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!

 

[Goobdog]

Water/Coolant is getting into the cylinder. Do you find yourself having to add water often ? Has the car ever been ran hot ? Pull the plugs from the cylinders that you said you could see it coming from and check them out. When my head gasket blew the #1 plug and piston were wet and the plug had a hint of rust. If you can see the smoke from around the header id say you also have a blown manifold gasket.

 

[khartley]

my coolant level indicator light came on a wekk ago, and I added a water/antifreeze mix and the light went away. the car hasn't ever been ran hot, but I will pull out mu spark plug and see what it looks like

this sounds expensive.....

 

[khartley]

ok, when I took the cover off to get to the plugs, there is a lot of oil in there. do you think that could be the problem? the spark plug looks ok, for the most part - the end is kind of whitish because it is about 15,000 miles old

 

[Goobdog]

Well you said the smoke went away, maybe your valve cover gasket is leaking onto the manifold. Was the smoke coming off the exhaust or out of the exhaust. If it was coming off the exhaust change your valve cover gasket and see if it does it anymore.

 

[nutshot]

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)

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...

If my fans don't kick on, what needs to be replaced?

 

[rowlex]

o.k. so, your car only overheats when your turbo timer is counting? Not _anytime_ you idle?

Do your accessories stay on while the turbo timer is counting - like your stereo?

If so, you need to re-wire one of the cables on your turbo timer, you are suppose to hook it up to IGN1 and IGN2, I assume yours is hooked up to IGN1, and ACC. IGN2 needs to be used.

 

[trapspeed]

I need your guys' help.

Just recently my car decided to start overheating. I don't know what cause this.

It seems that my car tends to overheat very badly when idling especially. When I actually start cruising it lowers a little bit but is still way too high for normal. I looked under the car and the radiator fluid is leaking pretty badly. It's a pretty constant drip that's coming from the center of the car a little behind the front axle. Please help me out, thanks.

 

[Ajax]

Okay I know I am being an ass but I kinda want to ask something different I asked before and nobody could help me but it sounds like you guys might know what you are talking about. So sorry for jacking this flame me if you want but give me an answer too please?? I installled a compustar remote start and tt but when I remote start everything turns on like stereo etc. but my ac and and or fans or heat does not turn on, what wrong with that since that is the reason why I got the remote start. I have to put my key in and turn it first. Thanks and sorry again for jacking this thread.

 

[rowlex]

Okay I know I am being an ass but I kinda want to ask something different I asked before and nobody could help me but it sounds like you guys might know what you are talking about. So sorry for jacking this flame me if you want but give me an answer too please?? I installled a compustar remote start and tt but when I remote start everything turns on like stereo etc. but my ac and and or fans or heat does not turn on, what wrong with that since that is the reason why I got the remote start. I have to put my key in and turn it first. Thanks and sorry again for jacking this thread.

Same answer as I stated above. Check your wiring, you need to be using the IGN1 & IGN2 connections for the remote start and TT. Sounds like you are making use of the ACC wire instead of IGN2.

 

[carboy08]

If your temp gauge is working and if its leaking close to and behind the driver's side wheel then your water pump gasket may have blown or has a crack, depends on how severe your leak is. This maybe caused by your radiator cap's failure to release pressure when it over 13psi, due to a broken spring or a stuck valve on your radiator cap. Replace your radiator cap ($9), refill coolant reservior, and refill your radiator. When your radiator is full, start your car and let it idle for about 5min. This allows the systems to purge itself of any air bubbles. You still need to replace the water pump gasket. If you have over 60,000 miles then replacing the entire pump is recommended (approx $500 mitsu dealer).

 

[DSMESi98TFJ]

I had a very similar problem, I replaced the thermostat (6.99), the thermostat housing gasket (.89), and flushed and filled the old fluid (15.00). My car would smoke and overheat like no other. Sometimes, its a very small problem.

 

[rcarrier]

Hey all, just got my frontmount installed, now got a little issue of overhetaing, keep in mind that my car is automatic, so the intercooler didnt fit exactly, is there anyway to get some air to the radiator, looks to me that it is going through the intercooler, and then down to the ground bypassing the Radiator, any help would be appreciated!

 

[Jimmy Jr.]

How many fans do you have? Are they both working? Is anything keeping them from turning i.e. zip tie, ic pipe, etc? If so is the fuse blown?

 

[girlieracr4g63]

I suggest maybe getting aftermarket fans on fan. Try placing it or them in between. Making them a pusher or a puller is up to you.

 

[JessesTalon]

if you place new aftermarket fans between radatior and FMIC should pull air through IC more efficently, and should also push air through the raddiator... and have them hardwired to run always on as long as your car is on... that to me seems like it wouldbe better



OR



Duct between FMIC and radiator so any air thrrough the fmic goes DIRECTLY to the radiator

 

[chriskan]

Don't know how far you are willing to go to fix this...I had overheating problems as well when I installed a FMIC and bigger turbo with my stock radiator. My A/C fan melted, so that was out of the car at the time. My temp would go up over 220 sometimes while idling, and the gauge would be 3/4, and sometimes all the way to H. When I was driving, the temps would go down a bit, go figure, there was enough airflow to get to the radiator. Anyways, I bought a PWR radiator for $380 and installed it. I'm in Cali, so it doesn't erally get freezing cold. I used a mix of 20% antifreeze and 80% water, with a bottle of water wetter. With this setup, I couldn't get my car to overheat at all, the temp gauge stayed in the middle, even after driving the car hard, and I mean really hard in hot weather. Keep in mind this is only with the main cooling fan on the passenger side. After testing this, I added a pusher fan in front of the A/C cond. just for the hell of it, fearing that it would melt if it was behind the radiator (I don't have a heatshield cause I have the AGP turbo kit and the stock one doesn't work with it.) The only issue with this is the car takes a little longer to warm up --no biggie, but it works really well to control the temps.
Beside this, you could try creating an air duct to route air to the radiator, get a hood with scoops, put in washers to raise the hood in the back, etc...

 

[u6t9]

uhhhh.....do your fans come on? you could just have a blown fuse to your fans. try that first. make sure that they work and everything. then if that's all good, maybe get a new thermostat. and remember to use distilled water when you fill your car back up with coolant. good luck

 

[91beasttsi]

Update on my situation... replaced the head gasket and all is well.Thank you for your input and patience.

 

[c5chris]

A Fluidyne radiator and stock fans will keep your temps at normal.

Our cars do not have a grille so any blockage of the radiator will send the underhood temps soaring.

 

[flinguist]

A lower temp. thermostat, and redline water wetter may help.

 

[rcarrier]

Thanks for the reply guys, ive tried a lower temp t-stat, didnt work, and water wetter, didnt work,think i am going to have to put some duct work in to reroute the air coming in!

 

[gregmondro]

posting this for a friend

As the topic sais, my car is over heating bad. It all started yesterday, I was just cruisin home and all of the sudden my temp gauge got real hot. I kept pulling over every five minutes to let it cool down, trying my hardest not to blow a headgasket. I got home and flushed the system hoping I was only a little low on coolant. Well this afternoon on the way home from work it happened again, coolant was flowing out of the resivour(sp) tank all over the street. I also noticed my fans are no longer working anymore either.

So my question is, are there any other dsmers that have a fan lying around that I can connect to my car to see if that is the problem? It will take me around an hour to see if thats the problem, then you can have it back. I just dont want to go buy a new fan if its something else.

ok, i let him use the fan from my 91 eclipse gsx which works, no dice, fan still doesnt turn on (it's the radiator fan, not the one that goes on with the a/c just to clarify). fan still doesn't go on. the fan is good.

he replaced the fuse for the fan, still no dice.


it has a new thermostat.


anyone have any alternate ideas what could be the problem?

 

[Rick4g63]

Do these:

- Check the Fuse box in the engine bay. there should be relays for the A/C fan and Coolant fan. These relays may be bad

- Remove the radiator cap, start the engine, let it warm up, check to make sure the coolant is flowing, there may be a possibility of a failed water pump.



Let us know what you find.

 

[BUCK]

Sounds like the Rad Coolant Temp Switch at Lower Rad Passenger side - to test it you can pull the Connector & jump it out with a wire & see if Rad fan runs then. Rad Fan Relay in main underhood Fuse Box can be swapped out with similar Relay in underhood AC Fuse Box to test it. Another good Thread...

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94799&highlight=rad

 

[thisdsm]

Well I did searches here and dsmtalk but couldnt find the answer that I was looking for.

Here's what I've done/checked so far.
-Replaced all the hoses including, upper and lower radiator hoses
-Replaced thermostat
-Replaced radiator cap about 2-3 months ago
-Waterpump still works
-Fans work and comes on when it needs to
-Let car idle w/out radiator cap to let all the air out of the system (did it for 2-3 days now)
-When refilling after I let the car idle, it pushes coolant out
-Im not losing any coolant, no leaks at all
-Upper radiator hose feels stiff after car warms up

Ok and since I changed my thermostat it seems to overheat faster. I changed the thermostat to a 180* thermo from autozone, its the failsafe one. Oh and when changing the thermostat I know that you have to pop it out but when putting in the new one does the new one have to pop back into place or do you just leave it in there?? Other than that I dont have anymore ideas. Please help me out here guys!! I'm about to give up!!!