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!

 

[mpb87]

Okay, so on my drive home from school today I turned on to a major road and got on it a little bit. Not even WOT, I guess like 3/4 throttle. Anyways, I after I let off and was cruising for a couple of seconds i noticed that the gauge next to the gas (coolant temp i think) was sitting almost verically. At first i thought that the gauge must be wrong but then i started to smell something weird so i pulled over. Low and behold when i popped my hood the smell was some type of smoke coming from the intercooler/LICP area. I didn't want to take any chances so i had it towed to a local shop. What do you guys think the problem could be? Do you think that I am looking at a lot of money?

 

[ZachM31]

Did you see any white smoke coming from the exhaust? problem could be coolant seal for the water cooled bearing on its way out, so the coolant is going out of your exhaust, therefore decreasing the volume of coolant in the engine, therefore causing your engine to overheat! might just be a small leak somewhere else, just see if you cant go through and check for leaks to make sure you're not losing it anywhere else...

 

[IDTag]

Kind of a long post but I'm a certifiable newbie to these cars. I've spent a lot of years with grease under my fingernails and bruised knuckles but not from these cars.

I just picked up a 1992 Talon TSi that overheated. It still runs on all 4 but makes a horrible screeching noise. From what I've already found in searches I'm hoping the water pump went. No smoke when it fired up either.

Questions are... if it did overheat significantly what are the typical problem areas on these cars? Obvious would be HG and cyl head warpage. Anything else to watch out for or check with the nasty screeching noise?

The car has plastic tanks on the radiator and the top hose connector broke off and was repaired. Did DSM make one with metal tanks or is there another year you can swap in?

Last is oil and trans coolers. Do these cars have external coolers or is the trans cooler in the radiator? I'd guess an oil cooler would be external.

The owner couldn't tell me if the noise or the overheat came first. I'd guess if the noise was first it's water pump, if overheat was first there's possibly some hard damage in the top end, I can't guess what though. Based on the fact it fires right up and runs I'm reasonably sure the bottom end is ok. No coolant in the oil either.

Looking forward to getting this thing back on the road. Thanks in advance for info!

 

[HustlerTalon]

Check out the water pump and make sure the water pipe is not clogged up. You could always flush your system.

Oil coolers came on the 1990 models.

 

[JayRolla]

External coolers came on 90's the rest had coolers also but they are built into the oil filter housing

 

[IDTag]

Thanks for the info. I'd guess there's a thread somewhere in here about installing external coolers. I know it helps an AT and I'd guess it would be the same with oil when you have a turbo in the system.

As far as the radiators go, are the plastic ones reasonably reliable? I had nothing but trouble with the ones in my Scirocco and a Caravan. The old Taurus was no trouble though.

 

[flyinghighlm]

KOYO radiators are inexpensive and the have metal tanks, thats what I ended up with on my GSX

 

[brute]

And as far as the screeching, check the belts. You can take them off one by one to see if it stops squealing. Once it does, you'll know it was that belt. But I suggest replacing them all anyway. Do a thorough maintenance session with her. Timing belt, pulleys, tensioner, accessory belts, etc. You can also pinpoint any other maintenance issues that need to be solved. Good luck!

 

[Defiant]

It still runs on all 4 but makes a horrible screeching noise.

Harmonic balancer.

 

[IDTag]

Found the screech now have another issue and a question.

The water pump was making all the noise. When I pulled the belt it quit. Of course then I heard bad noises from the top end.

I've got a bad adjuster on one of the #4 intake valves. Got another adjuster but is 15 lbs the correct torque for the cam bearing caps? I found that in a search here.

I've got a manual on order but it won't be here for a couple more days.

 

[Rahdigga8188]

not exactly sure what year it came from but i know my buddy has a radiator with metal intanks that came out of a early model elantra, the one with the 4g63ish motor in it. I saw one atthe junkyard yesterday and didnt get it because I guess the trans cooler was built in and i didnt want all that stuff unhooked along the bottom. Also not sure if the mounting holes for the fans are the same, but their fans use the same type of plug.

 

[mpb87]

Well, I got my car back today. They replaced the thermostat but that wasnt it... it was the water pump. $750- awesome

 

[autonut]

Metal radiators are available from radiatorbarn.com. I got an all metal one for a 92 EXPO last year that I repaired.

As far as the overheating, Ive repaired several, and was able to save a few. The fact that it runs on all 4 and isnt mixing oil and water together is a good sign. I did repair a 96 galant once that was overheated, and it ran good for 3 days and the block cracked internally and no oil would go to the topend of the engine. Just something to monitor. Keep checking your antifreeze and make sure oil isnt getting in there.

Ive installed external auto trans coolers with great success, and they can mounted directly on the AC condensor on the frontend. You wont even have to remove the radiator if youre creative. Oh yeah, the harmonic balancers are known for falling apart into 2 pieces, but they are a dime a dozen. I have 2 laying in my garage.

Sounds like when the water pump froze up, the temp went up, but the owner most likely shut it down before any damage. I've seen these heads warp so badly from heat that the cams wouldnt turn anymore.

Good luck bud. Looks like you are well on your way.

 

[killab443]

I recently did a swap on my 90 TSI with a JDM engine. ITs got all new timing components and new waterpump. The car runs and idles nicely...BUT it overheats. It will be fine at idle but once I take it out and it warms up it overheats into the red area on the temp gauge. The coolant is full with 50/50. It has a fluidyne radiator in it as well. THe upper waterpipe becomes solid after the car is warmed up as it should, which leads me to beleive the cooolant is circulating. The car also smokes white under WOT. Thermostat and radiator cap have also been replaced... WHAT NOW?
ALso compression tested the engine and all cylinders 160 across
Thanks in advanced!

 

[Mitsu RacerX]

sounds like a blown head gasket. If ## driving around and it gets hot it is most likely becuase one of ## water jackets on your HG might be busted. If ya got it hot you might have warped the head. Time to take it off adn check the HG and check the head to make sure it is true(flat).. Hope this helps

 

[kh730]

With the white smoke when on the throttle that is most likely head gasket like mitsu racerx said, should be a cheap fix if you didnt warp the head

 

[Bsteedly]

I have a similar problem.... A few weeks ago I was driving my JDM engined eagle talon Tsi AWD down the highway and I passed a vehicle that was going slow and the temperature started to rise a little above normal so I was concerned and pulled over. When I opened the hood there was antifreeze and oil..yes oil all over the engine. I pulled out the dipstick and there was nothing in the engine. I called my girlfrind and she brought me some water and oil. I filled both and started it back up and let it idle for roughly 5 minutes and it ran normal. I have been driving it ever since and it hasn't done anything like that again, but it has run a little on the warm side here and there. To solve that I turn on the A/C and the temp goes right back down to normal. Could there be something wrong with a relay or sensor to my cooling fan? Or is it the head gasket? I have been being very gentle with it since that happened. My engine is stock and is running stock turbo with factory boost. It has been cutting out going up hills when the boost starts to come up, but doesnt do it all the time, could this be the fuel filter? I have tried to get it off but I can't manage to get the bottom nut loose to replace it. I have a lean fuel guage and it always says rich when it cuts out so that leads me to believe that is something other than the filter. any help would be greatly appriciated.

 

[playitlouddsm]

Are you positive that your fans are turning on? With white smoke comming out the back, have you noticed any loss of coolant? How old is the radiator? If its still the original has it ever been flushed? Just a few things to look into.

 

[killab443]

sounds like a blown head gasket. If ## driving around and it gets hot it is most likely becuase one of ## water jackets on your HG might be busted. If ya got it hot you might have warped the head. Time to take it off adn check the HG and check the head to make sure it is true(flat).. Hope this helps

I don't understand how it could be a headgasket when my compression tested fine. If coolant was leaking into a cylinder or cylinders thatd be a leak around the fire ring. Which would cause a major loss in compression, and coolant or oil to leak in. With that out of the question any other ideas? I don't think I should tear the head off either if its not the headgasket...

Can I remove the thermostat and run it without one to see if that fixes the problem? Ive heard of those aftermarket thermostats being garbage. And Im pretty sure the one in there is.

 

[playitlouddsm]

Yes you can remove the thermostat and run without it. But remember the thermostat doesn't make the car run cooler. Its there to keep the engine running at operating temp. I would replace the thermostat with an OEM unit first, unless thats what is in there.

 

[crazy_quick]

well last week on my way back from work my car almost overheated. I was crusing on the highway and I saw the temp guage climb. it didnt hit the red mark, but it got damn close.

when I towned it home i saw that it was the rubber water line that goes to the oil filter housing. And now it doesnt want to turn on.

I changed thhe plugs and wire. One plug was melted. and taking out the wire 3 of the rubber/plastic pieces broke.

also there is no water visable around the head gasket and the oil doesnt have any water in it.

 

[funkbuster]

I would say check compression. IF it is low, mabey you blew the head gasket.

 

[v2ner]

Headgaskets usually blow when you overheat.

 

[crazy_quick]

causeing it to not turn on?

 

[shaunman1979]

If the head gets too hot it will warp the head. Thus causing you to blow a head gasket. This will in turn give you really bad or no compression in one or more cylinder. Also it lets water into the combustion chamber. But if your not seeing it in the oil might not be the case. So to awnser you question yes it can lead to your car not starting. I had the same thing happen to me. I thought I was ok by the gauge on the dash, but where the sending unit is on our cars it dosent give a decent reading seeing as how it is at the top of the motor. By the time you lost all your coolant and you needle was next to the red it was probubly already too late. Good luck with it let us know what you find out.