my car being OBDI. On top of the overheating issue, it seems to be burning oil or something because my oil dummy light is on.

When I turn the car on after turning over for about 30 seconds, it finally turns on but with a slight whining/screech whirring sound. (could this be water pump or oil pump related?)

It also has like I said an intermittent oil dummy light and the car feels very sluggish. The car overheats within a matter of minutes (especially if I do a 3rd gear pull to log on ecmlink )

When I felt the radiator hose (after putting half a jug of distilled water in the system) the lower hose was ambient temperature but the other hose did appear hot how is this possible if I don't have a thermostat? ( at the risk of sounding quite stupid, I will say that I took the temp housing apart and when I took the lower elbow off of the housing (the part that the lower hose connects to) and I looked in, I didn't see anything like a thermostat blocking possible flow.) was I looking correctly or do I actually have a thermostat and I'm just being incompetent in the attempt to locate it.

I have no idea what the h*ll is going on! I need some help to finally be able to get my *** to work!

Thanks in advance for the help, I have a log if it helps let me know!

 

[Colt4G63 also]

Maybe the water pump is broken, and can't you check ODB1 codes with a paperclip?

 

[VTEC_lol]

sound to me like you have a very strange problem

 

[greathuskie]

over the last 3 months ive spent ###### $500 on various tests and parts to find out why my stupid car is overheating. tried everything, new fans, flushed system, water wetter, head gasket check, compression etc..

so im out messing with the car last night and notice coolant dripping from my overflow bottle, and its not coming FROM my bottle, then i took a close look at the hose and it had a crimp in it. was leaking air into the cooling system constantly, thus making me push coolant and overheat, but i would pass all compression, leakdown and coolant pressurized tests...

solved! i think, i will post back later.

 

[cthab]

x2 on the water pump...what you described basically says there is zero water flow.

 

[cookmeup272]

Even a bad water pump will still flow SOME fluid. Radiator might be clogged. I would check that first.

 

[Twitchy DSM]

Sounds like you have a bad water pump or possibly a bad head gasket.

 

[cookmeup272]

Take the radiator cap off and see if coolant is flowing while the car is on. Like i said, a bad waterpump will still flow SOME coolant. My money is on a bad radiator

 

[viperlp01]

First off.... You have dsmlink so you can check your code your throwing.. Secondly even though that car is a 95 is is still obd2 so tell autozone there an idiot.. Thirdly you have either a water pump issue or a blown headgasket..

 

[garputo2]

Even a bad water pump will still flow SOME fluid. Radiator might be clogged. I would check that first.

I agree with this water pump and flush the radiator make sure water flows thru effortlessly. Also check to ensure the rad cap is new

 

[cthab]

Did taking out the Thermostat resolve the issue? Or did you buy a bad water pump?

 

[mnetwork]

i just did an article in the tech article section about this and a cause that no one ever mentions... check it out and then ask what brand of water pump you're running

Very interesting... I currently have a new Topline (plain old fin type). On my ORIGINAL stock motor, there was a closed impeller design type. The pump wasn't leaking and I had overheating issues on that as well.

I have heard the same. I was battling issue with overheating after I installed a new turbo system. While driving and with the a/c on I would reach over 220* and while at stop and go traffic I had the same issue. I installed a new aluminum radiator and 2- 12" spal fans that flow over 1600cmf each and havnt had a issue since.

This sounds like a different issue as my heat issues mainly occur during highway cruising and and even more on a slight inclines and other light load situations.

Did taking out the Thermostat resolve the issue? Or did you buy a bad water pump?

I haven't had a chance to drive the car. It poured all day/night yesterday. I might drive it to work tomorrow. The drive to work is 40 miles, so if the car doesn't reach operating temp during the drive then I will be very very confused. I doubt that will happen though. My guess based on the past is that it will just delay the car overheating. I don't see how the water pump is bad, it is practically brand new and has no play or leakage.

 

[ClipseAPG]

I just got done checking the radiator and it flows well, no problem there, I also just put in a new radiator cap and thermostat. I figure the only other possibility to the overheating issue other than looking into a water pump and timing belt job that I can't afford would be a clogged heater core, what do you guys think? Any other possibilities? And if the heater core is my issue how would I go about clearing that out? The water pump should be only about 4,000 miles old so for it to have gone out hopefully hasn't happened but who knows with a DSM. Anyways, I appreciate the help guys!

 

[viprez586]

The screeching on start-up is likely a loose belt. Check to make sure all your belts are tight - they do after all drive the water pump.

 

[rlacasse1]

Clogged heater core wouldn't cause that. Coolant doesn't have to flow through the heater core to circulate through the system.

 

[ClipseAPG]

Thanks for that useful yet unfortunate knowledge so much for checking the heater core then, I guess I misunderstood another post related to overheating :/ I was hoping it would be that simple haha. I'll be doing turboglenn's test on the water pump friday to see if it's 100% a water pump issue could it be anything else? Could air pockets in the system cause this sort of overheating or would those symptoms not be as serious? Also, I replaced my radiator cap cause it was cheap and to eliminate all possibilities that it was a small issue but realistically speaking would a leaky radiator cap possibly cause consistent 260 degrees and up overheating episodes or not? I appreciate the help guys!

Also viprez, it is not a loose belt, I've gone over that area of pulleys over and over again when my alt was having tension problems so I know a loose belt is not the case, they both (alt and p/s) only turn a 1/4 turn so they are well tensioned. It also sounds a lot more of a whirring sounds then your typical screeching alt belt sound.

 

[Mizzat508]

Honestly, I'm not sold on that explanation...I have no idea what a crimp in that hose could do, but it sounds too small of an issue to cause overheating...looking forward to hearing back on that.

 

[EagleTalonTim]

I finally got another chance to check on the overheating problem and still have come up empty handed

So far I have tested :
Mechanical Timing - Result 100% perfect
Base Timing - Result 5º BTDC
Coolant Ratio : 70% Coolant, 30% water
Heater Coil : Not clogged
Turbo coolant lines : Not clogged
Radiator : Not clogged or even dirty
Radiator cap : Still brand new
Water Pump : Brand new (1 week old)

I have also checked the fuel to see if I was running lean. The datalogger showed the O2 sensor going from 0.00 to .82 volts at idle. During mild acceleration, it stayed around .70 to .80 volts, and at WOT, it was at .84 like it has always been even before this problem.

 

[smrogers5771]

starting to sound like the coolant temp sensor to me..... I had a 90 AWD talon that did similiar symptoms... I checked everything, checked everything and replaced everything except for that sensor so I said what the heck.. Changed it and lord be hold.. no more over heating issues. Yes I know the coolant temp sensor also controls the engine starting If it's not plugged in the car wont start.

 

[smrogers5771]

maybe a cracked head? even a scratch in the head can cause it to leak compression through the gasket and well gasket problem....

 

[EagleTalonTim]

Could that sensor being bad cause the manifold to glow red hot after 30 minutes or more of easy driving with very little boost?

 

[dented_coffee]

If its not reading that its getting hot then it could. The ecu cant tune its peramiters to the warm engine and that could be the running lean problem. If the coolant temp sensor is bad then its basically telling the ECU that the engine is still cold when really its warm. AFR changes from cold starts to hot starts.

When I replace the water pump I replace the timing system and all of the coolant sensors. They are cheap and I look at it as I have a brand new cooling system in a way. All of the sensors are reading from new parts and fluids.

 

[greathuskie]

Honestly, I'm not sold on that explanation...I have no idea what a crimp in that hose could do, but it sounds too small of an issue to cause overheating...looking forward to hearing back on that.

the car was losing small amounts of coolant out of that vacuum hose, i never really saw it ### it leaked down the overflow bottle. but it was basically a hole in that hose that was sucking air in. i havent even gotten close to overheating since then, highest ive hit is 196.

 

[Bluefire16]

I no from personal expierence, that my manifold/turbo would glow slight red. Shortly after about a month of this it died. So the turbo could be the problem for the glowing, but i suspect other factors as well.

Try a new sensor, its cheap. If not a small pinhole or crack in the headgasket could also cause the symptoms, but still read ok compression.