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!

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

Get the topic pun? Good.

1999 Eclipse GS

Okay, anyways, here's my problem. My car overheats, seemingly about every two weeks. At first my radiator cap was leaking fluid, replaced it and added fluid and it was fine. Then it overheated again two weeks later and had low fluid, so I replaced the (bad)thermostat and added more fluid. Today it was low on fluid and overheating again. I added more fluid, it didn't help. I just put fluid into the overflow and now it seems to be running fine.

However, I'm irritated. I don't SEE any leaking, and I want to know where the fluid can be going and why filling up the overflow would keep my car from overheating.

Help :x

When you fill up the overflow you are purging the system of air. Air won't cool an engine. You either have an external leak. IE radiator hose, water pump, loose clamp, head gasket etc. If it is internal it's either a head or head gasket. Do a dye test to check for external leaks. If none found then do a hydrocarbon test on the cooling system to check for internal leak.

Good Luck

 

[TexasSpeed]

I had the same problem with my car. It overheated when i would drive 80MPH or higher. I could never find a leak and spent much money on coolant refills. It seemed like i was filling the radiatior 3 times a week, so i bought a new one, still the same business. I finally decided to take it to a shop and they told me one of my heads was cracked and casuing the engine to get and use excessive amounts of coolant and overheat.

 

[mcleve10]

1995 eagle talon esi 5 speed. alright so i was on my way home last night and it was about 30 degrees outside and all of a sudden my car starts overheating and then going abck down and so forth all they way home. when i got home i heard a hissing so i opened the hood and there was a rusty orange colored liquid everywhere around my hoses and my windshield wiper fluid bottle. and the hoses connecting to it. any ideas?

 

[mcleve10]

the liquid is also coming from my radiator hose

 

[Defiant]

Servicing the cooling system two years ago would have been a good idea.

 

[unlmtdndeavor]

sounds like a blown hose and old coolant. find the hose with the tear in it and replace it

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

You my friend are going to spend a little money.

Replace every coolant hose on that poor mal treated thing.
Flush your cooling system.

Look into perhaps buying a radiator as the old one probably has clay soup in it.
This is what causes us to buy heads and replace head gaskets.

I've been using long life anti freeze and change it every 2 years whether it needs it or not as in over time it breaks down.

Change your thermostat if it hasn't been done recently.
You also have that water pump that has been trying to be lubricated with a clay slurry over a long period of time. Don't be surprised if it decides to start leaking on you for treating it so badly.
Which will bring you to the old timing belt replacement threads.

Just be thorough in your repair here and you can get back to busting bugs real soon.

Good Luck

 

[mcleve10]

the timing belt and water pump was jsut put on about 1000 miles ago. also my regular mechanic told me that just flushing the radiator replacing hoses and coolant could fix it or just my thermostat

 

[ddavisaf]

Or just a thermostat? I'd get another mechanic.

Listen to Old Mitsu Tech.

 

[Defiant]

the timing belt and water pump was jsut put on about 1000 miles ago.

You must have been running without antifreeze to get the water to turn orange already.

 

[1993TalonTsiAWD]

Be sure the system is completely cleaned out. Then make sure your "shady" mechanic uses distilled water only, that will cut down on rust. Use a 50/50 mix. Sometimes 60/40, NEVER 100% water,and never use tap water.

Replace the t-stat for sure. Do a compression to see if you damaged anything.

Derek


PS If you don't listen to me at least listen to what Defiant said. Did he buy any chance you dex cool instead of good old prestone??

 

[rkn527]

i have a 96 talon with a 6bolt swap in it.
about a month ago i was street tuning the car and the upper radiator hose busted so i had to drive like 10 mins to get to my house to change it and ever since then the car has been over heating on me. i changed all the hoses and i noticed that it will push coolant into the overflow tank but Will not pull it back in and it Will start to over heat and as soon i as push the gas it will come back down then it will repeat itself. could it be the head gasket is on its way out? could it be the radiator cap?
please give me some ideas i have to add coolant in it like everyday.
thanks in advance

 

[rkn527]

i have a 96 talon with a 6bolt swap in it.
about a month ago i was street tuning the car and the upper radiator hose busted so i had to drive like 10 minutes to get to my house to change it and ever since then the car has been over heating on me. i changed all the hoses and i noticed that it will push coolant into the overflow tank but Will not pull it back in and it Will start to over heat and as soon i as push the gas it will come back down then it will repeat itself. could it be the head gasket is on its way out? could it be the radiator cap?
please give me some ideas i have to add coolant in it like everyday.
thanks in advance

 

[ZachM31]

could have a thermostat on its way out, or else you have a leak somewhere, if you have to add coolant, then that is a possibility. Check around for leaks anywhere, or if you have to, take it to a shop to have them pressurize the cooling system to check for leaks, could also be a bad radiator cap.. i had overheating problems on my car as well awhile ago, so i just replaced my thermostat and radiator cap and now it is fine. what mixture are you running with the antifreeze and water by the way?

 

[blackGSX2g]

If you drove for 10 minutes without any coolant at all, I'd be worried about head warpage.

Change out what has been suggested and if that doesn't work, take your car to a shop and have them use a 'block tester' to see if you have hydrocarbons in your coolant. If the test comes out positive, you will need a new head gasket and your cylinder head will have to be decked or possibly replaced.

Hopefully its something simple.

 

[hereitcomes]

...or they can pressure test the coolant system and if it looses pressure you have a leak somewhere. This overheating could also be from a bad thermostat and that is the first place that you should look. A good way to tell that is if your car doesnt blow hot air through the vents...or it takes a pretty long time for it to get hot. also...
You might have an air pocket in your coolant system and its not flushing coolant through the engine. Often times when deprived of coolant and refilled air pockets get into the system and block entirely the flow of coolant. you should drain and fill/flush the whole system to be sure that this wont happen...and its the proper way to perform a coolant service.
P.S. the upper coolant hoses are the return lines...and the lower coolant hoses are the feed lines to the block...so anything going into the block would be comming down from the bottom lines. good luck man. if i helped ya give me some points!!! peace.

 

[hereitcomes]

awww double post. not cool

 

[rkn527]

i changed the thermostat like a week ago and put on a relief pressure cap on it but i notice that everytime i step on the gas the needle goes down then it will go back up. i changed the oil and the rad fluid and dont see any sort of mixtures i just replaced all the hoses caould the headgasket be leaking and i cant see it

 

[I-luv-em-all]

I have a little overheating issue. If I drive like a old lady the car is more than likely at normal operating, but if i decide to just giver in any gear at any speed, after I am done and driving normal again the temp starts to rise, and sometimes it goes back to normal after a little more driving or sometimes I have to shut it off because it is about the cross into the "H" zone. Any ideas on what that is?

I have already ruled out the HG, because it is a new motor, and the compression results were perfect when I tested them. I also installed a new waterpump when the motor was done also.

 

[Mike Marnik]

Replace your thermostat. Its cheap and real easy. if that doesnt work replace you radiator cap they go out sometimes too. its most likely the thermostat though. good luck

 

[I-luv-em-all]

Alright, thanks for the help. I'll do that this weekend hope it works.

 

[Spyderman7]

I've had 3 or 4 cars do something simular.Driving normal for 10 minutes or even an hour and the temp gauge stays rjght where it's supposed to be.Drive hard and boost it up and the temp gauge would start to rise.No water in the oil,no obvious signs of a head gasket.But it was always the head gasket.They would seal so long as there was no pressure.Under boost they would leak just enough to pressurise the coolant system and push the coolant into the overflow bottle and out.Even new engines blow head gaskets.Higher pressure cap wont work either.Hope I'm wrong,but that what I think it is.

 

[I-luv-em-all]

I also have Arp head studs, and the compression test results where all perfect, a leaking headgasket would/should show some variance in compression.

Also, it doesn't overheat while it's under boost, just soon after I start driving normal again.

I am going to try the rad cap and T-stat, I'll let you know if that helps.

 

[blackGSX2g]

I'm not sure if this is your problem or not, but I just wanted to add my case.

I had about the same symptoms you did, if I drove normally temps would be fine. Once i got on it, temps would start to rise. I did a hot/cold compression test and had perfect numbers for a 9:1 compression motor (motor had about 3k on it). I replaced every cooling component other than the headgasket. It eventually got so bad that I couldn't even drive it normally without overheating. I gave in and pulled the head off. It turns out that the gasket was blown out between the #3 piston and the nearby cooling passage.

Keep in mind my compression was perfect and I had no oil or coolant mixing, and it was also a brand new motor.

IMO the only way to rule out a headgasket in your case is to bring it to a shop and have them test your coolant for hydrocarbons. I had mine tested for free and it immediately picked up signs of exhaust gasses in the coolant.

 

[RacethisTSI]

hate to say it but i just got over the same thing....i noticed that collent system was presurrized more then usuall, it got so bad that eventually the upper radiator hose blew up like a balloon. ended up being the head gasget. do you have a stock or Cometic head gasget?