Coolant System Failure?

[Fyke90GSX]

The other day I was driving home and I noticed my temp gauge was moving past the middle toward high hot. As long as I owned the car it has always sat alittle before the middle of the gauge. So I popped my hood and checked for leaks or something like that. No leaks. So I squeezed my hose(top of radiator;big one) and there was barley any pressure(meaning I could squeeze it easily). The only thing I could find wrong was my battery was hissing and leaking. I'm assuming this has nothing to do with my high temps. So I replaced the battery and its still the same thing. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Sounds to me like my water pump might be failing? Oh one other thing my battery has had water on the past 2 days(the new one and the old one). I checked all the hoses running through the firewall and around the back of the block, no leaks.

 

[DSM90AWD]

I assume you have adequate coolant in your system? Is your radiator fan operating correctly? With high temps the fan should be on constantly unless the fan swich (screws into the lower PS of radiator) or the fan relay is defective.

BTW.. having just lived thru this on my '90, replace the 5/8" coolant line running from your thermostat housing > TB and from the TB > water pipe. Mine rotted from the inside out giving way at an inopportune time (1/8 mile in a 1/4 mile race ). Luckily my PCV vent hose is of same size so made a field repair in the pits

 

[wolf20043]

http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200575
Hope this helps with options.
Mike

 

[AWDPetmitsu]

Sounds like a simple thermostat failure to me.

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

One thing caught my eye and you need to fix it fast. If your battery is hissing and leaking as you said, then an overcharge condition exists. Have your alternator tested. I would suspicion the regulator circuit is bad in it. It should read 13.5 to 14.5 volts while engine running. A fully charged battery with the surface charge removed is 12.6 volts. Overheat should be checked with a hand held digital pyrometer at the thermostat housing. Is it "really" hot or is the gauge giving you the idea it is hot by the needle moving to the right? Temp sensors go bad quite often and can lead you to believe it's getting hot. Find a garage with a hand held digital pyrometer. If it says it's hot then it's hot. I am dubious about gauges. If the hose feels hot and stings when you hold it then it's probably hot. Get some actual numbers though. If it is actually hot then it's a good time to flush the system and replace the thermostat. Also, if it's only getting hot while stopping in traffic then it's probably the fan switch, relay or fan motor. Getting hot going down the road is more likely thermostat, radiator or possible wind blockage to radiator. One one rare occasion some guy wired his radiator fan to be permanently on and wired it backward. It would actually overheat going down the road and ran cool sitting still. Just a thought. Good Luck

 

[Fyke90GSX]

Sorry it took so long for me to reply. Some more developments have occurred in this overheating problem. I started my car up the one day to show my buddy the problem and it sounded like a lawn mower. So we took a look and three of the nine exhaust manifold studs broke. All three were on the timing side of the engine. I'm not sure if this has to do with the overheating but I'm willing to make a bet on it that it does. Also I checked my thermostat and when I looked at it, it was closed. Someone told me to put it in hot water to see if it works so I did. the thermostat opened slowly and closed slowly. So I'm assuming its working OK. Anybody have any info or ideas please help. Thank you to those who have responded already. One more thing I cannot find exhaust manifold bolts for the life of me. Anybody got any good stores or websites that carry hard to find DSM parts let me know. The Mitsubishi dealer couldn't even help me.

P.S. I mentioned something about my battery in an earlier post. I checked the new battery I put in after I shut the car off. It was reading close to 16 Volts. Three problems in one shot. Damn it.

 

[sanguinety1g]

i got the same problem 2 weeks ago my battery was hissing and spitting acid all over my engine compartment, and i found out that the alternator voltage regulator went bad... so change your alternator ASAP and get a new battery..

 

[ddavisaf]

Your problem sounds like a bad thermostat...
The battery is as Old Mitsu Tech said, a overvoltage condition.

If your problem isn't a bad thermostat then you've got a blockage in your cooling system, flush the radiator and heater core.