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!

 

[Wobble]

no leaves in the grill? fan is coming on?

just to make sure..

and yea the radiator cap can cause ALOT of probs.. pressure=better colling, if you lack pressure you lack cooling.. get an OEM one from a dealer, not some chit from autozone. ive been down that road..

also, if you fill your radiator and stuff.. dont freak if you see bubbles.. its gonna do that for a while because if you just filled it there will be air in the system, give it a few good hours of driving first.. then let it cool, the fire it up and check.

 

[Doug99RS]

Like Wobble said... get the good cap. I've not seen all the caps out there but most of th ones I see, that aren't from the dealer, are not the right pressure rating which is almost as bad as a weak cap. The pressure rating on the cap allows the coolant to be pressurized. The change in pressure changes the coolant's boiling point. This allows the coolant to work even more efficient.

With the bubbles, I would just add that there is a difference between those that develope while the coolant system is purging air versus bubbles that are being blown/created by a blown headgasket.

Update:
Cylinder head was warped and out of spec by 0.0140". I've got a new cylinder head on the way from Newark and hopefully I'll be done by Friday.
Doug

 

[wantarace95GSX]

check for leaks, replace cap with a greddy one, they are pretty good if it still bounces up and down check your oil and see if its not black that would be a sure sign of a blown HG. It could also be your ECT sensor.

 

[Wobble]

Im not a big fan of the greddy rad cap because it raises the pressure above what the system was designed, and also increases the strain on every single hose and clamp that holds coolant.. if you have to overpressure your cooling system to get adaquit cooling, something else is wrong.. dont put a bandaid on a broken leg...

as for black oil being a sign of a blown HG.. thats a new one on me.. I know its a sign of running too rich, or oil in the water is a sign of HG prob..

 

[Doug99RS]

It's not going to be the coolant sensor because there's physical problems not just electrical signals. The coolants physically leaving the engine/resevior.

I think you're (elim) on the right path with replacing the cap and going from there. It's quick, it's cheap, and you can do it yourself. After than then more research and ideas are worth looking in to.
Doug

 

[Eliminat0r]

yea i got the replacement cap form the dealer today tomorrow morning im gonna put it on and go out fro a nice drive then coemback let it coola start it up wait for it to warm and burp the system. Also i checked everythnig that is associated with finding out if you have a bad HG, the oil is black and isnt milky, theres no trans fluid or oil leaking into coolant, some told me to do a compression test but doesnt that just test the valves and seals i didnt think it would test the HG so i didnt waste 20 bux on it. Hopefully tomorrow the problem will be fixed and i can finally start modding when spring time comes

 

[Doug99RS]

A compression test is a good idea as well. In the pics I posted above on that pt you can see dark spots between the two cylinders. It's the top left arrow, black text that's probably hard to read. It's possible that a head gasket will blow ONLY between the two cylinders and not actually allow coolant, oil, or both to enter the combustion chamber or mix. So a compression test will help reduce the number of possibilities.

I did not do a compression test on the p.t. because I had such high hydrocarbon readings and the intake manifold lays over two or three of the four plugs. I would recomend checking your compression since it's relatively easy to do/have done.
Doug

 

[The Shodan]

Hey everyone,

Did a search, and only found one thing regarding overheated engine. She ran fine 2 days ago when I was testing out my new 18G, BOV, Transfer case, 6 bolt trans, and timer and guages. But as I was driving home yesterday, I found I had no heater control or fans inside the cockpit. It's like I had no power inside the temperature controls of the cabin!!! On top of that about 8 minutes after keeping the car at idle, the car was seriously overheating, w/ coolant overflowing in the bottle.

I replaced O2 housing, water pump, timing belt.

Please help!! Time is of the essence.....

Thanks guys...

 

[Defiant]

Check the thermostat and the radiator cap.

 

[The Shodan]

Originally posted by Defiant
Check the thermostat and the radiator cap.

Looks like the thermostat was fused shut from rust and cold. The car had been sitting for several weeks, and next thing you know. Bam.

Also found that there was a short in the dash for the heat.. Got it back now. Now I'm toasty warm..

 

[scottr126]

Alright a couple nights ago I went for a long drive, I was on the highway for like 45 mins. The whole way there my car Ran fine, then On the way back about 15 mins into it my car started to overheat, so I took the first exit and parked at a gas station, turned off the car and popped the hood. After the car cooled down I found that there was almost no coolant throughout the whole system. So I bought coolant and filled it back up. then I looked under the car to see if there were any leaks, and i see a puddle of oil on the ground like a foot wide behind the engin on the firewall side. I check my oil and its ok about half between the marks. I started it up and waited for it to warm up to see if the fan would kick on and sure enough it did so I know that isnt the problem. I get back on the road and it runs perfect temp for about 20 mins and starts overheating again, thankfully I was close to my house and made it home ok. Well now Im stuck I dont know what the deal is, it doesnt overheat at just idle or just when Im cruising it does it during both sometimes and sometimes it doesnt. Im gonna do a compression test to see if my HG is bad but anyone else got any ideas????????

 

[jrivard00]

I would first check the normal over heating problems with cars...thermostat, coolant hoses, radiator cap.

 

[scottr126]

well the hoses are pretty much new and arent leaking, my thermostat is opening becasuse the top hose is cool then as the engine warms up it also warms up, ive tried 2 different caps I know one was good and it still happend. I just did a compression test and got around 110 in cylinder 3 and 4, so Im just gonna get a new MLS headgasket and see if that does the trick.

 

[uva207]

OK, MY PROBLEM IS THIS: I HAVE A 95 GST FWD, AND ON NORMAL DRIVING WITH THE HEAT ALL THE WAY UP, THE CAR STAYS AT NORMAL OPERATIONG CONDITIONS. BUT WHEN I GET ON THE HIGHWAY FOR EXTENDED TIMES, AND EXPECIALLY GOING OVER A BIG HILL, OR MOUNTAIN, IE SUSTANING HIGH SPEEDS/RPMS FOR A LONG TIME, THE TEMP STARTS TO RISE...BUT WHEN I SLOW DOWN IT DOES BACK DOWN TO NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS. ONCE I GET IN TOWN IT IS FINE.
I HAD A GREDDY RAD CAP ON PREVIOUSLY AND JUST PUT THE STOCK BACK ON..STILL DOES IT. tHERE IS NO COOLANT LOSS, AND THE COOLANT IS CIRCULATING BECAUSE THE TOP HOSE IS COOL THEN GETS HOT. I ALSO JUST HAD THE THERMOSTAT CHANGED A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO WHEN IT WAS STUCK CLOSED.
I AM AT A LOSS BECAUSE THERE IS NO COOLANT LOSS AND NO BOILING COOLENT IN THE RES TO MY KNOWLEDGE.

I HAVE A FP BIG T-28 WITH THE LARGE GREDDY FRONT MOUNT. I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT IT IS UNLIKLEY TO BE A RADIATOR ISSUE, AND THE FAN COMES ON LIKE A CHAMP. (THE PROBLEM EXISTED BEFORE I HAVE THE FRONT MOUNT PUT ON)....

ANY HELP/SUGGESTIONG WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED...

 

[uva207]

I AM GOING TO REPLACE THE SENDING UNIT AND THE RADIATOR CAP AND FLUSH THE SYSTEM AND SEE WHAT THAT DOES.....

ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS...

 

[gravityforce]

bad head gasket

 

[gravityforce]

oh yeah turn of you CAPS lock, you might get more responses.

 

[mopar4Life]

im in exacley the same situation try a block tester it will tell you if you have a leak between you combustion chamber and your cooling system

 

[Enigma_Man]

WELL ONE THING YOU SHOULD TRY *cough cough cough* ahem, sorry...

One thing you could try would be to flush your coolant. You can buy/rent kits at Autozone and the like to accomplish this. If there's buildup of sorts in your engine, it can flush out all the bad gunk.

This isn't really a "strange" overheating condition. It's probably the most common overheating scenario you could think of. Your problem more than likely lies somewhere simple.

-Jesse

 

[Puller]

just because the hose is cool then gets hot doesn't mean there's not a block...if there's a block u might not know it till the water pump goes...physically check it out...flush and start over. it's all you can do....do a compression test too.

 

[92awddsm]

Just a shot in the dark but check the duct in the front bumper that directs air to the radiator. If it is pulled loose, air will go out and bypass the radiator. I had this problem on my old Trans Am. I found it because my wife was driving it following me one day and in the rear view mirror I noticed the duct flapping under the car at highway speed. I never thought of that when I was replacing thermostats, water pump, etc,etc

 

[uva207]

Thanks for all of the responses, good to know about the caps, anyway I changed the rad cap and burbed the system. I didnt have time to flush the radiator yet, i will do that tommorow and see where that gets me, I am going to replace the temp sending unit at the same time and install a new water temp gauge just to be sure. I also just recently had a compression test done and the guy said each cylinder was at 170-175s....so that checked out ok...i will post the imfo as soon as I figure out the problem.

thanks again

 

[EclipseGST-95]

definitely replace water pump i did and mine wont overheat anymore

 

[~laser_craver~]

i was gonna say thermostat but u said u already did that............ only other thing i can think of is fluch the system really well we had same prob and it turned out to be the thermostat

 

[LoW96Rs03]

Hey...I have a 96 NT and Im having some overheating problems. What kind of strange is if im driving around itll be just below half-way on the thermostat. Now if im idle after ive been driving about 5 sec after I stop itll start climbing toward the H. If i put the a/c itll help just a little bit but not enough. I mean I cant sit idle anywhere without it climbing toward the H. Now as soon as I get going itll drop back down. Couple other things is when I have my heat on itll blow slightly warm air and itll usually turn cool or room temp, but when I put the a/c on cold its freezing cold so no problem with it getting cold. Ide like to have some heat when I put it on instead of using the fan heat. Just a few other things that may help...when i rev it at idle itll cool down a little but shoot back up, also when I shut the car off, it sounds like a gulping water sound right around the firewall of the car, it sounds like if u were pooring water out of a milk jug straight up and down? Anyways if you guys have any ideas on what I can can check to see if its a simple fix, Ide appreciate it.

thanks