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!

 

[cfinch1]

Nope car still overheated with a thermostat

 

[Black_Havoc]

Then try to burp is fully. Take off the thermo housing cap, and let the engine warm up. Get a big bottle of water, have someone rev it to 7000 inside the car. Fill the tube untill its at the top then have then rev it again. When I put in my new radiator it took 4 times of doing that and another .75 gallons of water. Now it doesn't get over 216 ever. I also just installed a Performance Radiator with metal end tanks so my system was totally dry.

 

[ArticNemesis]

Well, they are stock fans, but for some reason, it was spinning the wrong way indeed.. Switched the wiring around, and I don't overheat anymore!!! Hehe... All that work, and it's because my fans were backwards. I feel like an idiot.

 

[NOSNUSE]

Well just don't ask how I knew that answer to that question. Later, Keith.

 

[cfinch1]

This is just stupid I tried getting the air out of the system. I sat there and let the car warm up and alot of bubbles kept coming up and i kept filling it forever but it didnt seem like i was doing anything but replacing the water that spilled at. I watched the temp gauge eventually it was idling a little cooler so I put the cap on and now for some reason it has this nasty tick in the motor. This just started right now and it doesnt start till like 3000rpm and quiets after like 4500 roughly and its loud especially when in motion and the car still overheated I havent had the chance to even drive this car and I already hate it Im about to junk it and just stick to my nissans my 240 never gave me half this headache in the last 3 years and all this headache in a matter of a week :thumbdown

 

[Defiant]

Switched the wiring around, and I don't overheat anymore!!! Hehe... All that work, and it's because my fans were backwards. I feel like an idiot.

You don't half compare to the zinc-headed sonofabitch who hooked them up that way.

Unless, that was you. At which point we'd back that down to a "o well, oops".

 

[JASON ROSARIO]

If it keeps overheating do a compression test. See if your headgasket is leaking. Check all your heater core hoses. Check to see if the water pump 'might' be leaking throught the little weep hole.

 

[unior]

I havent had the chance to even drive this car and I already hate it Im about to junk it and just stick to my nissans my 240 never gave me half this headache in the last 3 years and all this headache in a matter of a week :thumbdown

take the rad cap off while the car is cold...now start the car, put the heater on full hot, one notch on the heater fan - now wait till the car warms up and see when/if the thermostat is opening - long shot but its an idea - when the thermostat opens the water level in the thermostat housing will rise and overflow - at this point put the cap back on... If it never does rise and overflow then the thermostat isnt opening

btw quit your moaning - we all have had worse problems than you - but you don't see me whining and buying a nissan - no slow sr20 ###s here <---

 

[Black_Havoc]

! Slow SR20's. Say that to the SR20DET in the Sylvia S13/S14, they kill our cars. Too bad you can't get em in the US... And speaking of Nissan motors, I have a friend with a 260Z thats putting in a RB25DET, yes thats right the Skyline motor from the R33. Without any mods to the motor it will run 12's in that car. And he's modding that motor... T88 turbo, 28X12X3.5 FMIC, with water spray.... and a much longer list, off topic now...

 

[Defiant]

Next cheap step: replace the radiator cap.

 

[LoW96Rs03]

After I drive my car and let it warm up a little, everytime I stop, the thermostat will slowly rise. Now as soon as i take off, within 5 sec it'll go back down to normal. Or if im sitting still and the temp starts to rise, I can rev it to about 3k rpms for about 5 sec, it'll drop back down to normal also. I know both of the fans are working fine and a/c is ice cold, but the heater is room temp when the a/c and heater are on. And if a/c is off, itll push out nice hot air, which is weird. Also when turning the a/c on it turns on both fans(of course) which seem to bring the temp actually rise a couplse of mm on the termostat, which also doesnt make much sense. So if im stopped or going down my driveway really slow at low rpms(1st gear 1kr rpms) for about 10 sec, the temp will slowly rise to the H untill I take off or rev it to 3k it will immediatly drop down to normal. Any ideas of why its doing this? Also it seams the engine bay is really hot, like touching the middle of the hood where the header is is extremely hot to the touch. Now I have a CAI and a stainless header, but with these temps ive held off installing em, what do you think. BTW its a 97 420a N/A. Any ideas to help me out ide appreciate. Thanks.

 

[Defiant]

Replace the radiator cap.

How long since the radiator's been flushed, ever? Are the hoses going soft?

And just how much is it rising, any more than a couple of needle-widths?

 

[Coup D E'Tat]

Mine did that a while ago. Changing my thermostat did the trick for me.

 

[Defiant]

take the rad cap off while the car is cold...now start the car, put the heater on full hot, one notch on the heater fan

No need to turn on the heater, it's full-flow and the core runs coolant all the time. The heater knob only works an air door.

 

[cfinch1]

Thanks for all the help but I just got the car back and it made it to my house and I havent even had the chance to drive the car and it has a rod knock all of a sudden. It was supposed to be a jspec engine but its just a usdm 2g 4g63 with a 1g intake manifold and non turbo injectors. I looked and they were pink top injectors and thats why my car has been idling like crap and cutting out and only overheating when it sees boost. Basicly this shop worked me but I traded a car for the job and I still have the title. I know nothing about dsms im a nissan man myself personal preference so I guess I was dumb enough to get worked. I went to another shop and they had a vr4 clip in the back and qouted me $1650 installed and done right cause my car was missing a bunch of stuff and still is but basicly I just got screwed and im gonna have to have a new engine dropped and this time it should be done right. Thanks for all the input though

 

[90 GSX]

1 - Without a thermostat your radiator doesn't have time to cool the water before it goes to the block/head.

2 - When I bleed the coolant on the eclipse I put my hand down by the fans and squeeze and hold the lower hose. You will see air bubbles start to bubble out of the radiator fill. Do it and keep filling until it is all bled. Drive it around, let it cool, check the level and add if necessary.

3 - You are 100% sure it is rod knock? I mean you would have to beat on a motor pretty hard to get a rod to start knocking within a week of getting it. If you broke it in right (if it was brand new) or if you dropped a used one in and took safety measures (change oil once right after startup and then again after 100-150 miles, clean it, scan it while driving etc. etc.) it may just be that whoever sold you the motor jipped you.

Sorry about the motor, better luck with the next one.

 

[LoW96Rs03]

Nah....its more than a couple needles worth. Normally its a little below the halfway mark, itll rise all the way to H untill the gas is hit for a sec. or if I take off.

 

[FlipDsM]

Mine did that a while ago. Changing my thermostat did the trick for me.

yup defenitely, mine went away as well.

 

[luv2rallye]

Do in order until fixed: replace radiator cap, pressure test cooling system for leaks and obstructions, new thermostat, reverse flush system, possibly need new radiator (if all rusted/corroded).

 

[cfinch1]

Yeah im positive of the rod knock and it was supposed to be a jspec engine but it was an engine from a 2g eclipse. I dunno anything about the motor probably from a non turbo eclipse it has a 1g intake and exhaust manifold. Im gonna run the numbers on the block I think they may have just replaced the old rod bearing and threw on a new head and the crank just blew the rod bearing again/

 

[unior]

No need to turn on the heater, it's full-flow and the core runs coolant all the time. The heater knob only works an air door.

interesting - i just assumed i needed to do that

thanks that will save me 2 minutes next time woot!

 

[AaronL]

I have a 95' Tsi. Its has a rebuilt 2nd gen rebuilt 2.0 with 10K miles on it. It recently started runing hot. It never really over heats all the way. Gets close sometimes. At idle its fine and when you slow down or stop it slowly starts cooling back down. Its when your just drivning down the road. Whats weird is if you accelerate hard it cools down quick as shit. I have flushed radiator, new cap, new thermostat. Any help is appreciated. I looked around on the board and found nothing similar.

Thanks

 

[turboholic]

-Do the fan(s) work?

 

[95JTalonTSI]

Why does it have to be this way with all dsms? I have a 95 and i installed 2 12" 850cfm slim line fans in for better fitment and what not. I run both fans as pullers, and on hot days the temperature will fluctuate and run hot to about 3/4 the way up. If i run the stock A/C radiator fan and one 12" slim line as primary, the car runs normal with no overheating. When i initially installed the 2 slimline fans i thought it could of been mis-installation error, such as installing the fans too close upon the radiators surface. After some researching i looked into backing the fans off the surface to about 1" or an 1" and 1/4. I fabricated some aluminum brackets to moves these fans further back from the surface of the radiator in attempts to draw more air from a larger diameter. After completion, no such luck. The car still would fluctuate slightly. I understand it now that everyone seems to have overheating problems with the installation of the slim line fans. My last option for which i think will produce no improvements for cooling would be to simply keep one fan as a puller, and the a/c fan make it a pusher off of the condenser. Does anyone have any solution or do i have to resort back to melting the stock a/c radiator fan? Has anyone out there been able to run 2 slim fans, and if so how do i do this? One pusher and one puller will this make any difference? Also would it help to wrap the manifold with header wrap so i can kool the underhood temps? i have a ported 95 mani.

 

[rsfast4]

Hey I know you said the problem went away once you took the thermostat out. Try getting a new thermostat and see if that works. Also test both of your fans to make sure they are both working, I know most of the time only one comes on when driving in normal conditions and the second fan kicks in when either the AC is turned on or it reaches a higher than normal temperature.