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!

 

[1990EclipseGSX]

Your problem is most likely your FMIC blocking the airflow to the radiator. Since air takes the path of least resistance, most of the air that passes through your intercooler escapes out the sides and bottom instead of passing through the radiator. If your A/C was on while you were going through the mountains, that could have been what pushed you over the edge and made you overheat. If your A/C was off, you are probably going to need to construct some intercooler ducting to force air through your radiator to keep it cool on the long uphills. Redline Water Wetter helps too. Here is a link to a good FAQ on fabbing up intercooler ducting on a 2g:

http://www.automotivearticles.com/Ducting.shtml

Chris

 

[blackGSX2g]

I would have gone with an OEM gasket. I stupidly put a NAPA/Autozone headgasket on my first motor (eBay, was supposed to be OEM) and it went out after about 2k at stock boost.

 

[kurupt]

Yes...as soon as I get my car running good, something else has to go wrong. Now my car is boiling coolant in about 5 minutes. Just did the timing belt and head. All the parts were OEM except for the water pump, which was a shit NAPA part. No idea why they did that, but they did. Anyways, coolant was leaking out the bottom of my rad, at the drain hose. Tightened that up, then it still leaks out when the car gets hot. I thought I lost a lot of coolant so yesterday, I filled the overflow. Well, car gets wicked hot within minutes, and coolant doesn't seem to be leaving the overflow bottle. My upper rad hose is getting really hot though, so I would assume the thermostat is working?. Anyone know what the problem could be? Could it be the shit water pump? Any advice is greatly appreciated, thank you in advance.

 

[nc90awd]

Start whith the simple stuff first. Did you replace the radiator cap and the thermostat? Make sure you didnt put the thermostat in backwards.

 

[ZachM31]

i installed the thermostat and radiator cap a week ago, and no problems as far as overheating, so that puts a smile on my face, thanks for the help guys.

 

[Module Unknown]

I'm looking for some ideas as to what could be causing a car to overheat only when the A/C is running. Coolant/water temp is normal any other time except when the A/C is on. Within 10 minutes of normal driving with the A/C on the car will start overheating, or within 5 minutes of stop and go traffic.

The car is a 95GSX, has a fluidyne radiator and slimline fans. There is no FMIC impeding airflow. Coolant has recently been flushed and thermostat replaced with oem unit to no avail. Have not noticed any loss in coolant. Did a compression test out of curiousty and the numbers look good.

So I'm hoping for some ideas. What else can I check? What could cause the car to start overheating only when the A/C is on. (this was happening before the fluidyne install)

Any help and/or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[morbid_eclipse]

check the fans in the front of the car to see if they are turning on with your a/c on...if they dont turn on then theres your problem

 

[ddavisaf]

Slim line fans have two options. Push and Pull.
It sounds like your AC fan or possibly both may be wiring wrong. If it's in front of the radiator (towards the bumper) They should be on *push*. If they are behind the radiator (engine side) they should be on *pull*.
Other things to check would be the radiator cap and thermostat.

 

[Vallary99]

Do you have cheap fans or good fans? I had the exact same problem. I switched from the cheap fans to the Flex-a-lite slim line fans and it worked like a charm. Also, I have mine running all the time on a relay. No more overheating- ever.

 

[Gsxtasy96]

I have a 95gsx also with the same radiator and stock fans. When i start overheating with the A/C on it has been the radiator cap both times. There cheap and they don't last forever, worth a try in my opinion. Also make sure where the rubber seats theres no build up. Good luck.

 

[Module Unknown]

check the fans in the front of the car to see if they are turning on with your a/c on...if they dont turn on then theres your problem

Yes, they both work. The passenger side fan kicks on with the A/C. Thanks though.

 

[Module Unknown]

Slim line fans have two options. Push and Pull.
It sounds like your AC fan or possibly both may be wiring wrong. If it's in front of the radiator (towards the bumper) They should be on *push*. If they are behind the radiator (engine side) they should be on *pull*.
Other things to check would be the radiator cap and thermostat.

They are both behind the radiator (between the radiator and exhaust manifold) and pulling air through the radiator. Wired to work exactly as the oem fans did. Have watched the passenger side fan come on with the A/C and continue to spin as the temp rises.

Thermostat has been replaced.

Radiator cap has been replaced twice since this has been going on.

 

[Module Unknown]

Do you have cheap fans or good fans? I had the exact same problem. I switched from the cheap fans to the Flex-a-lite slim line fans and it worked like a charm. Also, I have mine running all the time on a relay. No more overheating- ever.

Flex-a-lite. In fact, here they are.

 

[ddavisaf]

Check the crank pully for seperation.

 

[Module Unknown]

Check the crank pully for seperation.

Will do, but I'm curious as to why you think something like that could cause the car to only overheat when the A/C is on.

 

[ddavisaf]

*shrug* I helped a guy once with the same problem you're experiencing. When all the normal troubleshooting methods came up inconclusive we started guessing at what could be the problem. Finally the car had had enough and started causing enough trouble for him to pull the motor. Came to find out that the pully had seperated. Strange that it hadn't caused any other problems.... but that was the only thing he could find that could attribute to the original problem.

Normal overheating troubleshoot methods include:
Replace the cap, replace the thermostat, make sure the fans are tuning on, flush the radiator, clean the front of the radiator, check the hoses for leaks, then run a compression test, and finally a leak down test.
90% of the time overheating can be solved by going over all of these things...

 

[ddavisaf]

I'm sorry.... but here ya go. "The List"

Low coolant levels. Top up your overflow bottle. There should always be coolant in the bottle. If your system is perpetually low on coolant, your bottle isn't big enough.
Your overflow bottle is not allowing coolant back in. Check the overflow bottle still has a hose leading to the bottom of the bottle. The system must be able to draw coolant back in.
Flush your radiator. Old coolant (or a clogged radiator) could be the problem.
Try adding some Water Wetter or RMI-25 to aid cooling. Note that some of these products promote corrosion to a small degree.
Your radiator cap might be old, and leaking too easily. Try a 16 lb radiator cap from a Nissan 300Z TT. Watch out - you might blow old heater or coolant hoses with the higher pressure, so be careful, or replace your hoses beforehand.
Your fans might not be running. Replace the fan temperature switch at the bottom of the radiator.
Try a 90/10 to 70/30 water/antifreeze mix. More water leads to more cooling, but easier freezing and more corrosion.
Replace your thermostat.
Try a 180 degC Mitsubishi thermostat. It is part number MD997607.
Try running with no thermostat. If you still overheat, the problem is probably not in your cooling system per se; probably your difficulty is airflow through the radiator.
Wire both fans to run simultaneously. Obviously this only works if you have an secondary (air conditioning) fan to hotwire.
Run both fans permanently. That is, wire them to be always on. Note that the driver's side of the radiator probably doesn't cool as much as passenger side, because of where the radiator inlet and outlet are placed.
Remove the rear hood weatherstripping. Or, shim the rear hood hinges to raise the rear hood edge about 1/4-1/2". This promotes airflow out of the engine bay.
Install better fans. There are "high-performance" models available - get the ones with the best airflow.
Try shrouded fans instead of unshrouded fans. Shrouded fans seem to cool better.
Install some ducting to force incoming air into radiator. This mostly works only if you are having problems only when driving at highway speeds.
Install some high-temperature weatherstripping on top of radiator to try and force more air through it.
Open up front bumper fascia to allow more air flow to radiator.
Replace or upgrade the radiator. Fluidyne and Arizona Performance make upgrade models. You can try to get your radiator cleaned (or "rodded out") if you want to.
Install an external oil cooler to try and lose some heat that way. Leave a gap between the oil cooler and the radiator, if possible.
Wrap the water pipe near the turbo with heat wrap or jet hot/ceramic coat it.
If you have the air conditioning still in, remove the A/C condensor.
Maybe the water pump belt is slipping.
Install a new water pump.
Check your crankshaft pulley has not separated.
Check that your A/C refrigerant level is correct. Only applies if the A/C causes the overheating.
If all else fails, maybe a leaking headgasket is the problem.

 

[INNERCIRCLERACI]

I have this same problem now. it has been suggested to me to check the thermostat and rad cap. im looking into getting a new thermostat personally. hope this provides some kind of help.

 

[ddavisaf]

That list looks pretty similar to the one in your post huh?

 

[INNERCIRCLERACI]

YEAH IT DOES. ITS FULL OF GOOD ADVICE THOUGH.

 

[4g63Guy]

Installed my evo 16g 2 nights ago and car wont stop overheating. It acted like it needed a new thermostat so I put a new one on and nothing. Is it possible to have coolant lines backwards on the turbo? I dont know what else it could be. Imput?

 

[Nanan]

You have an air bubble in the coolant system somewhere near the water pump which is keeping it from pumping the coolant around the system.

Take off the radiator cap
Add water
Start engine
Add more water
Add more water
...
...
...
Shut off the engine
Add more water
...
Put the radiator cap back on


Coolant lines actually don't matter that much for flow direction, there are no valves to care which way the coolant flows.

 

[4g63Guy]

I figured the water lines didnt have to be in a certain direction but that was all I could think of. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[crunchymilk]

try "burping" the system by squeezing the upper radiator hose with a full system and the cap off. Might help.

 

[SinaiTSi]

As I was driving down my street today coming home, I noticed that my engine temp needle was maxed out, I immediately turned my heater on full blast and got the car in my driveway and turned it off. I had put in some radiator cleaner a few days before. It was in a small bottle, you poured it in and then filled the rest with water and I really thought that was way too much water to cool the engine with, but I was just gonna follow the directions, anyways it says drive car for 3-6 hours and then replace, I had driven it for maybe just over 1 hour. My guess is that maybe you're supposed to buy more than 1 bottle of this stuff and not fill it with so much water. My car's performance also seemed to be not as good coming home so I think that had something to do with the overheating engine. Just checking if anybody else had any other thoughts.