Simple question about overheating.

My gf's escort overheats sometimes, the gauge starts to go up and she reported that she saw some white smoke from the engine bay, she immiedetly shut it off and called me up, i told her to turn on the heat on MAX, and it goes down to a safe level. She drives it around like that and its been fine, if it heats up she just turns the heat on max... lol.

My question is, what exactly is the problem, thermostat? Any information about fixing the problem?

White smoke? - could be coolant steam - could be minor or major. Could be hose leak or defective rad cap blowing below 13-15 PSI. Is the coolant full in the tank? Do you have to add any? Does the rad fan kick on? Now, on my 93 1.9L (at a stop with no air moving thru rad) - the rad fan doesn't kick on until M-A in C--[--NORMAL--]--H gauge. Are you getting above the R bracket?

Sounds like the problem I had. The radiator is clogged up. It's easy to test. Next time it gets overheated then get underneath and feel the lower half of the radiator. If it is cool compared to the upper half then there's the problem. (The sediments go to the bottom and clog the cooling tubes.) You can get it rodded out or get a new one. The steam is probably boiling coolant venting out of the reservoir. Been there, done that :)

There is defintly coolant in there, i forget if i had to add any, it wasnt incredibly low or anything. Im going to ask her where the needle lies when its overheating, she says it really hasnt happend a good while, im guessing because its winter.. :/

Since it quits in the winter is another reason to suspect the radiator. A thermostat would overheat any time. I bought a new radiator for around $100 on the net.