The overheated thread

I get tired of seeing this question, "my car is overheating what can it be?". So here are a few suggestions on how to maintain your cooling system.

Things to check:

1. The radiator cap, this has been the cause of more overheating cars than you would believe. It determines the amount of pressure in the system. Water under pressure has a higher boiling point, so if your cooling system won't hold pressure then you will have problems. It is cheap, and easy to replace. Another symptom of a faulty cap is an extreme amount of fluid shooting into the overflow tank when you hit the gas.

2. The thermostat regulates the temperature of the fluid by opening and closing with a spring. They are normally closed so that your engine can reach operating temperature sooner. Sometimes the thermostat will get stuck closed and won't allow the fluid to circulate causing overheating. It also is cheap, and easy to replace. The reverse happens if it gets stuck open, and you will be overcooling the engine then. You will get poor mileage, condensation in the oil, deposits, and more wear on the engine.

3. Air pockets in the system. Can sometimes be heard as strange noises coming from the dash (right ned?) (i.e. running water, a gurgle, or bubbling). Easily gotten rid of, some vehicles have an air bleed, but for the ones that don't: first, turn the heater selector on full hot, fill the radiator with as much fluid as possible, then over-fill the over flow tank. Put the cap back on, start the car, and as the engine heats up you should see bubbles coming out in the overflow tank as the trapped air is heated and expands. Run the engine for about a half an hour, turn the engine off and go find something else to do for a while. As the engine cools down it will suck the fluid from the over flow to replace the air that was forced out. Watch the temp as your car is running, and if you overheat while doing this just shut the car off and wait for it to cool down. Fill the over flow tank back up and watch your temps the next time you drive. This should get rid of nearly all the air bubbles, and the rest will go away during normal driving.


4. Flush, clean, and pressure test radiator and hoses (make sure the clamps are on properly and the hoses are not bent shut, and don't have holes). Also watch while the car is running to make sure the hose isn't collapsing in on it's self. Squeeze the hoses and if they are cracked, crunchy, dry, and brittle replace them.


5. Listen for knock; detonation causes overheating (cheap gas, improper timing, etc.). Overheating causes detonation too. It's a viscious cycle.


6. Faulty or leaking water pump or heater core. Check the belt also for dry rot, excessive wear, and slippage.


7. Down here in the south, in the summer when it's like a hundred and fidy degrees and you are stuck in traffic your electric fans better come on. Make sure they do come on and at the proper temperature. Under NORMAL driving conditions, a faulty fan (or one with broken/cracked blades) should not cause you to overheat.


8. Finally, Thor's favorite....blown HG. Look for drop in coolant level even though no leaks are present, white smoke, water in oil/oil in radiator fluid, and/or excessive pressure in the radiator hose. If it is blown, don't just sling another one on with out having the head and deck surfaces checked for flatness. Head gaskets blow for a reason.


This is my take on the situation after owning sooo many POS's that have overheated. If you have anything useful to contribute, feel free! If you see something you feel is in error, point it out (like I needed to tell this bunch :rolleyes: ) Anyway this problem comes up too often here, and we need some sort of a sticky ( not that newbs will look at it). So here is my offering.

Hey thanks. I have posted 1 or 2 threads on overheating. I have been having all kinds of problems with overheating for about a week now. First it was the thermostat and now I think it may be a combination of a pinched pipe and a bad radiator cap. Sorry if I pissed anyone off with my overheating questions and such. Thanks for the info though.

Hey thanks. I have posted 1 or 2 threads on overheating. I have been having all kinds of problems with overheating for about a week now. First it was the thermostat and now I think it may be a combination of a pinched pipe and a bad radiator cap. Sorry if I pissed anyone off with my overheating questions and such. Thanks for the info though.Nah, I been meaning to write this up for a while now. :icon16: I just hope it helps someone.

Excellent post Loeman.

I don't have much to add, except that you usually end up with oil in the coolant, rather than the opposite. Mostly because oil pressure is consistently higher than cooling system pressure, so that's the direction the fluids go. It's pretty easy to spot. Oil will rise to the top, then end up in the overflow tank, also floating at the top. Since the siphon tube in the overflow tank is at the bottom, when the system pulls fluid back in, it pulls in coolant. This cycle repeats until all the oil is in the overflow tank, or the tank is all oil. This has happened to me on many occassions, and it's fairly common. And fortunately, it's easy to spot. This is almost always a bad HG, but for cars still running the 91-99 oil mixer, that's a likely culprit as well. I eventually got rid of the one on my 2g after replacing the HG twice, when there was nothing wrong with it ;)

Good thread. I like these.

Excellent post Loeman.

I don't have much to add, except that you usually end up with oil in the coolant, rather than the opposite. Mostly because oil pressure is consistently higher than cooling system pressure, so that's the direction the fluids go. It's pretty easy to spot. Oil will rise to the top, then end up in the overflow tank, also floating at the top. Since the siphon tube in the overflow tank is at the bottom, when the system pulls fluid back in, it pulls in coolant. This cycle repeats until all the oil is in the overflow tank, or the tank is all oil. This has happened to me on many occassions, and it's fairly common. And fortunately, it's easy to spot. This is almost always a bad HG, but for cars still running the 91-99 oil mixer, that's a likely culprit as well. I eventually got rid of the one on my 2g after replacing the HG twice, when there was nothing wrong with it ;)

Good thread. I like these.
Thank you, I hope someone uses it. It was just a general write up. Not meant to be DSM specific at all. You know me, a overheating POS is an overheating POS, no matter what brand.

It seems like I see the chocolate milk oil situation more often than that the oil in the fluid one. Either way, it's a bad scene. Beware! :lol:

Ha ha, good thread loeman. Sticky? We should do one on why a car wont start, god knows I have dealt with a non starting car enough times to have some of it figured out.

yah sticky it

TTT :0

For cain98eclipse! To remove the sounds of a faucet in your dash.

Ya know what Loeman I don't need this shit lol.

TTT

The cure for a water faucet in the dash ned, call the radio station!!!!!!!! FTW!!11!!!


I just playin ned :smooch:

TTT once again for sticky????

bump

Bump this...




Stickay! lol :wink:

After Ruling out all of the above, and nearly always before/during/after any major engine work, pull that perfectly good looking radiator out and have a local radiator shop do a pressure test and rod out. After overheating several times, mine was about 75% blocked. Cost about $60, Cheap peace of mind and much easier than replacing head gasket twice, or worse.

3. Air pockets in the system. Can sometimes be heard as strange noises coming from the dash (right ned?) (i.e. running water, a gurgle, or bubbling). Easily gotten rid of, some vehicles have an air bleed, but for the ones that don't: first, turn the heater selector on full hot, fill the radiator with as much fluid as possible, then over-fill the over flow tank. Put the cap back on, start the car, and as the engine heats up you should see bubbles coming out in the overflow tank as the trapped air is heated and expands. Run the engine for about a half an hour, turn the engine off and go find something else to do for a while. As the engine cools down it will suck the fluid from the over flow to replace the air that was forced out. Watch the temp as your car is running, and if you overheat while doing this just shut the car off and wait for it to cool down. Fill the over flow tank back up and watch your temps the next time you drive. This should get rid of nearly all the air bubbles, and the rest will go away during normal driving.

every time I turn the A/C off/on it makes a running water sound. should I be worried?

every time I turn the A/C off/on it makes a running water sound. should I be worried?Do you overheat? :licka: Check the drain for the A/C. Probably stopped up.

no I dont overheat, I just thought it would lead up to something such as overheating. as for the drain for the A/C, where is that?

Does it sound like ssshhhhhhhhh or something like that lol? And after the first big one by turning it on and off it gets less and less? If so that is normal.

Sounds like bleeding off sord of. Not water its your AC if this theory is correct of course

yeah it does make a sssshhhhh sound. but the sound Im talking about actully sounds like running water but only for a second then goes away.

Next time search :P Merry freaking christmas .... http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=588599&highlight=drain

I just wanted to add that when my DSM was overheating without the fans turning on, i checked the connectors and contacts of the cooling system for dirt/corrosion and cleaned them (i sanded them, with a file, dremel finishing brush and 1000grit paper). This alleviated my overheating problem.

Hey, new here. I have a '98 Eclipse GTS and it's been leaking water/coolant from the exhaust manifold. It's not the head and it's not the water pump.

Hey, new here. I have a '98 Eclipse GTS and it's been leaking water/coolant from the exhaust manifold. It's not the head and it's not the water pump.

If it's leaking from the manifold it has to be the head gasket or a warped head. Either that or you don't have something hooked up right or something else is leaking.

If it's leaking from the manifold it has to be the head gasket or a warped head. Either that or you don't have something hooked up right or something else is leaking.

It's leaking from the two bolts that connect the exhaust under the manifold. It's not the head because the runs fine other than the water leaking out. There's no water in the oil and no oily water on the spark plugs.

I can't seem to find anything on this in the haynes manual either.

Wow this thread is old.. Please dont bring up threads that are this old. You should have just made a new one with your problem in it.

Anyways, I wasn't awhere that there was an eclipse gts..
Your turbo has water lines that go to it, check those to make sure they aren't leaking. One of the lines could have a small crack in it.

Wow this thread is old.. Please dont bring up threads that are this old. You should have just made a new one with your problem in it.

Anyways, I wasn't awhere that there was an eclipse gts..
Your turbo has water lines that go to it, check those to make sure they aren't leaking. One of the lines could have a small crack in it.

It was stickied so I figured I'd use it.

Yep they make them, and this car hauls major ass...

Thanx for the tip.

haha Dude I was being sacastic. They dont make a gts, you had the letters backwards. GST

Stop dirtying up my thread bitches ;) Make a new thread in the right place. It's okay to bring up old threads if you have something useful to contribute.

I have some usefull information to contribute to this thread.

Awhile back my car would keep pushing coolant out the overflow bottle under boost. The car would run fine babying it but as soon as I got into it would completly empty the coolant system and replace it with air. I thought it might have been the headgasket so I replaced it and did everything else I could think of. It turnt out to be a bad water pump/water pump seal. So if you come across this same problem this could be the answer for you.

Lets not forget the old air lock problem as well.

basically - system runs out of coolant , refill , somehow still over heats but no water vanishing and running through the coolant channels/hoses like a sloshy river - large air pocket somewhere stuck in coolant system = over heat , well not exactly always overheat but will run hotter and sometimes over heat but more a common problem with v-6's , v-8's , etc not so much the 4.