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!

 

[Terrancep7]

Thermostat

 

[AllanL]

'FULL' actually means more or less half the bottle right?

 

[chet1185]

Car overheats after about 40 minutes of driving. Temp rises to middle of gauge and stays there for the most part. Then just shoots up. I just replaced the thermostat and topped it off.

Tonight on the way to work it was fine but as soon as i got close the needle shot up then would drop some then go back. It kept doing that. I lifted the hood and heard boiling, left it go and came inside.

I believe it is full of water, not coolant. The hose to the thermostat housing is blown up and rock hard. I did put the new and old thermostat in boiling water. The old didnt open but the new did. It is a 180 degree thermostat.

 

[Fayt]

So you topped it off and filled the overflow tank, after it heats up and goes back to normal, do you lose any coolant? How high does it shoot up, to the top?

 

[chet1185]

Gauge goes All the way up. I will warm it up and let it cool and keep adding fluid.

 

[SNAKE_15]

Gauge goes All the way up. I will warm it up and let it cool and keep adding fluid.

are you losing coolant? are your fans kicking in? Try letting the car hit the right temperature and when the cooling fan kicks in, look under your radiator cap to see if it sucks in the water. if not, something is blocking the coolant from entering your cooling system.

 

[chet1185]

Right now i can't check. Inside. at work

 

[cisco818]

As soon as you get off work or after the car has set in a certain spot for a while put it in reverse and check for coolant on the ground. Also check the clamps to the hoses. And tell us how its looking and we shall go from there

 

[chet1185]

Will do. Thanks

 

[EclipseGst95Garage]

I would check the condition of the water pump while you're at it.

 

[chet1185]

I am going to be changing all the belts. How do i check it?

 

[dsmspick]

Radiator could be plugged. Happened on my 2g replaced, hoses, thermostat, fans worked properly. Come to find out when I went to drain the radiator for a new aluminum one I got maybe half a gallon if that. I then pulled the radiator and it still had coolant that wouldn't come out no matter which way it was turned.

 

[chet1185]

I'l check that out also.

 

[spyderdrifter]

There's a weep hole behind the water pump pulley that'll sometimes leak. Also if you're pulling the belts off, spin the pump pulley by hand to see if you feel any kind of binding from the bearing inside it.

If you think your coolant is mostly water, or all water, then it's not the coolant itself being the issue. Water will keep the engine cooler than a pure coolant fluid. But having all water will make things rust quicker and freeze faster. Just helpful info for you.

How long has this overheating issue been going on? Was there anything done to the coolant system prior to the overheating issue starting?

 

[chet1185]

I bought the car not driving. It did run though. I had to do alot of work to it, and now it drives. I have driven it 3 times now and it has overheated each time. Only after 30-40 minutes of straight driving. I did fill the overflow the other day, I'll check the level in the morning.

Does it suck fluid from the overflow if its low?

 

[spyderdrifter]

Yes it will suck coolant from the overflow when low. Did you do anything to the coolant system after buying it?

 

[chet1185]

Nothing

 

[spyderdrifter]

Have you checked for the fans coming on? If they're not coming on, there's several possibilities as to why, and they can all lead to overheating.

1. Radiator cap isn't holding pressure: replace cap with proper 13 lb cap.
2. Coolant system not properly burped: burb the system until fans cycle on and off twice.
3. ECT sensor is bad (temp sensor): replace sensor, burp system.
4. Fan is bad: unplug and connect straight to battery power. If fan comes on, it's good; if not, replace.
5. Thermostat is bad: replace and burp system.


Replacing the t-stat as stated in your original post counts as messing with the cooling system by the way

Also, while the car is running, and overheating, check to see if either of the radiator hoses are cold.

 

[chet1185]

Overflow was empty when i got it. How full should be? I don't see any markings.

 

[spyderdrifter]

There are markings on it if it's the factory overflow bottle. Pull the line off it that connects it to the water neck, then remove the overflow bottle. Just pull It straight up. Then with a paint pen or something permanent, just mark the lines so you can see them when it's installed. That's what I've always done so I done have to search for them. If it was indeed empty, I'd drain the radiator and do a coolant exchange just to be safe. Leave to overflow bottle attached and capped when draining. Do that will aide in sucking some of the coolant out from other areas. Do you know how to burp the system?

The bottle should be about half full when filled properly.

 

[chet1185]

Cap is new, thermostat also. Fans do come on. I will try and burp the system.

No i don't know how to burp it.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Easiest way to go about it is to start the car with the radiator cap off . Let it warm up and run run until the fans cycle on and off twice. Make sure you have enough fuel in it because this could take awhile to do. Last time I did it to mine was when I swapped in my aluminum radiator. Took around 45 minutes. Then I found out the cap was bad so I put a new one on and let it run for another 20. Car died because it ran out of fuel, but it did burp properly right before shutting off. I have a square funnel that has a spout the same size as the water neck spout so I sit it on there and fill it up the engine with coolant. You don't want the overflow bottle to have coolant in it at this point so remove it's cap and keep the line above the radiator cap level until after the system is burped. Then fill it to half full. After the fans cycle on and off, shut off the car then put the radiator cap back on. I always let the fans cycle on and off at least once after the cap goes back on just to make sure everything works with the cap on too. Doing that is how I found out my cap wasn't working. So i pressure tested it and found out it was crap.

 

[bo0st]

Car overheats after about 40 minutes of driving. Temp rises to middle of gauge and stays there for the most part. Then just shoots up. I just replaced the thermostat and topped it off.

Tonight on the way to work it was fine but as soon as i got close the needle shot up then would drop some then go back. It kept doing that. I lifted the hood and heard boiling, left it go and came inside.

I believe it is full of water, not coolant. The hose to the thermostat housing is blown up and rock hard. I did put the new and old thermostat in boiling water. The old didnt open but the new did. It is a 180 degree thermostat.

Cars overheat for several simple reasons which usually fall under 1) bad water pump 2) bad radiator 3) not enough coolant 4) bad motor

Also replacing the thermostat would do nothing. If the thermostat is broken it stays open and your cooling system always runs. Most people don't know that and are suckered into buying cars that "need tuneups."

 

[chet1185]

My thermostat was stuck closed . Would not open in boiling water.

 

[bo0st]

My thermostat was stuck closed . Would not open in boiling water.

Remove it completely