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!

 

[undefined0000]

Are you maintaining your coolant level? Is the car running fine other wise? And at what point are your fans turning on. My experience with these dsms is that they turn on as soon as the needle climbs right above maybe 45% of the way. Fans i would say is the most common. If not, your coolant mixture could be off? I've seen a car that was just running on antifreeze and it didnt cool properly at all .

 

[GSTurbo1]

blown head gasket, fans?

 

[GSTurbo1]

def still might have blown head gasket, milky oil is only one symptom

 

[jacob238]

I had this same issue on my 420a. Make sure your fuses are good on your fans, on the 4g63 the fuse box is on the passanger side near the front of the car. Check the fan fuses. If i were you, i would also go ahead and replace the headgasket anyways. I got mine for 30 bucks at autozone. It will save you the hassle

 

[flawlessTSI]

See if you can smell exhaust fumes from the radiator cap. Car running with cap off. If so, bad head gasket or warped head.

 

[Diamond Star Werks]

You said only one turns on with a/c? Are you driving with that one on or not? Fmic+ condenser + rad= make sure both fans work. Not just one.

 

[squid267]

Ok ill run test for the blown head gasket. About the fans yeah the driver side only runs with ac on. passenger doesnt turn on.

 

[Spyderman7]

If your other fan is not working fix it esp with ac still on the car.That is more than likely the problem unless you keep driving it causing it to blow a head gasket.

 

[Dhan]

FMIC blocks rad but it blocked old stock rad and there were no issues.

So the old stock radiator had no issues?


Consider getting a hold of a stock radiator and the stock fans again. These OE parts have proved themselves time and time again on many builds. A lot of the aftermarket rad cores and slim fans don't cut it when compared to the stock Mitsubishi equipment.

Also, check the radiator cap and make sure the seal is good and it is holding pressure. If it's not holding pressure, then your boiling point will be too low.

 

[MattnGsx]

You said you removed the thermostat? Meaning, you checked it or drove without it?

 

[squid267]

So the old stock radiator had no issues?


Consider getting a hold of a stock radiator and the stock fans again. These OE parts have proved themselves time and time again on many builds. A lot of the aftermarket rad cores and slim fans don't cut it when compared to the stock Mitsubishi equipment.

Also, check the radiator cap and make sure the seal is good and it is holding pressure. If it's not holding pressure, then your boiling point will be too low.

ill try but my old rad broke and we took the plugs from old fans to wire in new fans

If your other fan is not working fix it esp with ac still on the car.That is more than likely the problem unless you keep driving it causing it to blow a head gasket.

ill wire it to the other fans they both turn on

You said you removed the thermostat? Meaning, you checked it or drove without it?

drove without it

 

[miguelmcv]

Check your fans first, Make sure both of your fans turns on when temperature get its target, park the car and revel it till the fan turns on, so you know the fans are working properly, If they are not working properly fix them, Make sure the fans are flowing air to the right direction, other wise is like having no fans.

If you are not loosing coolant, your head gasket might be OK, you can check by removing your radiator cap with the engine running, if you see bubbling, then you might have a bad head gasket, but if there is no bubbles in the water, then your gasket is good, however, a lot of head gaskets leak under load, but I don't think that's your problem.

You have to go step by step when tracking your problem, that makes it easier to fix.

Check your fans, check for bubbles and report back the results.

 

[bigtimmyd]

So, I just got done with this hell build. Basically, I installed the first phase of this. FMIC, aluminum radiator, all hoses, cap, thermo delete, vacuum delete, pump and rewire, battery relocate, ported o2 housing, and 16g turbo. Well the 16g turbo didn't work out, so I re-installed the 14b. Everything was great. First drove it at stock boost level (around 10psi) and it pulled hard. Progressively, took it up to 18, and it blew my mind . After the tune, injectors, and e85, I would be set without the 16g for a while!

Well, the temp was fine. after a little boosting I noticed the overflow boiling over a bit. Against my better judgement, I decided to drive it to town, and get a wash and some better hose clamps for the IC piping... It's all good until I got to town. Filled up with gas, and when I started it back up, I noticed it was a little hot (above half way on dash gauge, haven't installed my real gauge yet). drove it to the car wash, did that, went to the parts store and let it chill. New slim fans were both kickin on, everything seemed ok. My mechanic was with me, and wanted to adjust the timing a little, so we did. Then we head of for home. It seemed good. Then I started playing with this older 911 (couldn't help it!), and it got pretty hot. Ended up pulling over and letting it chill for a while, and putting a bunch of water in it, and backing off the timing a bit. Barley got back home, I was scared. This was a fairly hot day, around 90.

My mechanic suggested trying to get a 18lb cap instead of the 16 I had put on there, and trying it. If not, the headgasket. After a ton of research, I also want to try re-torquing the head bolts? My head build, which included ARP stud and water pump, was about 8 months ago, but only about 3k miles driven. This car has always (In the past year), had water dissapearing though. Wierd. I've done alot of stuff! Including the headgasket! Did I blow my headgasket again? This car loves the winter months, but when it gets above 80, it starts drinking water. Compression is 152-155. Mobile 1 10-30 synthetic, 50/50 with wetter...

I'm going to drive it down to my mechanic tomorrow and he may start ripping into it. I really don't want to replace the headgasket again

 

[AlaskanDsm]

Just a thought of course, but it is always possible that the FMIC is keeping enough fresh air from hitting the radiator which could be causing an overheating issue... Do you have AC in your car still?

 

[bigtimmyd]

Yeah, I forgot to mention, I deleted the a/c. The intercooler is pretty big.. And I did have to mount my slim fans on the front of the radiator due to space. But they seem to be pushing some ok air through. That could be it to possibly. I'm hoping my mechanic is able to do a leak down test.

 

[JusMX141]

Seen literally three overheating threads created in the past day....welcome to the new giant merged thread which will continue to grow as I merge more threads of the same topic.

 

[bigtimmyd]

Popular summer thread... Well I'll let everyone know in the next few days what happens with my scenario. We are doing leak down, hot/cold compression, and stud retorque.

Along with 18lb cap and possible fan reposition

 

[PieEyedPiper]

You might consider using the cap that was designed for your cooling system.
Either way, looking forward to the result.

 

[squid267]

Hey guys, I replaced radiator caps, Fixed my radiator hose ### it was backwards so coolant flows better. No air bubbles, white smoke from or from hood, so we can rule out head gasket being blown. How to i test water pump? we also pour water through the radiator and engine to ensure there are no clogs. It seems the only thing left is the water pump.

 

[bigtimmyd]

Cooling system has overdone a pretty major upgrade though, the hose will definitely take the pressure... I've heard of others using 18lb cap?

*overgone

 

[miguelmcv]

How about the Fans, Did you test them and make the coolant to rich its target for the fans to turn ON?.

 

[NHerron]

How fast does it overheat and have you tested the cooling system for it's ability to hold pressure.

 

[bigtimmyd]

How about the Fans, Did you test them and make the coolant to rich its target for the fans to turn ON?.

I need to install my digital gauge, but they seemed to be kickin on just below halfway on the dash...

How fast does it overheat and have you tested the cooling system for it's ability to hold pressure.

If the coolant is full it takes a while for it to overheat, 30 miles or so of normal driving, coolant is going out of overflow though.. Doing a leak down test tomorrow I think

It's cold today, just drove it 15 miles to my mechanics, and it barley got to normal operating temp. Overflow was steaming a little though.

Another thought, When I installed the radiator and all hoses, the dash is all ripped apart so I couldn't run the heater... I should run the heater to cycle the coolant through?

 

[NHerron]

If the cap is new, coolant system holds pressure during test, fans work during idle, no blockage to radiator while driving, you shouldnt be pushing alot of coolant, should be less than a half quart. Normally the overflow level rises a bit after driving but should never be so full to dump on the ground.

No need on the heater, our cores are 100% full time full flowing.

 

[bigtimmyd]

So I'm going to start a mental preperation of changing the head gasket... uhhhg. Praying the head studs are loose or something. He's hopefully going to do a leak down test today to make sure. It just sucks, compressions good, no smoke, or oil in water or vice versa. dangit.

good to know about the core though, I'm just starting to get despite, hoping its anything but a HG, or even worse a warped/cracked head. I just wanna drive!!