what causes my overtheating?

[robinho609]

recently my 97 auto gsx has been overheating, i had my friend check it out since he has a 98 gst, he checked the coolant and everything else and took it for a drive, when he came back it said it should be fine to drive as long as i take the cap off....thats not a reasonable solution for the long term, any ideas on what i can do for the long term?

 

[Boost92awd]

What do you mean by taking the cap off? Does it overheat no matter how you drive it? Is it leaking coolant from anywhere? Have you tried changing the thermostat?

 

[robinho609]

when i put more coolant in he said to just leave the cap off, and i havent been driving it around lately, i havent tried changing anything yet, trying to get some opinions first, thanks

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

check the t-stat, check the water pump. of course the radiator and any other water line leaks.

 

[robinho609]

i checked for leaks when it first happened, and everyone is telling me its my waterpump, ive fallen behind on general maintenance and tune-ups, i just hit 124,000 miles, any other things besides the waterpump that i should change and replace with the high miles?

 

[assault187]

i checked for leaks when it first happened, and everyone is telling me its my waterpump, ive fallen behind on general maintenance and tune-ups, i just hit 124,000 miles, any other things besides the waterpump that i should change and replace with the high miles?

T-stat, Timing belt, timing tensioner, timing pulleys, waterpump, and you should be good

Do a compression test, Overheating could also be related to a blown Head Gasket. Also overheating may damage a head gasket so check that out too.

 

[gregalmighty]

First off, when does your car overheat? (idling, driving, highway driving)
Does turning on your ac bring the car back down to normal temp?
Is the radiator hose hot when the car warms up and is there pressure in it?
How often do you have to add coolant?

Could be a number of things but answering those 4 questions could narrow down your problem quite a bit.

Also take a look at this, it has the answers to all of those questions in it already: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-engine-fuel/200575-help-im-overheating-heres-how-fix.html

Edit: I don't know what cap your talking about but leaving the radiator cap will not help your situation at all. Replacing it if its not holding pressure possibly will.

 

[robinho609]

it over heats when im driving around town, i never tried the ac cause it that week it had been cold and i dont drive it right now til i fix the problem but im gonna check out that forum and hopefully fix my car

 

[crimsondragon]

Oh god, he said to take your radiator cap off after driving? Do you want a fountain of coolant in your face?

Anyway if it only overheats while driving around town, I'd say it's something with the AC fan. Both the rad and condenser fan turn on during cruising. A simple check to make sure it's working is turning on the A/C. If it turns on, it's nothing mechanically wrong with the fan. The problem may lie in the electronics that control it.

T-stat can be one of those electronics that control it.

Any other problems? Sweet burning smell and/or white smoke out of your exhaust? Coolant overflow emptying like crazy? Coolant or oil look like chocolate milk?

 

[No_Skillz]

Please don't drive around with the coolant cap off.

If you are talking about the plastic cap that goes on the overfill bottle, I might sleep a little easier tonight.

 

[robinho609]

thanks for all the advice guys, i bought a new waterpump and t stat and hopefully that fixes my problems