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!

 

[wastefuldreamer]

fluiddyne and spal fans

 

[99gst_racer]

I would deff. check the water pump. If you decide to go with the radiator and fan, I would recommend a C&R radiator and a flex-a-lite fan assembly. Flex-a-lite makes a really nice direct bolt unit. It's extremely thin and it both fans are connected together.

-Paul-

 

[nutshot]

Try popping a new thermostat in. See how badly a $5.72 part can hurt your bank account.

 

[Defiant]

I won't argue it -again- nor go into the reasoning, but a car will be suceptible to overheating without a thermostat. Put a new one in now, and replace the radiator cap.

If your replacement waterpump had a plastic impeller, it may have failed.

 

[DSM_AWD_TSi]

How do I check the water pump? Do I have to take it out or is there any other way to check it? Thanks.

 

[nutshot]

How do I check the water pump? Do I have to take it out or is there any other way to check it? Thanks.

Have you installed your new thermostat?

 

[spaceball]

same problem here. mysteriously losing coolant. ive replaced the water pump, radiator, thermostat and cap all last week. the only spot i see coolant escaping from is the overflow tube, sometimes its dripping sometimes its pouring out. wtf?

 

[girlieracr4g63]

Leaking headgasket most likely..

 

[spaceball]

how can i be sure if its the head gasket before i tear into the job

 

[hornetsnest]

I've got almost the exact same problem. I haven't checked the HG yet, but I think I have bigger issues. My car's idle is eratic to say the least. It revs up and down buy itself. It smooths out if you press the throttle or when you put it in gear (AT), but it's still a little high in gear. I'm kinda hoping it's only my HG and not the head itself warped from overheating (again).

I blew my last engine like this. Idle was eratic, but smoothed out after I put it in gear. Drove to work, and almost made it ...I had a problem with my old coolant gauge, didn't have my pocketlogger with me, and CEL were the norm.

Anybody know what I'm talking about or can relate to my ignorance...

 

[DSM_AWD_TSi]

I put in a new thermostat. I checked the oil it's clear and full, so I'll see if the thermostat fixes the problem or not. I'll buy a new fan and radiator if the car still overheats.
Thanks for the help.

 

[DSMNightmare]

I have the fluidyne and Flex-a-lite fans in my car. To be honest unless you plan to go all out your $700 could be spent better somewhere else. Yes the fans are slimmer but at the same time the radiator is bigger so you almost end up back at the stock location.

 

[h1b00stinX]

i have the stock radiator and a spal slimline fan. haven't really had any overheating problems with. just flush out your cooling system ever so often and replace that thermostat and see what happens.

 

[hornetsnest]

Have you seen the vfaq link about breaking down overheating problems?

http://members.shaw.ca/costall/1000Q/

It's under "...a problem or repair" on the left bar

Hope it helps cause I'm having similar problems.

 

[JackH]

Not having a thermostat will likely make an engine overheat for several reasons, but mostly because the coolant isn't in the radiator long gnough to disapate the heat.

But my 91 Mitso had a faulty voltage regulator and a one volt increase bled over into the rest of the system and caused a faulty overheat warning. It seemed to run hotter and fluctuated somewhat as the regulator kicked in and out. This is an odd occurrance but if the fan works and the water is flowing this could possibly be the problem. The Mitso mechanic was surprised when I showed him this one.

Another thing that can happen is if the thermostat is put in backwards the engine will run hotter because it will not open at the proper range but only when the heat finally reaches the sensor which is now on the cooler side of the housing or the radiator side instead of at the engine discharge side.. Good luck

 

[jott5555]

whats strange is i have a fluidine rad and slimline fan and the car heats up to right in the middle of the gauge and stays there. dosent move.

i remmebr with my old radiator and fan setup it wouldnt come close to that line.

i cant figure out whats goin on.. its a new engine so mabye its just running a little hot. with the fmic and all

btw oil temp and egt's are all normal. i thought it may make a diffrence in the water temp or radiator temp.

 

[DSM_AWD_TSi]

The car f***ing broke down on the road today, I had it towed home. I checked the overflow tank, it's full, I check the radiator/engine block, no water!!! So my guess right now is the water pump is not working. Any other possible problems? Thanks.

 

[DSMNightmare]

Make sure the head is not warped. Might as well do all the timing stuff while your in there as well.

 

[onepimpclipse]

Car runs perfect while driving. When I sit at idle for a short period of time the engine temp rises. Once I drive for a few seconds it returns to normal.

I replaced the thermostat, the thermostat housing, upper and lower hoses, and flushed the radiator. It did not overheat while I flushed the radiator. I noticed the driver side fan turned on only when I turned the heat on. The passenger side fan never came on.

How can I test the fans? Also I'm open to any other suggestions.

 

[hornetsnest]

Car runs perfect while driving. When I sit at idle for a short period of time the engine temp rises. Once I drive for a few seconds it returns to normal.

I replaced the thermostat, the thermostat housing, upper and lower hoses, and flushed the radiator. It did not overheat while I flushed the radiator. I noticed the driver side fan turned on only when I turned the heat on. The passenger side fan never came on.

How can I test the fans? Also I'm open to any other suggestions.

What did the temps rise to? (cause they're suppose to go up at idle) They probably return to normal after you start driving because 1. you're getting airflow on your radiator 2. temps go high enough to kick the fan on.

As far as the fans go, that's how they're suppose to work stock. Your passenger fan will kick on when temps reach the preset limit on thermostat. The driver side will turn on when you kick the heater on, which is why people say to turn on your heater if you start overheating.

Sounds like evrything works, depending on what you mean by "engine temps rise". I'm going through similar issues too so good luck...

 

[onepimpclipse]

By "engine temps rise" I mean at idle they continue to go up while I'm stopped. If I sat there long enough it would easily be in the red. I know this is not normal.

 

[hornetsnest]

By "engine temps rise" I mean at idle they continue to go up while I'm stopped. If I sat there long enough it would easily be in the red. I know this is not normal.

Do you know what they go up to...190...200...250???

Temp sensor???

 

[onepimpclipse]

No, I don't know the exact temp.

 

[Strm Trpr]

A properly dialed in cooling system should rise up to operating temp within 5 mins or so. Normal operating temp on a 2g is just an RCH under 9 o'clock, or point just under half a tank on your fuel gauge.
Here is an example before I upgraded my cooling system.
My car would take about 8 to 10 mins to get to operating temp.
I could climb a hill, and the temp would go to half way, but coming down the hill, my temp would drop significantly. This fluctuation isn't supposed to happen in any car....
I put in a Fluidyne rad, replaced all hoses including the little ones and replaced all clamps.
Replaced T-Stat with new Mistu T-Stat, and replaced the cap with a new Mitsu cap.
Now my car warms right up in the morning regardless of ambient temp, and there is absolutely no fluctuation what so ever regardless of how hard I drive the car.
The T-Stats are supposed to begin to open at 180* and are fully open at 203*.
The passenger side rad fan doesn't seem to be working on your car.
This is the fan that should and would come one while idling if yours was working correctly.
In the summer while stuck in traffic, I can hear the PS fan come on, and I can see my rpms drop about fifty or so while the alternator is spooling up.
I can turn on both fans in may car simply by pushing the a/c button, and clicking the fan on 1 click.

I think, either the motor on the PS fan is gone, or the fuse that controls it is gone. Also, check the connection for any corrosion and what not....
May be you can check to see if the connector for the drivers side fan can reach the PS fan, turn on your defrost and your a/c button will light up, that's why your fan came on when you turned your heater on.
Also, if you don't have a heat shield on you exhaust manifold, then that's also an issue.
Sorry so long, but I want to help out as much as possible.

 

[Strm Trpr]

Wait, you're an N/T, not sorry dude, but maybe someone else can benefit from my novel I just wrote.

Good Luck