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!

 

[Redmachine]

You run the car without the rad cap (in the driveway not the neighborhood) allow the coolant to circulate forcing the air to move to the opening, continue to fill with the premix radiator fluid, bounce the bumper a few times again to move the air, do this until you see the coolant circulating but nothing is bubbling out. try that It should get most of the air out, If that is not the fix I am sorry, in my 3 cases it was the exact problem.

 

[rip]

ok thanks ill do that. thanks alot for ur guys help!

 

[mastaBO]

I tried that and i saw bubbles coming up and the fluid started to overflow. I cut the engine off and waited till the fluid went down. Put the cap back on and started the car. It seems good now. Havent drove it yet, but ill know later.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[Redmachine]

make sure you top it off , replace the air that comes out with coolant that way no more air enters the system

 

[baccam]

i bought a Stant 195 degrees heavy duty thermostat,gasket and a new radiator cap, and that fixed the problem for a little while. while me and my cousin (in his car) was driving to greak lakes dragway yesturday about 20 miles into the trip. my car starts to over heat. i pulled over and let the car cool for a while. i then took off the radiator cap and there was no radiator fluid in there at all. i just filled it up the other day and made sure there was no bubbles by pressing the radiator hose and turning on the car while putting the radiator fluid in. well we went to the next town and got some more radiator fluid and filled it up again and made sure there was no bubbles. the radiator over flow bottle was boiling though. we went to milwaukee to see if one of my friends would like to come along, and it over heated there again. so we went and got 2 more radiator fluid bottles (just in case) and filled it up again. the over flow bottle was again boiling like no other. we got to greak lakes dragway and i let my car sit and cool down so i can check the fluid level. i open the cap again and it was dry as before. so i filled it up again doing the same routine. after the race we went to get some gas and fill up the radiator just in case. we do the same thing and when my cousin turned on the car to fill the radiator there was a splash and i looked under the car and there was a small puddle of radiator fluid on the floor. it came from the over flow bottle. all the other times there was no leaks what so ever. when we got home my car starts to over heat again. so i parked it in my driveway and looked under the car for any sighns of it leaking. there was non to be found. i didnt check the fluid level last night cause i was so tired and went straight to bed. oh, and when i leave my car off to put fluid in, it never fills all the way up. it would reach the top and drain back down. i went through 2 radiator bottles and it never settled at the top. i could've kept on filling it, but i decided to turn the car on and get the bubbles out. when i do turn on the car, the fluid comes back up and starts to over flow. my fans turn on when they're supposed to now. i just dont know where all the fluid is going to. i think its drianing itself from the over flow bottle. is it my water pump?. sorry this is such a looooong post.

 

[itsmytsi]

I'm having sort of the same troubles as you. My car was leaking the green goodness and getting hot. I replaced the thermostat and water pump. Mine was leaking from around the pump and it was shot too. Unless you have a really really bad leak somewhere you need to just keep filling your car with antifreeze. It seems to take alot but it will eventually get full, or at least mine seemed to. I'm going to head out and check the level later in mine but I haven't saw any leaks since yesterday when I got the pump done. Unfortunately I can't help you out too much cause my car is still getting hot and my fluid is boiling just like yours. If you find out whats going on I'd love to hear it too if you don't mind. I still have to check my fans as well to make sure they are coming on when needed. Sorry I couldn't help ya out too much, thanks for any help!

 

[Defiant]

Originally posted by baccam
is it my water pump?

Sounds like it. Why didn't you get a stock spec thermostat?

 

[baccam]

Originally posted by itsmytsi
If you find out whats going on I'd love to hear it too if you don't mind.

i will let you know when i have solved this problem. if you figure this out first let me know as well. thanks!

Originally posted by Defiant
Sounds like it. Why didn't you get a stock spec thermostat?

i will try that

 

[baccam]

Originally posted by Defiant
Why didn't you get a stock spec thermostat?

i thought this one would perform the same or do better then the stock

 

[Mits99Eclipse]

one of my friends has a 91 gsx witch he just recently bought. the car ran fine for a few weeks and now when he starts it and lets it run for a short time or goes down the street, it overheats. what wrong with it??

 

[92awddsm]

Check the coolant level.

 

[Mits99Eclipse]

checked it and its fine, not sure wat else it would be

 

[baccam]

ok, when i put more fluid in the radiator all of it goes straight to the overflow tank. does this mean it's my water pump?

 

[WadexTSi]

water pump

 

[tom1995tsi]

The past week or two my temp. gauge has been raising above the half way point when im at wot/driving hard. It has never done this before, I thought it might be the water pump but i wanted to know your opinions. Thanks In advance.

 

[xcelr8n]

thermostat?

 

[tom1995tsi]

yea thermostat.

 

[xcelr8n]

i meant check/replace it

 

[tom1995tsi]

How do i know if its bad?

 

[philipkrotch]

take it out and put it in a pot of boiling water..if it opens up its fine. sometimes they stick open though partially, which is what sounds like is happening in your case. go to advance auto parts, get a 180 degree (10 colder than factory) and replace it..its like 7 bucks for the thermostat and gasket.

 

[xcelr8n]

check the thermostat first, before getting to the water pump

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Moved to Problem Diagnosis.

 

[crankbender]

read up

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=108631

 

[Mits99Eclipse]

thanks for the info, ill look into that

 

[mastaBO]

Well I first opened the radiator cap and let all the bubbles out to make sure that no air is in the circulation. I thought overheating problem was fixed, but today, i took the car for a ride, and after about 3-5 min, the temp needle went up to 75-80% up in the gauge. I turned off the engine, and waited like a minute. I then started the car again and the temp needle stayed at the middle for the next 5min, which i was home. Is this normal? I mean, before i got ma headgasket and waterpump fixed, the needle would fo up like 65% up and go back down again after a min or so. Someone said that i should replace the thermostat, that is next on my list.