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!

 

[DSMeclipse4G63]

Originally posted by BIGGSIE
You use a special tool that has a radiator cap fitting, a hand pump and a psi guage. You can probably get one at the local parts store.

BINGo...there is a guage on the pump. Thats the best way to go at it now other than a head gasket..thatll be best bet.
Andrew

 

[GSXanimal]

Whaen you turn the tires when its idling your power steering is slowing down the water pump enough to increase the temp. if the coolant is low. I would still bet its a head gasket problem. GOOD LUCK

 

[RedV]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I'll give it all a shot this weekend and let you know what I find.

Alex

 

[spshocker61]

Alright.....I have a 95 GST w/ Apexi N1 catback, FIPK, accel wires, arp studs, dave brode UICP and 1G bov. Not that the majority of that will make a diference, but i thought someone might ask at some point. Oh, and it has about 104xxx miles on it, all maintnence has been done every 3k

The Problem:

My car overheated about 3 months ago. We could tell that compresion was leaking into the coolant....so we assumed my hg had blown b/c my water pump and thermostat were fine. Well, the head got resufaced (it had warped pretty bad) and i replaced the hg (which had never blown in the first place). So we went to take it for a test drive....the car was still overheating!! So we rechecked everything, the water pump worked, the therostat opened right at about 180, the fan kicked on at temp, and the radiator doesnt apear to be plugged. So now i have given up the problem to our mechanic to let him see where he can get with it. Yesterday i talked to him and he said that the only thing at this point that he can think it might be is that i somehow managed to crack my block! That would explain where the mass amount of heat is coming from that is quickly boiling my coolant....but i dont get how i could have cracked my block??? It's not like im even pushing out that much hp....at the most i would guess maybe 250 hp? So i dont quite see how this could have happened....ive never messed with my boost settings either, they are still set at stock. So any suggestions would be appreciated...any ideas of what could have caused this or even maybe something we might have overlooked. Thanx guys, sorry for the book

Nate

 

[92redman]

How cold does it get where you live? If your coolant is not mixed right or is too old, it could freeze and crack your block.

 

[sound227]

I have had 4 DSMs total now, and overheating always becomes an issue at some point. A few things you might wanna look over. Did the machine shop do a leak down test on the head itself, if you overheated it it dosnt take much to crack them. A compression test might be able to pick up a crack, but my machinist told me that they can be so small that they wont drop compression, but anyways, use a leakdown style compression tester to see if it drops. The "Rad" cap could be bad, but since the problem occured after you head the head off/on, I doubt it is that. My main guess would be an air pocket in the cooling system or a cracked head/block. I overheated my one car to 250 once and I cracked my head. When I replaced it, my car was overheating because I had an air pocket somewhere, but after some circulation, the temp swiftly shot down. There could be a few other reasons why DSMs overheat, but I dont think they apply to your case. Good luck man, God knows you are gona need it.

 

[RoasT BeeF]

Agreed. It would take a lot to crack the block. The head cracking is a more likely senerio. If in fact this shop tells you that either your block or your head is cracked ask to see it before you tell them to do anything else! A cracked head does sound like the most likely thing to me.

 

[spshocker61]

Well, when i had the head re-surfaced he also pressure checked it....everything came back good, so unless like you said about it being too small for the pressure to drop then i would say that isnt an option. Now you mentioned it possibly being to small to cause compression to drop....but would that really cause it to overheat very quickly? Honestly from everything we have seen, it will get to running temp while idleing.....then you start drivin it and less then a mile later the needle is heading toward the top of the gauge .

As far as air pockets go, we did our best to bleed the hose, but either way wouldn't the pocket push itself out after idling for a few mins? If not then how can it be bled?

Also one more ?.....how would my radiator cap affect my cooling? What could it do to change my cooling process?

On monday my mechanic is planning to pull the vapors off of my coolant after idling for a min or so to see if there is any signs of exhaust in the fumes. He has some tool that reads it i guess and can detect exhaust fumes. If we find those then that will give us something to go on....i guess im just hoping we dont, . But anyway, thanx for the input guys, anything else will be appreciated as well.

Nate

 

[BUCK]

How old is your Water Pump? - that's what I'd be looking at - OBVIOUSLY you've checked your Timing...

 

[spshocker61]

Water pump seems to be doing its job....the water is circulating. I wish it was that simple.....

Nate

 

[BUCK]

There are case of guys who lose W/P Impellers - radiators clog - & the Timing?... You've got to eliminate the silly shit before you buy a Head.

 

[Defiant]

Replace the radiator cap. It's a $7 test.

 

[Doug99RS]

I've seen alot of radiator caps cause a coolant loss condition.

This is how I prefer to add coolant to a low or empty system after performing a repair. I fill up the radiator will coolant/water mix. Crank the car and top off the coolant again. Then once it stops taking coolant at the radiator I'll put the cap on and just let the car run. I'll fill the coolant resevior to the "full" mark or slightly over. This is done because as the system purges air, it purges some of it in to the resevior and the rest of the air developes at the top of the radiator (Or filler neck). I'll let the car continue to run until the upper radiator hose gets hot and the temp gauge reads normal operating temp (or it may run hot if it's got a large enough air pocket). I periodically rev up the engine because this will help the purging process. You can watch the resevior purge out bubbles when you let off of the throttle.

Then I shut the car off and let it sit as long as I can. Preferably overnight but you can't always hold a customer's car overnight after doing a simple drain and refill. I'll then go back once it's cool down, grab the upper radiator hose and make sure I can squeeze it (means there's no pressure on the system) and then remove the cap. Top off the coolant in the system as well as the resevior. This time in the resevior I put it half-way between full and empty, or maybe slightly closer to the full side.

That seems to work well for me and there's not a whole lot of cars that come back with an over-heating or low coolant level condition for me to top off again.

Another thing you will want to do is check the temperature at multiple points on the radiator. It is possible for coolant to only flow through certain sections of it if the thing is clogged up. It should be hot at all the corners and throughout the middle as well. If it stays cold in any of those sections, after the car has come up to operating temperature, then your radiator has a blockage in it. This blockage will prevent coolant from circulating through the whole radiator. This will give only a small section for the coolant to cool off and transfer it's heat. If it's clogged the coolant can't stay in the radiator long enough to get rid of that heat before going back in to the engine thus causing it to over-heat.

I'd recomend refilling you coolant like that above and replace the radiator cap. The cap is 5-10 bucks, coolant's maybe 5-10 as well. If it doesn't help then you're only out $20.00. If that fixes it then you don't need a long block swap.
Doug

 

[spshocker61]

Alright....as long as i understand right, the only thing that the rad cap can effect is that my coolant will leak once my system is pressurized....if so then this cant be my problem because i am not loosing any coolant. If im wrong just let me know....im just trying to clarify. All the suggestions have been good so far...but also they have all been looked in too as well, . I guess i was hoping to stumble upon somthing that we had overlooked...but the rad doesnt seem to be plugged, the water is circulating, the cap doesnt leak, the thermostat works in a pot of water that is at about 180-190 degrees (it opens). Oh, and my fan kicks on.

The car seems to hold temp at an idle....it's only when a load is put on it and it is driven down the road that it begins to overheat. Or so it appears. Anyway, if anything i overlooked or misunderstood just lemme know.

Nate

PS- If it turns out to be my block (thinking ahead ) then im hoping to do a 6-bolt conversion....is this hard? I'm beggining to look into it, but i figured i would see if any of you guys could lemme know. I wanna just throw in a JDM...from everything i have learned they seem to be the best that are still reasonable priced. If i do, what else do i need to change in order to match things up? I dont honestly know 100% what makes a JDM different then a normal 6 bolt motor....is it still a 4g63? Thanx for the help guys.

 

[Doug99RS]

You are right in your thinking with the cap. It allows pressure to build up in the system (raises the boiling point of the coolant mix as well as seals the system). So if the coolant is not leaving the system, it is simply getting too hot IN the system, then chances are it's not your cap.

Did you check the entire surface of the radiator? If it were your block I think you would be losing coolant both in to the combustion chamber as well as blowing it out in to the resevior. I'm leaning away from the block really. I just don't think it's toast just yet.
Doug

 

[spshocker61]

Well....i like to hear that someone doesnt think it's my block, . And maybe your right ( I'll be thrilled if you are) . I guess i'll be one step closer to the problem tomorrow though because we are doing that test to see if there are exhaust vapors in my radiator....so that will lemme know if there is a leak from my block or maybe head i guess. But ill update tomorrow, thanx Doug.

Nate

 

[jrivard00]

I doubt that your block is cracked, and if it was it would most likely be burning coolant and we know what that is like. But you can alway check it by pressurising your coolant system with a pump and gauge and see it is holds. It could be scale build up some where and the coolant is just not circulating enough to cool effectively while under a load. I'd recommend flushing your system out with a detergent and a good back flushing and see where that gets you.

 

[spshocker61]

Well it's looking a little better. Today i stopped by and he had ran a test on the fumes coming from the radiator. i dunno what the stuff is called (I would guess maybe you do Doug seeing as you work in a shop) but it's this fluid that pulls the vapors off of your coolant and basicly if there is exhaust fumes in the vapors then it will change a certain color. But it never changed colors . Now the only thing that im still uneasy about is if i should rely on this test to be mostly accurate...i dunno how accurate this stuff is sposed to be, but i was wondering if anyone knows. But anyways....the only 2 things left to check are the pump and the radiator. But in a sense he has a feeling it is neither. The reason is because the water appears to circulating very well. AKA: the pump is working and the rad isnt plugged cus the water isnt restriced.

Now im wondering: is it possible that the water would appear to be curculating fine, but yet the radiator could still be plugged? If so then i pray this is our problem because otherwise i think we're gonna be stuck.

The car will idle at temp for at least 15 mins...maybe longer, we havent tried. But once you pull out of the lot it starts to climb. I dunno if that helps any. There is NO white smoke from exhaust, does not appear to be anti-freeze in the oil or vise versa.

Tomorrow ill update on what was found with the pump...and hopefully he gets around to looking at the radiator.

Thanx once agian guys,
Nate

 

[GForce]

My car overheated like that a couple times so I switched radiator caps and haven't had the problem since.

 

[spshocker61]

Hmmm....but you were loosing coolant werent you? Thats why you had to replace cap. Or was it actually overheating without loosing any coolant?

Nate

 

[GForce]

I suppose so, I just know that after it was idling for a while it started smoking really bad and I looked inside and the temp was totally on H so I shut it off, and a few hours later changed the cap and took it out and drove it and I haven't had any issues with it since.

I guess the smoking was coming from the coolant I never really thought about it much.

 

[spshocker61]

Yeah, that white smoke was coming from your coolant shooting out from the bad seal on your cap....it was hitting your exhaust mani and turning to white steam/smoke. So that cant be my problem b/c it doesnt leak....i wish it did though....that would be a lot easier

Nate

 

[spshocker61]

Well it looks like my problem is over

When i made this thread, i had just finished talking with my mechanic and he hadnt made it sound too good. It seemed that the water was circulating...hence the reason we didnt think the pump was bad. Well apparently it wasnt ciculating. Today he removed the rad and turned my car on to see if it would push water out, and it didnt! I've never been so happy that a part didnt work on my car, im just glad that its a simple bolt on fix. And seeing as im letting him mess with it, i wont have to worry about getting pissed off at my car, . So in the end, all i needed was a new pump. The odd thing is that the shaft still moves freely so we're guessing that maybe the fins are gone, or that the perpeler backed out of the drive. But the problems solved, so i'm just happy i will have my car back by Saturday

Nate

 

[Doug99RS]

I'm not that familiar with the 4g water pump design but I do know that some pumps out there are made with plastic fins. Eventually those fins will wear out. That could be the case here but regardless, it sounds like you've got the problem under control now. Thanks for the update.
Doug

 

[BUCK]

Originally posted by BUCK How old is your Water Pump? - that's what I'd be looking at - OBVIOUSLY you've checked your Timing...

BINGO! ANYONE who doesn't change the Water Pump while they have the whole front of the Engine torn down is nuts...