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!

 

[Orion97gs-t]

Yea I think I found out what it was, I changed the temp gauge sensor and so far it hasnt ran up more than half way so I think that was the problem ids always the little things

 

[KKneipper]

remove your thermostat and see if it overheats thats were ill start

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I'm having overheating issues, and my brother suggested taking out the thermostat to see if it overheats then. My question is, do I have to worry about cracking my block or doing any other damage by driving for a couple days without it?

I'm in Colorado and its been getting pretty chilly at night. I don't want to try starting my car and having a fresh supply of cold coolant readily available right at startup, unless its not going to hurt the car.

 

[66ss]

^ as long as your temp gauge is reading cool u wont crack anything....you shouldnt have to take the thermostat out tho, theres a problem someplace

 

[agentorange313]

If you take out the thermostat, you will have coolant running through the radiator all the time. This will drastically reduce temperatures all the time. The problem with this is that our cars were not designed to run that way.

The thermostat is there to allow you car to get up to operating temps, then when the car has exceeded those temps the thermostat will open allowing coolant to pass through the radiator. Yes you might resolve your overheating issue by removing your thermostat, but your car will have a very hard time maintaining operating temps.

You will not crack anything will low temps. Cracking and warping is due to high temps, beyond the normal range of the car, I think that's about like 220 or something.

 

[dgdsm]

Guys I need your help on this one:

I recently did some more long-distance driving with this 1g (~2300 miles), and had various cooling system problems on the way, most of which was caused by a failing/leaky water pump and gasket. To make a long story short, after getting to my destination (central AZ), with a whole lot of telephone help from some dsmers (HighPsiTsiGuy, blackjdm90, SrKregler, jusmx141, gdnf2net), I was able to replace the water pump and gasket, install a new timing belt and balancer shaft belt, and get that tensioner adjustment exactly right (Allen wrench pin slid in and out of that hole when completed) to my understanding. The vehicle basically started up fine.

Now, after about a week and a half, I took it for a ride up some inclines on the freeway and so put a heavy load on the engine. Water/coolant leaked out somewhere out of the radiator, it overheated, got towed 2X in one day, and now does not start. I cannot figure at the moment what the cause is. It spewed out a lot of oil for some reason when it overheated. Adding oil and replacing the overheated spark plugs doesn't make that much of a difference. When I hook up my logger cable and MMCD while cranking, it reads 156 rpms and -5 TIMA. The ECU coolant sensor seems fine. I assume 156 rpms means the engine is turning and not blown completely? Or is this number coming from someplace else? I've never seen this low a number or the -5 TIMA when starting.

How to diagnose how bad this is and where the problem is and how to fix it? The engine sounds a bit like what it was doing when I first found the vehicle and it had various electrical/ECU/MPI relay problems.

- D.

 

[bigbird]

i just picked up a talon that had over heating damage and the cylinder head was warped badly. (.018"). there was no compression in the two middle cylinders and they were full of coolant.

it sounds like you're having this problem too. these heads don't put up with over heating very well at all. check your compression if you can. also have a friend crank the engine while you watch the front corner on the transmission side of the engine. (rear transmission side if it's a 1G). That is the oil pressure feed to the head and is the first place oil will spew out if the head gasket is blown.

-Good luck. If you can replaced the timing and balance shaft beltss, that's probably the hardest part of doing a head gasket.

 

[Hubbell91Tsi]

Yeah try to get all of the water/coolant out of it and see if it starts. If it does, then you blew the head gasket... and its time for a rebuild because that baby is f'ed!

 

[bigbird]

I check thermostats by heating the engine up to operating temperature (gauge in the middle cooling fans on). when the engine is good and hot. check the upper and lower radiator hoses. the upper should be hot and the lower should be warm

If the upper is cold at the inlet to the rad and the lower hose is cold, this indicates there is no coolant flow. This could be either a stuck closed thermostat or a clogged radiator. I start with the simple two bolt $25 thermostat.

If the thermostat doesn't fix it than move on to testing the radiator. then you need a shop with the means to properly flush a radiator without flushing the runoff down the storm drain at the end of your driveway.

An engine is meant to operate at about 94deg C. The oxygen sensor doesn't ususally activate until 75deg. If you pull the thermostat your car will alwayse run cold, rich and perform more poorly than normal.

When you do your head gasket, don't even test your thermostat, just throw in another one.

 

[HighPSI TSi Guy]

compression test. overheating is bad for the motor. Could have caused all kinds of problem. ring problems, warpage, etc.

 

[KKneipper]

I dropped my thermostat in a pot of boiling water tonight after work. The water was 195 deg. F. and the thermostat didn't open... I'm guessing its time for a new one, which I will get in this weekend. Hopefully this will fix my problem. I really don't want to have to start testing sensors and doing the guess and check game.

I'm also going to be flushing the radiator at the same time (mainly because winter is almost here), so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Also.... I have heard today from a few mechanics that it is possible to wind up with a blown head gasket by running without a thermostat. So I'm confused. I understand that the car will run poorly and take FOREVER to get to operating temperature, but I'm getting conflicting answers when it comes to doing damage......

 

[bricksquad7]

id try the thermo its like ten bucks from auto zone and it takes 2 minutes to put it, my car was overheating when i was on the highway with my ac on it was the only time it did it but now if works fine

 

[4g63monstr]

You are all over thinking these problems, this is a simple problem with often too simple solutions. Start with the cheapest, easiest, and most logical solution and work your way in. Always check the thermostat first, easiest way is just REPLACE it, they are cheap. most of the time, these are the cuplrit, they go bad A LOT!

 

[SrKegler]

Not too much advice to give. Check for compression, fire, and fuel. Fix whatever one of the three that is missing. Then get that radiator leak fixed!!

 

[dgdsm]

A mechanic came by the location where the car is at and had a look at a few things. Based on the sounds when the engine is cranking, he (and 2 dsmers) say check the starter. At this point I was also checking out the state of the timing belt, which he said looked unusual and thought might be out of timing (was not at TDC though). From jacking it up and rotating the crank, it turns freely through six rotations: No seizure as far as I can tell !! I've uploaded here a couple of pictures of the timing belt though which I think is at TDC. There is definitely a wierdness, but it seems to me to still be lined up correctly. This is a Contitech/Altrom timing belt (?!?), I don't know much about this manufacturer.

 

[JusMX141]

Belt is walking way off-center toward the outside....it's possible the bolt on the tensioner pulley came loose or something like that. It's frayed and unfortunately needs to be replaced before the car should be driven again.

 

[boostedinaz]

By just looking at the cam gear you won't be able to tell if the timing belt is lined up correctly or not. The best way to tell is to pull the lower timing cover off and make sure all the marks line up correctly. I also agree that the belt looks as if it is walking off the gears and is coming apart. Pulling off the lower timing cover might also reveal why the belt is in it's current condition.

 

[HighPSI TSi Guy]

Assuming the crank pulley is correctly lined up at TDC, your timing belt is off a tooth. And the tension is incorrectly set too loose, which is causing it to walk off.

 

[Coopens]

I have a '97 Eclipse GST don't know much else about it. I have a short shifter in it and a mapped ECU. I have been having some issues with it overheating, at first my mechanic said it could be the head gasket, but turns out that was just the water pump. Got that replaced then I was driving it to Denver and it overheated again, had to park it in the springs and go get radiator fluid, put that in then it was fine. Had a slight issue with it overheating after that but nothing major. My fluid levels have been fairly consistent for the past few months but when I was driving home today it started to smell like burnt radiator fluid and when I parked it steamed like crazy. Popped the hood and there were spray marks around the radiator cap, so I'm hoping it's just the seal but could it be anything else? There's no white smoke coming from my exhaust and, as I said, my fluid level is consistent.

 

[snapc3]

Start with the basics:
-make sure cooling fans are working properly.
-new cap
-burp any air out of the system
-check hose connections (including all the turbo lines, loss of any pressure is bad)
-inspect thermostat (can check by putting in boiling water)
-new fluid
-clogged or restricted radiator.

I would guess there was an air bubble in the system after the water pump was changed. Bubble worked its way around and fluid level dropped. Then once the system was working properly the cap seal went out.

Cooling system issues can be a pain but are normally caused by a combo of the simple issues. Start from the top and you will get it figured out.

Also you mention a mapped ecu, that doesn't tell very much. Increased timing could cause heating issues.

 

[Coopens]

I'm not 100% on what they did, timing change I'm sure of but my dad sent it in to a company to get it mapped. As for the list I've done everything but the new radiator cap. I just went out and took it off after the engine cooled and 1/4 of the seal in the cap was gone. Thanks for the help.

 

[Texas gst]

Definitely get a new radiator cap, before installing, run it with the cap off about 30 minutes or so after it's warmed up so it can bleed any air out. Just keep an eye on the gauge and coolant level.

 

[mezzio]

My radiator cap was bad and it didn't spray at all.... Spend the $10 and replace the thermostat and seal. Theres a chance it could be sticking closed, causing a backup since the coolant cant flow through it as well, causing the spray through the bad cap.

also, is your passenger side floor wet, up by the firewall?

 

[wasabi37]

+1 on the thermostat. My thermostat went out on me after I got my timing belt and water pump changed. And I though it would be a defected water pump. It turned out to be the stupid thermostat. Make sure you get rid of all the bubble like it was mentioned above. Feel the lower radiator hose after you drive it for a while, it should be warm to touch if the thermostat is working properly. Good luck.

 

[Coopens]

The floorboard is dry but I put more coolant in it and it seems that there's a leak from somewhere above the oil filter. I have no idea where it's coming from but also sounds like a blockage in the system could cause that along with other issues...

 

[mezzio]

a bad thermostat can cause a blockage thats what it does