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!

 

[boostineklipz]

yeah, i dont know if its just a wierd coincidence with the clutch and the overheating. I dont know how one would effect the other. I need to do a compression test and see what that looks like before I consider a headgasket.

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?

I think thats my next step if the compression comes back normal.

I have run 20psi on 93 octane but it was running so rich then. Like 1.00-1.02 volts with EGTS not evening hitting 1350 at WOT in 3rd gear. I have it at about 18psi and its running pretty strong now.

The car has been decently tuned for about a month with 18psi but it hasnt seen the track since I was running so rich at 20psi in which I ran a 14.1@104. Which is not that impressive for 20psi.

The clutch has about 50000 miles on it.

 

[SpeedFreak03]

Your supposed to have a 50/50 mix of water and coolant. Ill bet before, the rad was getting enough air to keep cool even with the "wrong" mix of water/coolant but now with the FMIC in the way its just too much. Try filling up with 50/50 and see what happens.

 

[GSXTCY]

Pat start simple, go get a new cap and see if you are still having issues. Thats what happen to me. The cap wasnt holding pressure and it was boiling off. Get the cap pressure tested. Doug tested mine in Myrtle last year and it was a simple fix.

Good luck kid!

 

[boostineklipz]

Originally posted by SpeedFreak03
Your supposed to have a 50/50 mix of water and coolant. Ill bet before, the rad was getting enough air to keep cool even with the "wrong" mix of water/coolant but now with the FMIC in the way its just too much. Try filling up with 50/50 and see what happens.

refer to this post

http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=916127#post916127

Pat start simple, go get a new cap and see if you are still having issues. Thats what happen to me. The cap wasnt holding pressure and it was boiling off. Get the cap pressure tested. Doug tested mine in Myrtle last year and it was a simple fix.

yeah i remember, hopefully its just something simple. How do you pressure test it? I still think its time for a new clutch regardless. HOLLA!

 

[GSXTCY]

Any mechanic place should have a tester. Doug had his handy dandy pressure tester. Or you could splurge and spend 2 bucks for a cap regardless. That is if you are feeling wild.

 

[boostineklipz]

Originally posted by GSXTCY
Any mechanic place should have a tester. Doug had his handy dandy pressure tester. Or you could splurge and spend 2 bucks for a cap regardless. That is if you are feeling wild.

that might be a sound investment

 

[baccam]

my car overheated again and when i was putting in more coolant i noticed that the coolant in the overflow tank is about 1 1/2" away from the top. isnt the coolant supposed to get sucked back in when it gets cooled down in the overflow tank?

 

[Defiant]

You may have a failed plastic impeller in your water pump.

But before that, try replacing your radiator cap. Yes, the system is supposed to draw the expanded coolant back into the water jacket as it cools off.

 

[SpeedFreak03]

Sorry for the misinformation then, i just thought you were supposed to always use 50/50 in these cars, and thats what most run. My bad!

 

[mitsuclipsegsx]

get a colder thermo stat

 

[boostineklipz]

Originally posted by SpeedFreak03
Sorry for the misinformation then, i just thought you were supposed to always use 50/50 in these cars, and thats what most run. My bad!

I thought the same thing as well.

 

[baccam]

Originally posted by Defiant
You may have a failed plastic impeller in your water pump.

But before that, try replacing your radiator cap. Yes, the system is supposed to draw the expanded coolant back into the water jacket as it cools off.

alright i will buy a new radiator cap. i'll let you know if this solves the problem. thanks

 

[stuffy1256]

thanks for the help guys. Its the water pump. I put a gallon of coolant into the radiator cap before i relized that a massive puddle was forming by my feet. The coolant is leaking from the vent for the water pump so im gonna replace it. Also, ive started taking it off and realized that my engine mount is broken. so goof things all around... Oreilley's is going to get a very big check from me today but its ok if i can get it fixed. Im feeling more confident about my mechanic ability after i sucessfully installed the turbo. much tuners love from me

 

[midnght]

I have the same thing as you and I am running fine. I am guessing the same as GSXTCY, replace the cap and then go to the thermostat. If niether has ever been changed or replaced you are probly due for replacements anyway. I also just replaced my coolant with PRE-mixed stuff, just poured it in and filled the rest with water. I don't know the exact ratio but it works for me. I have yet to go above normal, even in bumper-to-bumper. Cheap solution for a possibly expensive problem.

 

[DSMeclipse4G63]

Originally posted by SpeedFreak03
Your supposed to have a 50/50 mix of water and coolant. Ill bet before, the rad was getting enough air to keep cool even with the "wrong" mix of water/coolant but now with the FMIC in the way its just too much. Try filling up with 50/50 and see what happens.

You do know that coolant has no cooling capabilities at all right? Coolant is only there to make sure it doesnt freeze or the waer doesnt corrode the coolant passages. I would say 1 water wetter and a 70/30 or 60/40 water coolant should be enough to keep a dsm pretty damn cool. I have 60/40 water/coolant and 1 water wetter bottle with a 190 thermo and after a hard run its like 212 degrees. I would think to check your thermostat being as there isnt any white smoke, so you can almost cancel out turbo and hg(but Id still do a compression test, or atleast check 1 and 4 spark plugs to see if they are green).

I would bet on the thermostat.
Andrew

 

[boostineklipz]

Originally posted by DSMeclipse4G63
You do know that coolant has no cooling capabilities at all right? Coolant is only there to make sure it doesnt freeze or the waer doesnt corrode the coolant passages. I would say 1 water wetter and a 70/30 or 60/40 water coolant should be enough to keep a dsm pretty damn cool. I have 60/40 water/coolant and 1 water wetter bottle with a 190 thermo and after a hard run its like 212 degrees. I would think to check your thermostat being as there isnt any white smoke, so you can almost cancel out turbo and hg(but Id still do a compression test, or atleast check 1 and 4 spark plugs to see if they are green).

I would bet on the thermostat.
Andrew

Yeah I checked the plugs and they are a happy grey. Just bought a new radiator cap. I hope this fixes the problem because the bi*** was overheating again today.

 

[boostineklipz]

Well its not the radiator cap. Just got to school and it got pretty hot once again. Had to throw the heat on to make it go down. Still I do not understand when it starts to get hot, the clutch starts slipping. I mean how is that related????????

I guess my next step should be the thermostat.

 

[DSMeclipse4G63]

I cant tell you as to why it starts to slip when over heating...other then the fact that an overheating engine could easily transfer heat to the clutch. With the heat transfering(just speculation but seems very possible), and having 50k miles with racing and more hp then a 2100 was designed for, That would most definatley cause a little slippage. I cant remeber but did you say the thermostat was the original? If so That would be my next thing. Especially since the plugs were fine and if your compression test seemed fine. My only other guess is(and being a cert. mechanic I shoulda thought of it before) a ECT (engine coolant temp) sensor but if the thermostat is original it would be nice to replace it anyways.
Andrew

 

[dets]

Start your car and check the engine when it starts to overheat. Touch the upper large hose that goes to the radiator. If its cool then its your thermostat.

pull the thermostat. Take the cooling housing off (drain the cooling system first.) Then remove the hose. Get the to thermostat.

boil a pot of water and toss it in. Water boils at i think 210 and i think the stock thermostat opens at 170. Check to see if it does. Its a cheap part, so i'd replace it anyway.

good luck.

 

[JaMoDSM]

Got a few problems, hoping someone could help me out a bit.

I just bought plugs and wires about 2 months ago. I just changed out my thermostat yesterday, I flushed my cooling system about 1 month ago, changed my upper and lower cooling pipes as well. I bought a used throttle body but used my ISC motor since the one I bought with the TB was broken. I did a couple mods. I took out the honeycomb and silencer from my air can, took out the restrictor, also bypassed my throttle body coolant line, and have all but the rear prothane motor mounts installed.

Problems are: overheating when driving long distances going about 65+. Long distances are like 15 miles+.

Also my car drives and feels real rough when I hit about 4000+ RPMs. And I feel like my car doesn't have much boost when I reach 4k+. Not sure if its cuz of the motor mount(coming in by the end of the week btw).

Another thing, when my ICS is connected, I hear crackling around it. The one that I bought and installed with the new TB had the inside missing parts, so I used mine, but used the part that goes into the TB of the one that I bought sine it was cleaner. I think this might be causing the idle surge, but I don't know why its crackling. Do I need to work with the elecrical cables or connections?

Also my car likes to jerk and sputter while in gear and cruising.

Any ideas?

 

[TimG]

I have my logger hooked up and at idle, my stock coolant temperature gauge builds up to redline after 5 minutes of idling. Yet when I read my logger, it only states it the coolant temperature is 160 degrees.

I don't have any of my fans hooked up yet. That will be done with an auto relay and in-cockpit switch.

So how do I know which gauge is right?

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Moved to Problem Diagnosis.

 

[boostineklipz]

Originally posted by dets
Start your car and check the engine when it starts to overheat. Touch the upper large hose that goes to the radiator. If its cool then its your thermostat.

pull the thermostat. Take the cooling housing off (drain the cooling system first.) Then remove the hose. Get the to thermostat.

boil a pot of water and toss it in. Water boils at i think 210 and i think the stock thermostat opens at 170. Check to see if it does. Its a cheap part, so i'd replace it anyway.

good luck.

I can def tell you its hot, but thats after I have driven the car for at least 20 minutes. It wont overheat just sitting there at idle. When I am driving in light to light traffic that is when it will get hot. I was beating on the car pretty hard today to see if I could get a reaction from just boost, but the temp stayed below 210.

 

[GSX0TIC]

Well I am posting before I have even let my brain think so I don't have any helpful suggestions, but water boils at 212 degrees. I'll post something helpful when I can get the use of my brain.

 

[boostineklipz]

Wel I bought another slim line fan from a buddy. I wired it up, so far so good but it definitly got cooler out from earlier. Tomorrow might be another story.