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!

 

[Eric Walls]

The car is a 1992 Laser RS AWD all stock except 3" downpipe and 3" open exhaust, tubular header and MBC set at 15psi.

It will not stop over heating
replaced upper and lower Rad. hoses they where fine
replaced thermostat twice and put both of them in boiling water to see if they opened and they both did.
Replaced radiator cap with new one with a pressure bleeder valve in the top of it.
My antifreeze level stays the same at all time's and never gets low and never over flows out the over flow tub like some people have talked about. My oil is fine and there is 100% no mixing of my coolant and my oil. I have checked it over and over and there both fine.
No leaks of anything anywhere, I have burped the antifreeze in the radiator 3 times and flushed the entire system 4 times. My heater still works great and blows hot air all the time.
I have even taken the thermostat completely out of the car and run it to make sure my coolant was circulating and it was flowing normally so my water pump must be okay. I think, there is no squealing or leaking from the water pump at all. Whenever I put my thermostat back in my coolant doesn't look like it's circulation at all, but I have changed the thermostat twice and tested both of them and they both open and shut in boiling water.

I have also replaced my cooling fan sensor and my engine temp. sensor. My check engine light is not on and everything appears normal. It idles great, drives great, and holds boost fine but it over heats if I give it gas at all. If it is idling it struggles but stay fairly cool but it's still a little warm even at idle.
I know I shouldn't be driving it without a thermostat but I have been and the car warms up all the way within 5 minutes of starting it even if it is cold out. Today it was hot and I let in sit in a parking lot and idle for a few minutes and got back in it to leave and the temp. needle was about an 1/8th of an inch past the half way mark WITHOUT A THERMOSTAT in it at all. What the hell is that? Compression is fine across the board.
Anybody have an idea's, it's getting on my nerves. Thanks Eric

 

[ROOKIE1]

My antifreeze level stays the same at all time's and never gets low and never over flows out the over flow tub like some people have talked about.
Thanks Eric

So you are saying your temp gauge is wrong . If it overheats it is losing fluid . But you say it always stays the same ?

 

[Eric Walls]

I always check my coolant level after it overheats on me (after it cools off a bit. and the coolant level is always right at the top it never goes down a bit even after it just overheated? One other thing i have noticed is that when I am running the car without a thermostat the car will warm up to temperature and the cooling fan will kick on just like it should, but when I reinstall my thermostat and run the car my cooling fan won't kick on at all......never unless I push the A/C button and then both the fans will kick on. Too me that means with the thermostat in I am not getting any coolant circulation?????

 

[Eric Walls]

any one

 

[Eric Walls]

really could use some help?
defiant maybe you know ### I don't

 

[Mitsu RacerX]

check like I said man...It might be a busted water jacket on the head gasket.

 

[ddavisaf]

Everything you wanted to know about overheating.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200575
Sorry, I'm lazy and don't feel like typing all of that out again.

 

[suprdave09]

About a week ago coming home on the freeway when i pulled off i realized my temp was increasing i quickly turned the car off and let it cool down i got home safe luckily i only live about a mile of the freeway. I changed thermo just to be safe, problem went away. No the problem is back. Here are my symptoms.

Fan will not turn on sometimes. Checked relay and swapped with another still same problem

Car will overheat at a light...only sometimes.

Temp drops quickly at about 3500 rpms.




I bought a new radiator cap but its the pressure release one and it sucks. All of these symptoms are random. One day its fine and two days later it overheats.

Does this sound like a waterpump?

 

[diablos991]

Do you have a front mount intercooler?

Usually when water pumps start to go out you can see coolant leaking from a "weap hole" located on the bottom of the pump. Also listen for noises with a Mechanics Stethascope or screwdriver.

You may want to get a good radiator cap. They are cheap. (I don't know what you mean by pressure release though.)

 

[LunarEclips]

is your thermostat opening correctly? Make sure when you put in the thermostat that the pin is at 12 o clock position. If put in incorrectly, it could possible get stuck and no open. But its rare if that happens.

Something else i would try is drain the coolant and add new coolant. Dont forget to burp the radiator by letting the car run with the radiator cap off til it reaches the proper temperature.

 

[suprdave09]

Yes i do have a frount mount, any idea on why the fan isnt turning on?

 

[markGSX]

you're talking about the driver's side fan-- correct? does it work at all? connect some jumper leads directly off the battery to the fan harness and see if the motor is still good. if it works, it's probably the coolant temp sensor that went bad (since you've already checked the relays).

 

[diablos991]

Front mounts tend to make the coolant tempurature go up while holding still.

I agree with LUNARECLIPS about the burping thing. I didn't even think of that.
An air bubble in the system would cause intermittent overheating.

I say burp the system and if that doesn't solve the problem, do a search on front mounts overheating and peoples solutions. (I would give you some tips but I have not researched this myself as I don't have a front mount.)

 

[LunarEclips]

I have a front mount and have never had serious intermitten problems with overheating...the only thing i can think of is burping the radiator

 

[suprdave09]

Thanks guys. Which fan is considered " ac fan " and " radiator fan "

 

[LunarEclips]

The main fan is on the passenger side. The A/C fan is on the drivers side.

 

[suprdave09]

ok good because i have the drivers side fan out.

 

[fisherob]

ok here are my symptoms.... After driving 10 minutes the temperature gauge starts climbing. Here is what I have done so far. I took it to a shop for a leakdown test. Everything was normal. The shop replaced the thermostat and did a head gasket job but still the same issue. There is no smoke just overheating. The engine was just rebuilt. The radiator is a new Koyo. The fans are wired to pull air ad are wired correctly. There is a brand new water pump. What else can it be?

 

[The_EE]

ok here are my symptoms.... After driving 10 minutes the temperature gauge starts climbing. Here is what I have done so far. I took it to a shop for a leakdown test. Everything was normal. The shop replaced the thermostat and did a head gasket job but still the same issue. There is no smoke just overheating. The engine was just rebuilt. The radiator is a new Koyo. The fans are wired to pull air ad are wired correctly. There is a brand new water pump. What else can it be?

maybe the waterpump is bad? You sure the fans are working correctly?

 

[olmytsi]

Check the coolant level, make sure the system is burped, make sure your fans are coming on and make sure the thermostat isn't stuck open.

 

[brodiedehass]

make sure the thermostat isn't stuck open.

A stuck open thermostat wouldn't allow it to get warm enough. It would be a stuck closed one that could cause this problem.
I agree with the other replies so far but also feel it could be your radiator cap. But if it were bad it would cause excessive coolant going into your overflow. Is that one of your symtoms?

 

[olmytsi]

I meant closed then

 

[AL92]

I seem to have very same problem.I have new 2.4 just fired up. New mits water pump, new oem therm and was using greddy cap. I have not figured out exactly how to time my car and hear timing can cause this but tried it retarded and advanced and seems the same.
It isn't overheating sitting in driveway but as soon as drive it it starts climbing after a few minutes and took it home and shut it down right away but it did blow rad hose off today and shut it down also instantly and hoping things are ok.So far no white smoke out tailpipe.

I was thinking to try retorque of my arp studs.
I am pretty sure we got air out of system .Maybe I have a dud therm but the top rad hose gets hot so think its working. Maybe have a dud cap mabye the greddy is dud?
I am going to try another stock cap.

I am also wondering if maybe need to wire my fans together to come on both at same time. Maybe with my big intercooler its blocking some airflow.Also did drive car with no bumper and no hood. Not sure either of these things is causing the overheating just wanted to break in the car today and having hood off is easier and just did the front mount also.

 

[Mitsu RacerX]

Had the same problem. Retorqued the head down and the problem went away. When I talked to my mechanic he said I could have warped the head. He also said I could have a busted water jacket(on head gasket) which is letting the cylinder push air/pressure into the cooling system, which causes it to overheat only when moving.

Hopes this helps. the mechanic told me that he could do a comp. test but it would not show a leak if the water jackets ar busted/leaking. If he did the test it would only come up 5 to 10 off on the compression #'s.

 

[AL92]

I got my 2.4 running a few days ago. So far everytime I drive it more than 5 or 10 minutes it overheats .I shut it down and push it home or park it whatever but this is seriously annoying.

I have no idea whats up. When it sits and idles in my driveway even revving it to 3000 or so it doesn't do the overheat thing.

But take it for a short drive and it does it every time.4 times now. I have so far no white smoke at all out the back of the car. I don't seem to have any coolant in my oil or oil in my coolant.
I have a new rad cap that was working oem in my 91 laser.I have a new mits therm but wondering if its sticking but then why doesn't it overheat sitting idling in my driveway and can a sticking therm make a car overheat in 5 or 10 mintues of driving. And I am not even boosting the car the other day had zero boost for break in with blown off intercooler coupling. And car still did the overheat thing after 10 minutes or so going fairly low speed also not highway driving.

I did think previously it was my cooling fans have new dual fals but just set them tonite so they both come on at high all the time the car is on. But it overheated even faster tonite it seemed.

I retorqued my arp studs today after not very many miles but a few heat cycles.
They were still pretty tight.
I have cometic hp it was sprayed but even cometic figured that was ok.
I can pull head I guess if gasket is gone or head is warped.Head was all rebuilt and should be fine it was all checked etc.

I am at the end of my rope here guys. I guess may need to test for antifreeze in my oil or whatever but can't even drive the car and won't tow it.

Can timing cause the car to overheat this quickly. I am still not sure how to use dsmlink to set my timing. I tried to use the jump wire in dsmlink trick but then didn't get any timing readout so went to timing readout screen and saw 15 degrees.I then set balancer to 5 and ignored the dsmlink readout.
Did I mess up? CAs is about middle of range. Its a 6 bolt 2.4 swap.

Any ideas are very welcome,including blowing up my car!!