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!

 

[RossY]

scratch that question about the water pump. I didn't know it was on the same belt as the alt.

 

[dbritt]

Depending on how big of a patch you had to put in could determine where it could get stuck at. I would think that worst-case-scenario would be getting a clog in your turbo's coolant line because it's a pretty small tube. 300+ degrees? wow man...

Yeah you can flush the radiator just by itself. Just unbolt the fan, lines, and mounts. It should slide right up out of the car and you can put a hose to one end of it and flush it out. If you want to test the turbo's lines, I think the easiest way would be to unhook the banjo bolt on the front middle of the turbo (it's the water return line) and flush the system using the return line as your input line to see if any flows out of the turbo (indicating that it's making it through the whole system). You'll probably have to rig something so that you can get water into that line though. Like take a small piece of vaccum hose and duct tape it to the end of your garden hose.

Are all the temp gauges consistent with one another? Like, the one in your dash is not the same as the one your ECU sees. Is the 300+ degrees that is shown on your logger also represented in your dash correctly? I'm just thinking that maybe (somehow) it might not be reading correctly.

I normally tell people with coolant problems to get a beck/arnley failsafe thermostat. I've always had good results with it whenever someone is running hot.

Good luck

 

[SaintcruGSX]

So if i go inside and leave my car running(Greddy Turbo Timer) for any longer than 5mins it overheats...What tha Crap! I come out side to find my coolant spraying all over the driveway. I'm pretty sure my thermostat is still good, so any ideas of what the problem could be?...Thanks for the Help.
~Ryan

 

[FASTSPOOLINGST]

are your fans turning on to cool the coolant? Are they stock fans or slimline? My single slimline wasn't enough airflow to cool my car at idle, i had to put another one in.

If the thermostat isn't opening up, it's not getting the cool water from the radiator.

Where is it spraying out from?

It is probably low on water and it's the hot air in the system. You gotta burp that baby!

 

[WhiteCloud]

My overheating problem ended up being the thermostat. Things to check, in order IMO:

1) are fans coming on (not just when AC is on)
2) coolant level (add fluids as necessary--including reservoir...maybe flush system and replace with new fluids)
3) radiator cap
4) thermostat (even if radiator pipes are hot, the thermostat can still not be opening!)
5) water pump
6) small likelihood that it *could* be the headgasket if it is leaking exhaust gas into the coolant. very unlikely...

Check those in order, and hopefully it will be something as simple as needing a new radiator fan. Or even the thermostat is an easy fix! Good luck...

 

[91beasttsi]

I have a 91 talon tsi fwd i just recently had a timing belt break while driving.I replaced the head with a ported 1g head and new head gasket.After doing this i started the car and noticed a vibration that would pop up aroud 3K.Found the problem there (bent exhaust cam) replaced it.Then got it going again only to discover that now it is running hot when driveng down the road.I have put a brand new water pump on it and flushed the radiator.I have also removed the thermostat.The car runs fine at an idle but when you drive it down the road (about a mile or so) it runs hot.I have direct wired the fans to a switch to turn both on at once.Still runs hot I am at a total loss.Could it be the ported head?Like it is pushing out more heat than the stock radiator can cope with?Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[basara1]

I have a 1990 Eclipse and the car overheats no matter what. Everytime I check the water most of it is gone. I also notice that when I'm done driving it all the water in the overflow tank is boiling. I have to put water in it every time i drive it. I have replaced the water pump, radiator, main radiator hose, and radiator cap. I don't seem to have a thermostat, since I live in Fl. I was told I did not need it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[91beasttsi]

I was thinking today and come up with yet another question.Could it be possible for a clogged catalytic converter to cause overheating?I have checked the radiator cap and i am building 13psi in the system.I have also noticed that it does not matter how much boost I push it still overheats.I am very doubtful that the culprit is my headgasket.1.It is brand new. 2.When it was installed I used copper gasket sealer on it. 3.The head is torqued to 60 ftlbs. (which is 5 ftlbs over mfg suggested) Anyone with any idea I would be glad to entertain any thoughts. Thanx.(The timing is dead on,the only thing that might be off is the curb idle speed.)

 

[Defiant]

I don't seem to have a thermostat, since I live in Fl. I was told I did not need it.

You were told wrong. Put one in.

 

[johnk]

Maybe the head or block are warped. More likely the head being aluminum.

 

[91beasttsi]

The head should be fine since it was in the shop prior to porting. As for a warped block ..... I doubt that would be the culprit (but at this point anything is possible). I had never heard of anyone bending a cam when a timing belt broke,but mine did. I will pull my head and check all my tolerances just the same. Thanx.

 

[stevehank]

I've been reading for 3 months now and I just bought a 93 GSX. I love the car so far. Its modded pretty good. The front mount IC piping required the previous owner to remove the fan on the driver side of the radiator (there's originally 2 fans on there right?). He told me to turn on the ac while driving to make sure the other fan is always running. Also, I dont quite know where the overflow bottle was mounted before, but its just kinda laying down inside the engine bay near the air filter.

Okay so heres my problem. I went for a drive on the highway last night and when I got off, the car sat for about 4 mins or so, steam started pouring out of the hood and the coolant overflow bottle was bubbling crazy and water was shooting out of the bottom. I forgot to turn on the AC fan. The mixture of coolant/water that he had in there was wayyy water.

Today I got myself a nice little coolant tank from the autoparts store. Flushed the radiator, and put coolant back in. Is there anything else I should look at? He suggested a newer radiator (the old one's fins are kinda beat up), or building some kinda of an air dam to trap the air b/w the IC and the radiator. Any suggestions? THANKS!!

 

[Aikouka]

The passenger's side fan is the radiator fan. That fan should turn on when the temperature in the radiator gets high enough. If he took off the passenger's side fan. I'd try and get it to put it on the driver's side and rewire all the switches over there so it will act like normal, but be on the other side.

The reason your car overheated is because as you said, you had no fan turned on and you weren't moving. Normally a fan is not necessary when cruising at highway speeds, because you're forcing air through the radiator to cool it down. But once you let the car idle, that's when you run into overheating problems. I had the same problem when my temperature sensor connector for my radiator fan needed to be replaced, and after low speed and idling the car overheated.

 

[speedracer91]

if he (or i ) have the a/c button on (no belt) will the fans run all the time or more ofen?

 

[stevehank]

anytime I push the AC button, the fan runs. As far as my new overflow tank, when the engine is hot after driving, it should fill... when it cools, it Should be empty... right?

 

[na97eclipse]

hey everyone, got another overheating question for you gurus...

I've got a 97 na eclipse, 3 weeks ago i replaced the thermostat because the car was overheating. Recently my car started overheating badly. I removed the radiator cap to see if the thermostat is flowing. When the car gets up to temperature, the fan kicks on, but the water/anti freeze doesn't flow out of the thermostat in a steady stream like it should... It is like spitting out irraticaly. Also the over flow tank was topped off and i had a huge puddle underneath my car. I emptied the overflow to find a lb. of sludge inside, you know the antifreeze oil mixture that looks like poo. . My friend has a gst and his antifreeze looked the same only to find that the oil cooler was mixing the too, we replaced it and walaaa no more sludge. My question to you guys is...

What could be causing the over heating?? the radiator cap is new, thermostat is new... and how did the sludge get there?? my buddy here at work says it could be a cracked block. I have no clue, im tempted to check the water pump, but taking off the timing belt and left engine mount is a waste of time if its a cracked block. So i dont know, please get back to me..

Thank you

 

[Dieselboy]

You definitly want to keep a fan on that, especially with an FMIC. The core sits in front of the radiator and blocks all of the incoming air. May I suggest you take advantage of the opportunity and pick up a SPAL slimfan? I believe RRE still sells them, and Id get the 12" PULL fan. They are around $100 a piece and flow alot more air than stock fans do.

 

[SlowSpyder]

oil mixing with water is a sign of a blown headgasket

 

[IAMCLP1]

sorry... 235, not 335...wow indeed...

update: replaced the rad cap w/a new one and used some water wetter, i can drive w/the a/c on and try and make it overheat, and it just gets a little warm 5/8 up on the stock gauge. but i still don't get why it's getting hot... this is all on a stock 99 gsx throwing no other codes...

any other ideas??

 

[LeJeune123]

My car starts good and everything but the upper and lower radiator hoses never get hot neither does the radiator. The temp gauge will go up to normal, sit for a second and then start going up to a little over half before I shut it off. I was wondering what could be causing that. I have replaced the: cap, thermostat, radiator, upper and lower hoses, and all the coolant. Also the hoses get really hard, could that be caused by the thermostat not opening and the water pump pushing water in or what. I have no idea.

 

[temfate]

The hoses should get hard because they are pressurized when the coolant starts to flow. I'd be worried your hoses are clogged, or the water pump is going bad. Sounds like you tried everything else.

 

[LeJeune123]

Where is the best place to get a water pump. I want one that is kind of cheap but one you guyz have tried because I don't want to put one in and it break a couple miles down the road.

 

[LouDDawg]

In the 2G N/T your fan belt is connected to your power steering, so if your problem is an overheating engine (and you also have problems with your power steering) then you may want to check the tension of your fanbelt.l

My car starts good and everything but the upper and lower radiator hoses never get hot neither does the radiator. The temp gauge will go up to normal, sit for a second and then start going up to a little over half before I shut it off. I was wondering what could be causing that. I have replaced the: cap, thermostat, radiator, upper and lower hoses, and all the coolant. Also the hoses get really hard, could that be caused by the thermostat not opening and the water pump pushing water in or what. I have no idea.

 

[LeJeune123]

I do have problems with my power steering. The power steering just does not work as well as it used to, it is kinda hard to steer. The belt is tight but can it be too tight. Thaks that alone my help me and save me some money. thanks. Later

 

[khartley]

I was driving my car today and white smoke started rolling out. I lifted my hood and is was coming from around the headers, only on the drivers side. After I started it back up, there wasn't really anymore smoke, but my car died a couple of times on the way home, when I would put in the clutch around a corner. Anyone know what's wrong? My check engine light has been on for a while, but I couldn't see anything wrong, til now.