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!

 

[007jimmy]

Hey guys, I need some advice. Any time outside temperature is above about 95*F and I want to roll with the A/C on, my car (98 GSX) starts to overheat. If I keep the A/C off and roll with the windows down, it stays around normal operating temperature but then I'm burning up . I have the stock radiator with a 12" ebay fan and a FMIC. Should I shell out for an aftermarket radiator? Any help is appreciated

You need to get the stock fans (both of them) back in the car. They flow a shit ton more air then those dinky ebay models. Also ducting between your IC core- AC condensor- rad would help a ton!! Do you have your heat shield on?

 

[GSLENK]

its not engine stress causing heat, its the a/c removing heat from the air going to your face, and putting it between your fmic and radiator. think about why the back of a refrigerator is hot... thats what the a/c condenser is doing, and it is located right in front of the radiator.

the fmic blocks a big part (almost all) of your radiator. and then it creates a low pressure area between it and the rad. the cooling air leaks out the sides, and then you over heat.

My car (even though a 1g, same principles in play) does the same thing, except I can only run a/c while the car is below operating temp.

I made a dam/scoop under the fmic and it helps route cruising air from below the fmic to push more air through the rad. I also sealed the sides so the air cannot simply leak out.

Now I can run the a/c while cruising. more work and a proper fan, and I will be able to run it in stop and go.

 

[MiroDSM]

So you have a FMIC and using ac makes your start creeping into the h? this problem has been solved already, you need ducting since air flows through the path of lease resistance. Air comes in and comes out through thE side and not much makes is to the radiator after the FMIC and ac condensor. Search on this sight FMIC ducting or radiator ducting, I guarantee you will find something. An aftermarket radiator will not help you, I had this problem even with a fluidyne radiator. It actually became worse with the aftermarket rad. Good luck.

 

[Jerrace]

i second the head gasket change it but check head and block surfaces to be sure ther not warped at all these things dont like any corners cut when repairing things and look for any bad/warn timing conponents when it comes apart

 

[turbotalon1g]

I have a 3 core aluminum radiator, mishimoto rad X-line that I could sell you. My car won't be running any time soon.

 

[Gearhead4G63]

Yea man that's deff the head gasket, that's the really the only way you'll get water and oil.

 

[Murci]

I am personally not a fan of using chemicals to solve problems. But I'd like you to have some options. You can definitely try head gasket sealants to buy you some time.

Hopefully I won't get shunned...

 

[Jerrace]

the sandwitch plate on the oil filter housing is the other common mix problem but he has tightened it so hopfully thers no issue ther

 

[Gearhead4G63]

the sandwitch plate on the oil filter housing is the other common mix problem but he has tightened it so hopfully thers no issue ther

This is probably a dumb question, but what the hell is the sandwitch plate?

 

[rcarbajal4]

Goes between the oil filter and oil filter housing. People use them to run gauges with less installation hassle.

 

[Gearhead4G63]

Goes between the oil filter and oil filter housing. People use them to run gauges with less installation hassle.

I gotcha didn't know what that was called, thanks man

 

[Jerrace]

its the water cooler on some 4g63s the ones with water lines going to the water pipe but alot of people plug them off and tack off or bend the outlets on the housing seeing how we dont need to heat our oil any more than it is and ther has been oil/coolet mix issues due to tighting and loosing of the plate over time doing oil changes

 

[oxisafox10]

Wow, that makes perfect sense. Can't believe I didn't think of it that way. I'll try some ducting work and see if that helps

 

[MiroDSM]

Also depends on how much coolant and water you are running. I run a mixture of 40% coolant and 60% distilled water, with a whole bottle of water wetter. Don't use water from the water hose since it will leave mineral deposits. Distilled water is like 80 cents a gallon at Walgreens/cvs. I haven't added ducting so I tend to start over heating. But this usually happens when the temps reach about 105 here in Texas. Do it don't be lazy like me

 

[HustlerTalon]

First you should check and make sure your radiator has no air in the system. What I do is jack up the front a bit to get all the air bubbles out. What also worked for me was to remove the thermostat, the antifreeze circulated through the engine at all times without having to wait for a certain temp to be reached before the thermostat opened up.

 

[Aceman]

Ary you saying you just have 1 fan? You could try running two fans and wiring them to always come on together.

 

[Colt4G63 also]

My coolant temps start climbing too when I go 75mph for long periods of time in 90ish heat with the A/C on. I've tried ducting, a huge racing radiator, cooler thermostats, high flow thermostats, etc,etc... Normally it will rock steady at around 190, but flick on the A/C and it starts to climb to around 210 or so, then I have to shut off the A/C for a few miles.
I'm thinking a water to air IC might help because the typically have smaller radiators, but I haven't done any testing to support this. I do know that having a useless ebay air to air FMIC reduces this phenomenon.

 

[boost97gst]

I have no ducting(yet, saturday is Dday for that) and ambient temps of around 105 cruising at 75mph with ac on my temps are 219-223. Definitely hot but not dangerous. I just ordered a 170* tstat and will do the duct work saturday so we shall see. Its killing my performance too. Hell, with this weather you cant get iat's below 100 so its nightime pulls for now.

Oh, and like the other post said, get the OEM fans back in. Even if they have to be trimmed they are soo much better at flowing air. And if you dont have great airflow, they will even help at highway speeds.

 

[Chrispy0530]

Good to know I'm not the only one with this problem.

I've resorted to having to remove the front bumper in order to maintain A/C full blast in this hot and humid (Miami) weather here. So airflow is definitely a problem here.

My current setup I know can be improved dramatically when it comes to under hood temps. Currently only running 1 OEM fan, and no A/C condenser fan due to my external waste-gate setup. Every time I do put a cheap slim fan, the heat kills it.

Link to my blog post about it to give you a bit more info,
My 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse: Heat is around the corner

Subscribing to this thread.

 

[phunny]

I can't say enough about the spal fans.

 

[Chrispy0530]

I have a good friend of mine that runs Spal fans on his car replacing both his OEM and Condenser fans. How do they compare to OEM fans? If they're better, I might consider at least getting one for my Condenser instead of putting the OEM one back on.

 

[boost97gst]

I dont think they are necessarily better, but they are in the ballpark. Cheapo ebay ones just dont flow well, SPALs are the best if you have to use slims

 

[importracr317]

Flex-A-Lite, FAL, Perma-Cool, et al have 12"-16" puller (or pusher fans...dependent on the wiring) fans that work with external WG setups and do a great job pulling heat out of the radiator. When I installed my external WG setup, I ended up switching to a 12" puller fan on the passenger side and an 8" pull fan on the drivers side. I recently removed my A/C so I run the 8" as a pusher now, but with the reasonably low cost fans available (some even have their own thermostats) there's no reason not to have two fans for you guys still running A/C.

Kinda' funny how abnormally hot weather brings up all these A/C threads

 

[Chrispy0530]

Cool. Once is all said and done for me, if I still find that I'm battling over heating, I'll be trying some ducting. Hopefully can get a few idea's from here.

If that doesn't solve it, might have to resort to this instead of cutting holes on my front bumper.
Eclipse 95-99 Mitsubishi EVO VIS Carbon Fiber Hood | eBay

Takes away from the OEM look I love, but would paint it white. I refuse to cut holes in my bumper.

 

[andrew k]

what about reversing the electrical current on the radiator fan make it blow outwards instead of in. if there is enough blockage of incoming air from the outside from the two coolers try sucking it in through the inside. may be worth a shot. just an idea.