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!

 

[bmxkid415]

As others have stated, Make sure your fans are working. Along with that, to much coolant in the system will hinder the car from staying cool. Its good to have a 50/50 mix of coolant and water. I am in South West Florida. I run 25% coolant and the rest water with weter. Car never gets close to over heating with the AC Cranks.

Jaxness, Drain and bleed your cooling system. Add minor coolant with the rest being water and weter. I wouldn't throw a head gasket at it since I doubt thats the issue.

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

I'm currently battling overheating issues as well and some things that I've seen or would suggest you check are:

• The ebay style slim fans (that come with the PR/CX radiators) flow about 900 cfm which is considerably less then the stock fans, which flow about 1600 cfm. That is probably a big part of your problem since it's only at low speed. Watch your fans while the engine is idling to verify that they are turning on when the should and that they are blowing air towards the engine.
  
• Another issue common to modified DSM's is that we remove the ducting from the air dam to the radiator and stick a big ol' FMIC in front of it. Now not only is the ducting gone so the air isn't being directed to the radiator but the air is actually being blocked by the FMIC. Consider making some ducting to route the air that passes through the intercooler up into the radiator.
  
• You can try lowering your water/coolant ratio (especially in the hot summers) from about 50%/50% to 70%30%. You can even throw in a bottle of water wetter if you would like. Also with the coolant make sure the system is full with no air bubbles and the reservoir is also full.
  
• Check your thermostat to make sure it's opening and circulating like it should. You can also try a lower temp thermostat, especially if you have an engine management system with a coolant offset feature like ECMlink. 1g's came stock with a 195* thermostat while 2g's came with a 180* thermostat.
  
• Lastly a compression and or leakdown test would be in order to check the headgasket. http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-engine-fuel/338152-compression-leak-down-testing.html

Hope this helps!

 

[scott90gsx420]

Now, have to ask another simple question: How many of you DSM owners run their licence plate in the intake opening of your vehicle? If so, what that danged plate does is act like a big air dam preventing air to go through all of the items that is stuffed in front.

some thoughts .... thx for listening - DSM

Lol well thankfully i thought about this before i finished my build.. I bondo'd the stock holes before i repainted the bumper and placed the licence plate in front of the oil cooler.. I also way bent the licence plate so that it doesn't direct air straight down it is really bent so i think air is probably going into the dam..

 

[nek]

Being that its under 50 mph (not under load) I would say its an air flow related issue. I've heard of some slim fans not being strong enough to pull through rads when there is an fmic.
Other then that a cheap fix is always the rad cap if it hasnt been done. The seal goes bad and causes overheating but that (in theory) would be all the time.
Also, make sure your coolant mixture is correct. If you are overheating at slower speeds then your not releasing enough energy through your radiator. Good news, its not your head gasket. A possibility would be your waterpump but Id check the easy things first.

 

[MadrussianSVT]

The ticking is more likely your lifters. Very common in every 4G63 engines. Mine ticks sometimes..
Upgrading to 3G lifters are what most people use to get rid of the tick.

thanx, how hard is to change valve lifters, and where can I get 3G lifters? Do I have to mess with cams or adjusting timing after 3G lifters are installed?

Here's a good article that helped me a lot with my over heating issues, for me it ended up being the hg though. But I tried everything else first before changing it.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-engine-fuel/200575-help-im-overheating-heres-how-fix.html

As far as the crappy start I would check if you're getting good spark or fuel as you crank it and it doesn't turn on

Hope that helps! Car looks really good btw

Thanx man, I looked over that thread and I think I will remove A/C system since it has a tiny leak somewhere near compressor. I was just thinking, I have stock fan on pass side and I added 10" slim fan on drivers, both are pullers, If I add another fan or two from the other side of the radiator wired as a pusher, would that help to cool down radiator or would just lock off airflow?

 

[Mschooley]

Well double checked the timing. As I was putting the car back together i went to start it and it was acting as if one of the cylinders were not fireing i checked the plugs and wires they were good even swapped them off my buddys GST come to find out the coil on my coil pack for cylinder one is barley putting out any spark....so I purchased a Coil pack from a member on this site it comes saturday hopefully that was what my problem was ill keep it updated though.

 

[AMPPRC]

The fans seemed to be push so I took them off and switched the blade around for still pushing any other advise

 

[scott90gsx420]

You have to switch the power and ground wired around .. So power becomes ground and vice versa. That will make it spin the opposite way causing it to pull.

 

[Evdanz]

Wouldn't hurt to check if the rads plugged, that was a problem on mine. Just feel around with you palm on the rad for cold spots.

 

[gho5tone]

Make sure your fans are pulling, create ducting to improve air flow to radiator, and if you want go back to stock main fan.

 

[Mschooley]

doing the same thing with the new coil pack.... ughh except its actually only running on cylinders 2 and 3 iv checked the gap on the plugs and everything even swapped the coil pack from a running DSM.... im going nutz I cannot figure this out. It was running on all 4 then I took the timing cover off took out the spark plugs and removed the wires, cranked it over to top dead center by hand made sure timing was good and it was then i put it all back together and now it runs like this.... btw the tips on my plugs were black from running rich before. I was thinking maybe the ecu or something is bad telling it not to fire the other 2 cylinders for some random reason?

So my friend came over tonight and he looked at it and figured it was the PTU he was right and luckly I had one mounted on the side of my block as an extra for some reason .

Still having the lean issue though he thinks it may be a knock sensor?

So my friend came over tonight and he looked at it and figured it was the PTU he was right and luckly I had one mounted on the side of my block as an extra for some reason .

Still having the lean issue though he thinks it may be a knock sensor?

 

[Mschooley]

Problem solved!

It was the knock sensor it was bad

 

[98GSX-WI]

I don't want to high-jack the thread -- but I am confused about needing a push fan or pull fan. If the new slimline fan is installed on the radiator just like the stock fan, to blow towards the engine -- don't you need a PUSH type fan.

I assumed that a PULL type fan would run to pull air in from the front of the fan to the back, which then would not blow towards the engine.

I also have an overheating issue an just ordering a high-performance SPAL fan and just told the company that I ordered it from that I made a mistake and ordered a pull type fan instead of a push type, and told them to change the order.

Thanks!

 

[SeaveeDSM]

I don't want to high-jack the thread -- but I am confused about needing a push fan or pull fan. If the new slimline fan is installed on the radiator just like the stock fan, to blow towards the engine -- don't you need a PUSH type fan.

I assumed that a PULL type fan would run to pull air in from the front of the fan to the back, which then would not blow towards the engine.

I also have an overheating issue an just ordering a high-performance SPAL fan and just told the company that I ordered it from that I made a mistake and ordered a pull type fan instead of a push type, and told them to change the order.

Thanks!

If you are mounting the SPAL (or any fan) on the engine-side of the radiator (which is the same location as the original OEM fans) then you need PULL type fans. The idea is to PULL colder air from outside into the engine compartment - the fan(s) will pull the air across both the FMIC and the A/C condensor if you have A/C and then the radiator.

 

[nAiFk1e]

ok i have an aluminum radiator with the 12" slim fans that are running constantly, i pulled out my thermostat and im still over heating like hell. so my question is should i get a heat shield for my turbo, i have the factory one on but i know that most of my heat is coming from my turbo. my car only heats up after it sits for a while on a very very hot day. which unfortunately is almost everyday in texas with this 100degree plus weather. if im on the high way the car never overheats and my ac will run cold too. so obviously its a air flow issue but my question is should i invest in a heat wrap shield or what should i do really

 

[Alex7747]

If it only happens when its sitting there.. Just drive it . My car kinda does the same thing, i just rev it a little to like 3k rpm and hold it for a second and the temps drop.

 

[nAiFk1e]

If it only happens when its sitting there.. Just drive it . My car kinda does the same thing, i just rev it a little to like 3k rpm and hold it for a second and the temps drop.

i dont ahve the talon to be held on by strings, id really appreciate useful information. if i felt like "just driving it" i probably wouldnt have even posted

 

[edsgst]

Yeah, you're on the right track. I would definitely either fab up a heat shield, or wrap the turbo/ o2 housing. DEI Titanium wrap works real well. You could also try a turbo blanket if you have enough room between the hot side of the turbo and the manifold. I've heard good things about the blankets....

Whichever method you choose should reduce the radiant heat under the hood. I had a problem melting fan blades from the heat off the manifold, and the car would occasionally run warm. I went ahead and had my manifold dipped in Black Satin (2000*F), and no more melting fan blades. I also cut air vents in the front bumper cover to allow some fresh air to pass through the radiator. I don't think it looks horrible, and it helps keep the car cool. I have seen a couple of Talons that have cut out the front emblem for that purpose. One of 'em didn't look bad at all.

A side note: The manifold is by far the first part I can touch with my bare hands after the car has been driven. It really does dissipate the heat well.

Anyway...good luck to you.

 

[AlexPro]

In some cases engine will over heal if you got head gasket blown...

 

[frankenstein406]

If you don't use ac wouldn't be a bad idea to remove the condenser or w.e. it is in front of rad.
Did you put a lower temp tstat in? Antifreeze good? Try some water wetter to.
Can you put factory fans back on?

 

[yokotabrat]

If your fans are constantly running and never shut off, that usually tells me that the fans aren't able to pull enough air through the radiator to cool it off. The fans should cycle on and off when the stock thermo-switch detects that coolant temps have come down enough.

Most no name slim fans are junk. I attempted to use the slim fans that came with my punishment racing shroud kit and they never cooled the car down enough to ever shut off. I switched back to the stock main cooling fan and stuck as big of a SPAL slim fan as I could fit on the AC side and wired it so both fans come on at the same time. Now the fans will cycle on and off as they should. Always try to run the stock fans if you can get away with it. They pull a ton of air.

 

[4g63Tpower]

One of the most common reason a car over heats is because of a bad radiator cap

 

[MichaelSuch]

I just did a new 2.3 stroker build, got it in the car and running this weekend. Everything seems smooth on it except that it is overheating, running 220+. It starts overheating at idle or when stopped. but once its going down the road it cools back down pretty good. I am running distilled water and water wetter with a new water pump, 160 degree t-stat, Mishimoto aluminum radiator. I do have a FMIC that is definitely hurting airflow. The AC fan has been removed due to the LICP.

The drivers side fan does not kick on. And this is mostly the problem. I replaced the relay, no luck. I also ran a jumper from the coolant sensor at the bottom of the radiator so the fan would always be on, but no luck either. The fan worked fine before the build which was 8 months ago. Any ideas?

 

[low_n_slow95]

Your on the right track. First Look into the heat wrap and heat shield, that should dramatically reduce your under hood temps. Like stated above cheap slim fans don't flow enough air especially if you have to pull the air through a FMIC, ac condensor ect before it gets to the radiator. A blown head gasket will lead to over heatin problems but don't sound like it in your case. Just to be safe do a block test. You can rent it from autozone. It's a really easy test that will tell you to you are getting exhaust in your coolant. A leak down test would also work but I'm not sure who rents one, harbor freight sells them for 39.99, but that's a little more in depth that the block tester.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Try a compression test to rule that out, even with a new build i would start there thats the worse case.