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!

 

[dave99gst]

Originally posted by mastaBO
Someone said that i should replace the thermostat, that is next on my list.

good plan

 

[blwn2g]

Yup replace your thermostat and radiator cap make sure you burp the system well.

Make sure the fans work.

 

[speedytalon]

yeah that tends to be what is wrong in a situation like that. plus a new thermastat is cheap and should be replaced after a few years anyway.

 

[ECLIPSE4x4]

yes thermostat AND new radiator cap.

 

[mastaBO]

Well i got a radiator cap from a junk yard off o a 94 eclipse. Its in good shape and everything. No rust or anything at all. Is it good enough?

 

[ECLIPSE4x4]

Originally posted by mastaBO
Well i got a radiator cap from a junk yard off o a 94 eclipse. Its in good shape and everything. No rust or anything at all. Is it good enough?

as much as you payed for at the junkyard you could have got a new one.

Try it out and see what happens.

I would have went for a new one.

 

[DSMeclipse4G63]

if you replace the thermostat and burp the system(I trademarked that term on this site ) and have your pump and hd replaced then the only thing that could cause it to over heat would be a clog somewhere limiting flow.
Andrew

 

[mr2turbo12]

ok, only had the car for a month and whenever i come to a stop the car starts to overheat. The needle slowly starts to go up, so i put the heat to full, the needle goes back to the middle, then i put the heat to low and the needle starts to go back up. The radiator was changed before i bought it. I havent noticed any leaks. Only one fan works, the other one doent spin. It never overheats when i drive it, abuse it. Im going to go to a autozone and get a thermostat, hopefully it fixes it. What does it sound like this can be?

 

[Clipse]

The second fan is an A/C fan. It only works when the A/C is on.

 

[SpeedFreak03]

Could be the thermostat, but buy a mitsu OEM one from the dealer, dont by the cheap autozone shit. Also when was the last time you flushed the system? Could be the waterpump also, they are like $70-90. Try replacing t-stat (with OEM) and flush the rad and add new 50/50 mix of coolant and water.

 

[stuffy1256]

except flushing the radiator and replacing the water pump.

I sent my car in the shop to get the 02 sensor retapped when i stripped it getting it out and noticed the car was overheating and was told by someone on tuners it was probably just the fact that i didnt have the 02 sensor in while it was running. No problem. Got it retapped and while driving it home, i noticed it was still overheating but just while under boost. replaced the thermostat. Getting even better. Now its just overheating AFTER i get off of boost. When it was in the shop, the mechanic said the turbo is about to go and might want to consider getting a new one (he's a mechanic at my dad's work so he wouldnt bs us or else he would get fired) I took it into my mechanics class im taking and my teacher said that the turbo could be causing the overheat if it is blocking the exhaust. Two weeks later (today) turbo is finally installed. I STILL overheats. fans ARE turning on and no CEL. Could it just be a clogged radiator or bad water pump? i dont know when the water pump was last replaced but i know the timing belt was replaced by mitsu before i bought the car. Is there any way to check to see if its the water pump or a clogged radiator? sorry for the novel but i wanted to let you know what i HAVE done.

 

[Defiant]

Originally posted by stuffy1256
the mechanic said the turbo is about to go and might want to consider getting a new one

We want to know how he figured this.

I suspect a bum plastic impeller in your water pump.

 

[13secGST]

I would also just flush your system too...to make sure all the coolant is fresh...its simple, although I don't think this should be your problem

when does your car overheat now? Only after boost...what do you mean by after boost, do you mean that the car runs at normal temp all the time except, after you have floored it and built boost, the temps will creep up and go back down?

 

[markGSX]

There are a few possibilities: blown head gasket (sometimes as small as a pinhole), clogged radiator, or water pump. I'll bet on the radiator. My friend had a '99 GS-T and the radiator failed in '03. That just shouldn't happen -- but it DID!

 

[crankbender]

just try this.

Pull the thermostat again.
Refill the system.
Take the top radiator hose off the radiator and aim it over the front grill.
Start the car.

Water should jet out like a high school boy on prom night....I suspect it won't and you need a new water pump.

Are you loosing any coolant?

 

[stuffy1256]

i have plenty of coolant and am not losing any. Actually the car is overheating after its in drive and i hit the gas. idling and revving it fine, its stays cool, but as soon as i try and drive it, it goes bad. It was only doing the afterboost heating before it was in the shop.

Also another thing, in my chiltons manual it said that fluid would come out when i took off the radiator hose when i changed my thermostat but nothing came out. Not even a drop. Is this something to be concern about? Also i get a lot of pinging when it get hot and wont start again until it completly cools off. Itll start and then die.

 

[crankbender]

Originally posted by crankbender
just try this.

Pull the thermostat again.
Refill the system.
Take the top radiator hose off the radiator and aim it over the front grill.
Start the car.

Water should jet out like a high school boy on prom night....I suspect it won't and you need a new water pump.

This will tell you if your water pump is gone......

less talk more action!!!!

 

[markGSX]

Originally posted by stuffy1256
Also another thing, in my chiltons manual it said that fluid would come out when i took off the radiator hose when i changed my thermostat but nothing came out. Not even a drop.

WTF, are you joking? Are you saying you have no coolant?

 

[stuffy1256]

i have some in my holding tank thing, infact it almost full... so i guees coolant was supposed to come out huh?

 

[markGSX]

No wonder you were overheating -- It sounds like you have some pretty big air pockets in your cooling system. Just because your overflow is full doesn't mean you're completely full of coolant. There can be air in the system with nowhere for it to escape.

When your car is cold, remove your radiator cap and let the air bleed out for a couple minutes.

 

[crankbender]

you have to pour coolant IN the radiator cap too....

*EDIT* the hole for the cap that is....just making sure as you seem to be a little new to the cooling system thing.

 

[13secGST]

ok, here is what to do...fill the coolant system from the radiator cap...no where else...don't worry about the reservior...

then, turn the car on with the cap off and keep filling coolant as needed

 

[Eliminat0r]

Originally posted by 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.

bounce the bumper thats great i just revved my car to like 1500 waited till i seen the air bubbles stop and topped it off with more coolant then repeated about 4 times, no overheating problems since, maybe next time it happens ill hit the bumper. o yea dont forget to let your car completely cool down after doing this and then the next morning or hours later do the trick one more time to rid yourself of all the air in the system, of course if youre lazy just rent the pump thing.

 

[boostineklipz]

Alright I started having a overheating problem ever since I put the FMIC on. I replaced the coolant with 2 bottles of water wetter and a 80/20 mix of water/coolant.

Everything is cool until I get into to stop and go traffic. If its over 60 degrees out, that temp gets pretty hot. It doesnt get hot on boost or when just crusing. There isnt white smoke either.

Now in stop and go traffic friday night, the car got hot and then the clutch started slipping and the clutch pedal goes to the floor. I found this pretty odd. After the car cooled down, the clutch stopped slipping.

The car pulls pretty good still, but I have a good feeling the head gasket is on its way out. The clutch is almost about 3 years and old and its a ACT 2100. Its starting to chatter so I am working on getting that replaced along with a stock flywheel.


Anyone have any comments or suggestions?

 

[midnght]

Try replacing the thermostat. How many PSI are you running, what is the max you have run, and what is the time period you ran it?

As for the clutch, how many miles and how did you treat it?