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!

 

[mitsubluetalon]

if it is a question of too much pressure, then i'd be looking into seeing if you have a blockage somewhere, bottom of the rad perhaps? i know that when i did my rad swap, i tilted the old rad to one side to get all the coolent out and a bunch of silty, thick crap came out. but i'm more leaning towards the fact that these water lines have probably never been replaced. but as you say, one tube after another is cracking and leaking, which sounds to coincidental for it to be rotton tubes all at once crapping out. but nevertheless, this is a dsm were talking about.

you said before that your temp was almost near red line? any time that your temp guage goes that high, you can pretty much guarantee that your water pump seals have probably been cooked, and coolant can be seen leaking out the "weeping hole" on the pump. but i cannot see that in your case as you claim that there might be TOO much pressure in the system. i've never seen a water pump become MORE efficient after an overheat.

one more thing, did you try replacing your thermostat? maybe it got stuck closed. the job isn't all that hard to do. just make sure your new one goes the right way. i would also suggest not getting the fail-safe thermostat whereby, the thermostat will get stuck in the open position in the case where the car starts to overheat. the idea is that the coolant will constantly flow if the car is prone to overheating, never giving the car the chance to get warm again. and this thermostat is not able to be reset. you will have to buy another if it does get stuck open

so check for any blockages in your heater core, or the rad, and maybe replace all of your old coolent lines, and the thermostat just to be sure. and i would really suggest using real hose clamps as well. after the stock ones get old or rusty, they are a PAIN to get off.

good luck

Jason.

 

[sYnOnYx]

yes , as said above i did put in a new thermostat ( i just said T-stat tho )

the only leaks ive had is out of the overflow bottle ( besides the cracked hoses which leaked ) , and the overflow bottle would only leak a little. it doesnt do it anymore though. the hoses are old though. and probaly have never been replaced. im going to autozone here in 30mins when i get off , so wish me luck.

im getting about 10ft of heater hose , and all new clamps , and more coolant *sigh*

im also going to reset the ecu.

 

[chicagoavenger]

Well I did what you guys said and its gtg now the only thing I did find wrong is the fan is not kicking on at all so that is my major problem, the other was the air bubbles. How do I go about checking that fan now? Maybe the relay went bad but I don't think I can pick that up an the local autozone can I? Also on the bottom left of the radiator on the passenger side there is a sensor screwed in with 2 wires in it. What is that sensor? Also the connectors inside don't seem to be connecting well. I figured on can do that fan mod and if that works then I know my fan is good? Thanks again at least 1 problem solved.

 

[chicagoavenger]

What is the name of that sensor? Mine is really loose and I think I need to get a new one the connectors wont click in. Where can i get that sensor? Also that sensor is screwed into another fitting. Do I have to take them both out? and 1 more when both wires came out I tried to put them back in does it matter what side there in, like the blue one should be on the left the other on the right or it doesnt matter? Thanks

 

[Cheks_Talon_TSi]

Also on the bottom left of the radiator on the passenger side there is a sensor screwed in with 2 wires in it. What is that sensor? Also the connectors inside don't seem to be connecting well. I figured on can do that fan mod and if that works then I know my fan is good? Thanks again at least 1 problem solved.

That's the thermoswitch... If it isn't well conected you radiator fan will never turns on... this thermoswitch turns the rad. fan on when temp raise 95ºC (more less)...

Also, in the HAYNES manaul you can find a way to test your rad & condenser fan as well as the realys of both fans....

Good luck and let us know if it works... Godd Luck!

Sergio G.

 

[chicagoavenger]

I have to wait untill tonight to check but do you know if those wires have to be connected a certain way? I think 1 of them is blue so would it matter if it was connected on the left side or the right of the connector. It has 2 holes for the wires but just wondering if they can be plugged any way or is it like the battery terminal 1 end has to be on 1 side the other end on the other if not nothing happens. See what Im getting at? thanks again

 

[Cheks_Talon_TSi]

I have to wait untill tonight to check but do you know if those wires have to be connected a certain way? I think 1 of them is blue so would it matter if it was connected on the left side or the right of the connector. It has 2 holes for the wires but just wondering if they can be plugged any way or is it like the battery terminal 1 end has to be on 1 side the other end on the other if not nothing happens. See what Im getting at? thanks again

I guess it must be connected in a certain way only... I will try to take a look on my car, hope to see the wires color...

Sergio G.

 

[Fred9981]

still overheats i tried burping it again and the bubbles don't stop the thermostat opens and i can see the water flowing but there are still a lot of bubbles the water level goes down and i put more water will the car is still on and i still get a lot of bubbles

i have installed a new thermostat new radiator cap new hoses i did a radiator flush have no leaks i removed the thermostat and the water flows so my water pump is working

when i drive the car i get steam coming out of the coolant reservoir and the radiator hoses are really hard a lot of pressure is in the hoses

i did a compression check and they all were at 150 psi

my guess its the headgasket leaking compression into the cooling system

 

[Cheks_Talon_TSi]

still overheats i tried burping it again and the bubbles don't stop the thermostat opens and i can see the water flowing but there are still a lot of bubbles the water level goes down and i put more water will the car is still on and i still get a lot of bubbles

i have installed a new thermostat new radiator cap new hoses i did a radiator flush have no leaks i removed the thermostat and the water flows so my water pump is working

when i drive the car i get steam coming out of the coolant reservoir and the radiator hoses are really hard a lot of pressure is in the hoses

i did a compression check and they all were at 150 psi

my guess its the headgasket leaking compression into the cooling system

Do you take a look on your fans? rad fan and condenser fan??? The cap you installed is of the correct pressure (13Psi, at least on 1G)????

Take a look on the oil cap and check if you have anything that seems to be water/coolant mixed with the oil... also in the oil stick you can look for water... if the oil seems to be brown my be your HG pass away...

Good Luck

 

[Fred9981]

Do you take a look on your fans? rad fan and condenser fan??? The cap you installed is of the correct pressure (13Psi, at least on 1G)????

Take a look on the oil cap and check if you have anything that seems to be water/coolant mixed with the oil... also in the oil stick you can look for water... if the oil seems to be brown my be your HG pass away...

Good Luck

cap is 13 psi the fans are wired direct they turn on when the car is on and they are working it doesn't look like there is any water in the oil

 

[sYnOnYx]

would it hurt if i hooked up the both fans to turn on , when i turn the car on ?

just thinking of more measures i can take to prevent overheating.

 

[mitsubluetalon]

not at all. just keep an eagle eye on your temp guage and make sure it does not reach the highest mark.

another question though, you say your car is only leaking a little now, is it still overheating bad? does your fan automatically turn on to try to keep the car cool?

if your fan is turning on, but is still overheating then i would say you either that blockage like i mentioned before, or your water pump is shot. but if you are still getting pressure, then its not the pump.

if the fan is not turning on then you have your fault. use your chilton or haynes manual (which you should have by now) and look up the part on how to check the circuit for the rad fans. if you don't have one i can take you throught the process.

also lookup in your book on how to check the coolent temp sensors.

let me know how it goes.

Jason.

 

[sYnOnYx]

sure thing , i appreciate the help , im doing the hoses and stuff in the morning , ill letcha know.

 

[chicagoavenger]

Thanks Sergio, that way I know I have it the right way or not. I'll check tommorow and see if I cant get a light tester in there but the hole seems to small for the probe that I have. thanks again

 

[DSMstatus]

just use a piece of wire and jump it through all the pins, if if it turns on then its the relay, if not then its something else.

 

[chicagoavenger]

I know its not the relay since I took the fan one and tested it on my fog lights and it works. So the relay is good. Should there be some voltage coming from the 2 wires that go to that thermoswitch?

 

[Cheks_Talon_TSi]

I know its not the relay since I took the fan one and tested it on my fog lights and it works. So the relay is good. Should there be some voltage coming from the 2 wires that go to that thermoswitch?

I haven't had any time to look on my car. But I will take a look to see what we can get... I will reply tomorrow...

Good Luck...

Sergio G.

 

[chicagoavenger]

Sounds good Im going to hardwire it for now with the fan mod from vfaq and see if that works. Thanks again Sergio Ill check this post tommorow then

 

[rspro]

it does... i can let her sit at idle all day long with the ac on and she won't overheat. but if i drive her pass 55 or so the temp goes up and keeps going up.

 

[96_awdtsi]

when im on the highway crusing like 80 or whatever speed im fine, its when im in traffic my stock temp guage starts to go to almost 3/4 way. but if i prop the hood open and let it run it doesnt go that high? i need a little help to determine whats wrong, oh yeah i also put my own bleeder screw next to the rad cap to see if i could get the air out, but when the car is running only coolant comes out, but when i just shut it off and try it i get air and coolant comin out, is that right. any postive help would be awesome!

 

[Defiant]

There is no air in your cooling system.

Are your fans working?

 

[96_awdtsi]

i dont know i think that there still might be air in my system, bye the way my car looks like yours! and yes my fan is comin on, do you have any ideas on what is should do im not pushing any coolant either so i dont think that i is my head gasket. when i wake up im gonna try to flush my system and check my (180) thermostat and see whats up with that. like i said before any postive help would be awesome!!!

 

[luv2rallye]

Do you get cold air with A/C? Possible compressor bearings are worn enough to put excessive load on engine at higher rpm's. What happens with A/C on but not moving and engine at 3k? Get compressor noise? Use stethoscope or ear on long handled screwdriver touching compressor to listen for bearing noise.

 

[Cheks_Talon_TSi]

Sounds good Im going to hardwire it for now with the fan mod from vfaq and see if that works. Thanks again Sergio Ill check this post tommorow then

Ok this is what I can see in my car so far...

I have 2 wires that comes out from the connector of the Thermo Switch... one is green and the other is black.,...

I was looking from above downwards (just in front of the car), the green wire goes to the left terminal and the black wire goes to the right side terminal of the connector... I don't know for sure if it will work connected in the oppoiste way... also I don't know what will happen if you connected in the wrong way...

You can test your thermo switch in the way the other guy told you... use a paper clip or a jumping wire to connect both terminals of the thermo switch (you have to remove the connector first) and if the fan turns on that means your thermo switch is ok!... you have to put the key in the "on" position.. you don't have to start it..

Good luck and let us know!

Sergio

 

[chicagoavenger]

I will try that after I get out of work and I will check the wiring/switch. Thanks for all the help guys.