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!

 

[98gstshadow]

Well I have yet to replace it, i was talking about beforehand, the water was moving through the upper pipe, which means that the thermostat is working correct?

 

[crashed97tsi]

How many miles on the car?

In 98 degree weather, a busted fan could definetely be the cause of overheating. Especially since the left side fan is the main cooling fan, the other one is for when you have the AC on ( I could be wrong on this actually, but I believe it is the left side. The bigger fan is the AC fan IIRC) If the fan is not turning on, you need to find out why. There si a temperature sending unit that you should look at, not the one that sends to the guage but the one that tells the fan to turn on. If it is not that than try connecting the fan to a power source for a second to see if it turns on when it gets power.

When my car overheated, it was the waterpump @ about 90k. When I removed the pump, the fins were actually corroded off.

If the coolant is moving then its not a t-stat. How fast is it moving? Are there any bubbles in the coolant? You need to answer the questions that people ask you if you want help. Just because your oil is ok does not mean that your headgasket is ok. There are two types of busted headgasket, a blown and a leaky. It sounds like you could have a blown headgasket, where the exhaust gases are being blown into your cooling system. A leaky headgasket is where coolant is leaking into your cylinders, which causes a bunch of white smoke and a really bad smell.

So, you need to:

1. Find out why that fan is not turning on
2. Let us know if you have any bubbles in your coolant(or point to where you said it if I missed it.)
3. How much Coolant are you leaking? Like puddles or just little drips? A leak is not good but it would need to be a significant leak to affect cooling that much
4. Do not drive the car. Period. With these constant overheats your lucky the thing still runs.
5. Do a compression check if you have access to a compression checker.

edit: Also just because the pump is moving water does not mean its moving it fast enough. My pump was moving water, but it still turned out to be the culprit. Make sure it is moving the water at a decent velocity.

 

[TurkF26]

if that fan on the left side (by your intake tube for the turbo) does not turn on at all that would cause overheating. the right side fan should only turn on when the AC is on or something like that but when the car is hot, the left fan should always turn on. If it doesnt work, believe me it will cause you to overheat. experience helps in this....

also the dripping is probably the overflow line from the overflow tank and it is dripping in that region

 

[Loxias]

Ditto.^^^

 

[tranman91]

if it's overheating at stops...it's probably the fan not kicking on...this is what happened to me a couple of weeks ago...turned out to be a bad relay.

 

[Defiant]

Water pump was replaced last summer, new hoses, took the thermostat out for testing purposes (its still out)

There's your problem. Don't try to run a modern car without a thermostat.

 

[jonseclipsegs]

compression is fine across all cylinders....so thats good atleast, and im working on getting the water pump replaced and seeing how it goes from there.

 

[Stock92Talon]

Lets hope that is all you need, keep us posted

 

[noRys]

I'm a newbie, sorry if some things are unclear.

Car:
92 GSX w/ 143K miles

Mods:
Everything stock besides K&N Filter, MBC (currently set at 15 psi)

Situtation:
One day I was driving, I noticed the temp gauge was reading higher than usual. It was just normal driving… didn’t hit full boost or anything. I looked in the overflow tank and it seems a little low, so I filled it up to the full line. Took it around the block a few times and notice that it was still running really hot. I notice steam coming out from the engine bay, opened the hood and notice that coolant was flowing out of the overflow tube.

The car cools down a little while it’s moving; at idle the temp starts to steadily rise. The fan looks like its working properly, it kicks on when the temp rises.

Using my data logger; it runs about 217 degrees at 35 mph

Things I tried:
Coolant flush and replaced the thermostat. Once everything was bolted down and all fluids were topped off I needed to burp the system. With the radiator cap off, I started the car with the heat crank to its highest setting. Notice the heat wasn’t that hot. While I was waiting there for the temp to rise, I really didn’t notice any bubbles rising or the coolant level getting lower. With the temp gauge reading about half now, coolant started to slowly rise and then it started overflowing. Next, coolant started to burst/explode out. After I saw this I shut the car off.

Is there a right or wrong way to install a thermostat?

I also try to run it without a thermostat and the same thing happened.

I don’t think I have any leaks, I filled the system full and checked it a day later and it was still full.

Don’t see any signs of coolant and oil mixing.

Please HELP

 

[DSM90AWD]

Likely a headgasket failure.
A compression test will tell you for sure.

 

[crashed97tsi]

How's the water circulating? DOes it have good movement? I don't think you can install a thermostat incorrectly because I think that the housing will not fit back on if you have it in wrong.

It sounds like your waterpump might be shot. It could also be a headgasket, but there would be bubbles in the coolant. Do a compression check if you want to be sure, and if that checks out ok then look to the pump as your culprit if the system is not moving water.

 

[98gstshadow]

ok guys Im going to check the connector to see if its working if not then its the fan, I personally dont think this is the problem because I have had my car for over 4 years and that fan has never once turned on, I had no problem with it beacause my car ran fine and never got hot, all these problems started happeneing after I changed the coolant, Im going to go ahead and do all the things u guys told me and check every tube, the only thinkg I dont understand it sometiems leaks and sometimes it doesnt, anyways Ill get bakc to u all.

 

[noRys]

I don't think you can install a thermostat incorrectly because I think that the housing will not fit back on if you have it in wrong.

You can't install the thermostat upside down. But I think you can install it in wrong by if it was turned clockwise or counter-clockwise too much? I borrowed a friends manual it says something about the noting the position of the air bleed valve also known as "jiggle valve." Well I didn't note position of mine, which way is this "jigle valve" suppose to face? Also I read some stuff on the web about it, if its not face in the right position it won't open properly and will cause bursts/explosion out of the fill spout (thermostat housing). This is exactly what is happening for me.

So someone please help with which way is the "jiggle valve" suppose to face.

Thanks

 

[crashed97tsi]

IIRC, when I bought my crappy aftermarket one from Advanced it did not even have a jiggle valve. I've had overheating problems where the coolant would shoot out the overflow spout and fill housing, but that was not related to the thermostat. I have the three different ones I tried to prove it too.

 

[noRys]

IIRC, when I bought my crappy aftermarket one from Advanced it did not even have a jiggle valve. I've had overheating problems where the coolant would shoot out the overflow spout and fill housing, but that was not related to the thermostat. I have the three different ones I tried to prove it too.

What did it end up to be that was causing the overheating problem?

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Do your hoses look good? You think it could be a radiator problem?

 

[noRys]

Do your hoses look good? You think it could be a radiator problem?

My hoses looks fine, I was thinking it could be a radiator problem too. Running the car without the thermostat should have kept the car cooled. When I ran it without the thermostat the car still overheated, which could mean not enough air flow through the radiator. Is there a way to check if my water pump is in good condition?

 

[noRys]

Have any of you guys done a COMPLETE coolant flush? If so, how did you do it?
When I replaced the thermostat I only drained the radiator. The coolant from the radiator was pretty dirty, grayish color. I was thinking maybe using Prestone “Super Wash” or something similar to maybe help clean the radiator/cooling system.

When I did my Honda, there was an actual coolant drain bolt on the block. Don’t know if there is one for DSMs.

I was thinking of removing radiator drain plug completely then use a garden hose to run water through the system until it comes out clear. What you guys think?

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Is there a way to check if my water pump is in good condition?

Not really but normally if it's beginning to go fluid will start to leak out of the hole.

 

[rollingrust]

First off, I am no expert. Take everything I say with a grain of salt.

Perhaps you should check your radiator cap to ensure it is holding the pressure correctly, an unpressurized systems boils at a lower temperature. Also, I would be certain the the coolant/water mix is correct. Can you feel coolant flowing in the upper radiator hose? The non-functional heater leads me to believe your coolant is not circulating.

 

[98gstshadow]

ok guys after looking at the connections a little more closely I found out that the connection wasnt "entirely" connected, all it needed was a little push and snap it started right up, Im extremely sorry for being so stupid, anyways after I fixed that I ran a flush through my radiator, and drained that filled it up and checked for leaks, lets put it this way I dont know how but that flush "made" like 4 holes in the radiator, I know it didnt do it to the radiator Im sure it unclogged the cracks or whatever was keeping it from leaking anyways I ordered a new radiator from ebay, 319 cant beat that, Im also assuming im going to have to replace my heater core because my car was still leaking by the control arm on the passanger side, I checked the hoses going to and from the HC and they were fine, So im sure it has something to do with the HC. Anyways Thanks for yalls help!!!

 

[crashed97tsi]

It ended up being the waterpump. I changed the waterpump and the headgasket to be sure but it was definetly the pump because the fins were gone, they were completely corroded off. The headgasket was completely fine, as the compression checks indicated (180 across the board ), but I changed it anyway because I needed the car and didn't want to just change the pump because the pump was moving water, just not fast enough. SO I figured change it all out to be sure. ALso just so you know my waterpump did not leak at all, just had no fins either.

As for a full system flush, their easy. Just buy one of them, I used the prestone one and follow the directions. You might want to get a container of the stuff that lubricates your waterpump too. I have no idea if it works or not but it couldn't hurt right

 

[noRys]

I’m really thinking it has to be my water pump now. Last night when I was trying to burp the coolant system the same thing happened, coolant start squirting out. Next, I hear a howling sound that was coming from the belt side. So I’m thinking maybe the bearings went bad.

 

[sublime_ing]

Coolant temps during normal driving were around 220 or so, when I parked the car they would rocket up to 240* F. I Put in a new thermostat..nothing changed. Bought a C&R radiator from work, drove to work today, same thing. I replaced the coolant temp sensor, flushed the whole system and put new coolant/water in. I also checked the heater core to make sure it wasnt clogged. I Let the car idle for 5-10 minutes and dsmlink said water temp was 168*. Drove out of my sub and did a 3rd gear pull while watching coolant temp on my laptop. Pulled back into my sub which is not even a 1/2 mile down the road and steam is pouring out the front end and my temp gauge is pegged past the red area. Dsmlink still reads 168*, I plug in my logger, it says 168*. The only thing I can think of is that my water pump is bad, it only has 14k on it. I also checked the fan fuse and can manually turn on my fan with dsmlink. Any suggestions?

 

[infamousmarcus]

Overheating quite quick...no radiator fan, etc...any ideas. Gasket might be warped, btu what else could i do to troubleshoot it, what can i do? the fuses are fine too for the radiator fan.