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!

 

[longislandDSM]

+1 on checking the coolant temp sensor

 

[jared_gibbs]

Couldn't hurt to replace the radiator cap and thermostat.

I was under the impression that the sensor at the bottom of the radiator is what triggers the fan, not the coolant temp sensor in the thermostat housing... Or is that what everyone meant?

 

[mediccody]

I was also under the impression that the sensor on the bottom of the radiator is what triggers the fan. If anyone else knows otherwise, please let me know!

 

[allezgrand]

There is a coolant temperature SENSOR and a coolant temperature SENDER. The SENDER is for the gauge, the SENSOR is for the fan. I'd recommend checking your manual for pictures and locations.

 

[thereef]

Hey guys - just like the subject line reads. Finally took the Talon out for a short little cruise after her head rebuild & timing maintenance.

My gauge reads smack dab in the middle, starts at cold, gradually warms up so I have to assume the gauge actually works?

However! It was obviously overheating. The fluid was bubbling out of the thermostat gasket, the overflow tank was spitting out coolant from too much pressure.

Any words of wisdom? Maybe too much fluid in the tank?

ALSO! My fans aren't working? Would this be a big cause of heat? Do our cars absolutely need the fan(s) on if we're even casually driving?

 

[9SECAWD]

I've seen cars that are low on coolant read funny on the gauge and actually are overheating, when you filled the car back up with antifreeze did you make sure there wasnt any crazy air bubbles in the system?

 

[99gst_racer]

The coolant system is design to push into and pull from the overflow bottle. That's what it's designed to do, so it's not a sign that it's overheating.

The factory temp gauge isn't extremely accurate, but it's reasonable. You need to get some sort of datalogging device hooked up to see an actual temperature. And get those fans working! They won't do much beyond 35 mph, but they will make all the difference at speeds slower than that.

 

[thereef]

Yeah I spent a good 10 minutes squeezing lines, waiting for bubbles, refilling, waiting for bubbles, squeezing lines.

In previous cars when there was low coolant the gauge would kind of jitter, but that's not happening.

Maybe it's because I have a low ratio of anti-freeze/water? It's probably something like 20/80 right now? Could just be that my water is boiling & causing it to leak through cracks?

And get those fans working! They won't do much beyond 35 mph, but they will make all the difference at speeds slower than that.

Priority #1 tonight after work. Thanks for the kick in the pants :>

 

[zerq]

So I replaced the Rad cap. Yeah, that simple over 200 miles and not a drop missing. No overheating or anything. The old one didnt look that bad but I guess it was. So now i can delete my fast idle valve and remove the egr system. PROGRESS! I'm just relieved it wasn't the HG. It just didn't feel like that was the issue, I was starting to go along with it, but it just didn't sound right.

 

[Blue Talon Boy]

The fan sensor is located at the bottom of the radiator on the passenger side.

Well, yes and no. I was referring to a 1g 4g63t. That is where my experience lies. I did nkg know it was mounted in a different location on a 2g. I accept your correction. Thank you.

 

[drakenj]

OK I didn't know where to post so I go here since the topic works.
I had overheating problems for a year now. Yeah I know I'm an idiot.
I was thinking its my thermostat that's lazy but it turns out its not I just replaced the thermostat gasket and Rad cap.
I couldn't get the bleeder lose so I just put this stupid yellow container that caps on to the housing filled it with green antifreeze and let it run for over 2 and a half hours to get the air out. It didn't seem to help my 99 GS still runs to hot at times mostly when standing on a light it will get to 5/8 maybe 3/4 on the temp guage. Fan works new tstat and Rad cap no leaks. Will it be the temp input sensor?

Before I just turn the heat on on 1 click no issues then. But its getting to hot for that. Any ideas?

k never mind I found the problem it was the temp switch go figure.

 

[Tha Fella Dylan]

I looked for similar problems on here but I'm legitimately confused. After a hourish drive, my temp started to rise while sitting in a parking lot. I was at a car meet so I drove away from the herd to inspect my problem in embarrassment. There was a puddle of coolant on my engine mount. My overfill bottle was boiling. I checked my oil figuring that was the best first place to start. It was fine. It's a brand new radiator, 1000 miles on it since I installed new earlier this month. I decided to try and limp home prepared to make million cool down stops. The temp would go down when driving back to normal temp. I'm like wtf. Bad t stat or no? It's dark so I figured I'd look at it in the morning and collect ideas.

 

[Alan11]

Look if the fans kick in, You said it went back to normal when you drove it. Where is it leaking coolant from?

Replace your rad cap.

Sure just start replacing parts without trying to diagnose the problem. S#!$ you migth as well replace the head gasket. Lol

 

[WES_393]

Bubbling is definitely a sign of a bad radiator cap. When the coolant boils away, it isn't able to cool down the engine like it should. When you replaced the radiator, did you fully burp the system? Sometimes it can take a few heat cycles of the engine to get all of the air out. If there is air in the system, it will also stop the coolant from doing it's job.

It also wouldn't hurt to check the thermostat to see if it's working. The easy way to do so is to let the car warm up completely and feel the lower radiator hose. If it's ice cold and the upper is hot, it's a bad thermostat. If they are both warm/hot then it's a good thermostat. The surefire way is to pull it out and place it in a pot of boiling water, but at that point you might as well put a new one in.

 

[Tha Fella Dylan]

I'll get a new rad cap tomorrow. I'll check the fans in a bit.

 

[96' Eclipse GS]

Water pump time....?

....If you want, you can flush the system and see what happens.

 

[Alan11]

Ok yes it can be the rad cap/ the thermostat/ clogged radiator, air in the system, water pump, and worse case scenario the head gasket..
But firts you need to check what is working and what its not. Its not good to spend money on parts while the problem persists.
I suggest the op to see where it leaking from exactly, and make sure the fans are working.
If so the yes go ahead and start with the cheap fixes.

 

[96' Eclipse GS]

Edit.....



......Good luck on everything.

 

[Tha Fella Dylan]

Water pump was replaced 2000 miles ago. I didnt burp the radiator but it's been over 1000 miles. I didn't think it was an issue because it never overheated before. The fans are kicking on. Upper and lower rad hoses are blazing hot (ask me how I know ) the heat is blowing but just barely warm. Coolant overflow is full but not boiling anymore. I don't know where the coolant came from. There was no splash marks any where. I triple checked all of this. Oil doesn't have any coolant in it. Hoping for the radiator cap thing to work out. I didn't realize something so small could cause such a stupid problem.

 

[honda_burner]

the heat is blowing but just barely warm.

Sounds like a plugged heater core

 

[2GCruiser]

A small leak after an hour of driving will cause you to lose a lot of coolant which gets replaced by air. While driving your fine because the air from moving keep the engine cool. Then you stop in a parking lot and the temperature sores find that leak and hopefully problem solved. Good luck buddy

 

[Tha Fella Dylan]

Autozone rad caps any good?

 

[boost97gst]

Should be good as any. Think mine is a .9bar cap. Whats that? Around 13lbs roughly? I have an oreilly one and its been working fine.

 

[LandoAWD]

They're fine. Since AutoZone doesn't make parts, it'll likely be a decent brand. 16psi 300ZX cap will raise the boiling point, but it doesn't seem like you have a way to monitor the temp to really make full use of this.

 

[Tha Fella Dylan]

New rad cap and it's fine. The old one looked like ugly. No rubber left on the seals. Thanks guys!