Car Overheats

[hansonboy6330]

When cruising on freeway, the temp needle remains at halfway point...

At city speed, when i let go of the gas pedal, or when going uphill, the needle starts moving up...

The backup fan (really loud one), comes on when the needle reaches 3/4 point...

This problem began to happen lately...

Again, my car needs 60k tune-up...

My radiator does leak, but once in a while? Sometimes, I can see the coolant just seeping out somewhere, but most of the time, it's dry... I think its really slight problem, cause my coolant level is still pretty high...

The guy at autozone says I should try a coolant flush, since there might be dirt inside...

I am just confused... Any ideas?

[cficare68]

Thermostat might be stuck

[rodbls]

Whats the outside temp. like? My car gets really hot in the summer...like up to the 3/4 point when I am in traffic. But it goes back down when I start driving. I think it's just because there isnt a lot of ventilation in there...so long as it goes back down I wouldnt be worried about it. I would still get it flushed, but I wouldnt expect it to fix anything...just piece of mind.

[808drifter]

just flush it your self i just did

[Sleepr awd]

do you see crusty antifreeze coming from the top hose? my car's connection to the radiator at the top hose wasn't 100% and they said it was a really common problem with these cars. flush it first, get the tuneup and then see where you stand, it may be as simple as that upper radiator hose

[808drifter]

or just low coolnt level and when u refill burp the system.

[hansonboy6330]

Outside temperature is really cold... It's Bay Area cold... I took it down to LA last Nov (definitely hotter than current situation), and nothing wrong with it...

Yea, I think I see some crusty stuff on the top hose... How do you fix that?

Coolant level is okay... I checked it when it's cold/hot and its at an acceptable level...

Is it easy to flush?

[Sleepr awd]

Originally Posted by hansonboy6330

Outside temperature is really cold... It's Bay Area cold... I took it down to LA last Nov (definitely hotter than current situation), and nothing wrong with it...

Yea, I think I see some crusty stuff on the top hose... How do you fix that?

Coolant level is okay... I checked it when it's cold/hot and its at an acceptable level...

Is it easy to flush?

if you can get the dealership to fix it under warranty, if not buy an aftermarket hose from RRE or the dealership will have modified ones, a new clamp, clean it off and fix it, really tight!!! shouldn't be too hard to replace urself, but if the dealership does it free, go for that

make sure your car has been off for like 4+ hours if you decide to do it yourselfthough, it seems to carry heat for a while

i noticed antifreeze under my car at less than 10k miles, so of couse i took it to the dealership afraid i blew the head... it never got bad enough to overheat though

[808drifter]

heres how u flush it
1. Make sure car is cooled down.
2. Remove radiator hoses.
3. Run water through radiator from top to flush that.
4. run water through block frm top hole.
5. reconect hoses (i would replace factory spring clamps for worm drives, the ones you screw down) tightn everything down.
6. Refill radiator till coolent is at top of radiator.
7. Run can with heater on high and add more coolent when level in radiator drops, (repeat till it starts to over flow and not drop anymore, this should take between 15/30 min to do.)
8. replace the cap and make sure resevor is full.

Thats about it. Just remember to use a 50/50 mix even if it dont get cold where you live cause it also raises the boiling piont of the water.

[dmk720]

How come when my 2000 eclipse gt overheated and the coolant was low in the radiator, reservoir level was always good and it did not adjust the level of coolant in the radiator?

[808drifter]

resevor is so that it dont overflow
otherwise it dont work in our cars

[hansonboy6330]

Okay, so I took my car to a mechanic for my 60,000 maintenance service (which includes a coolant flush)... I told him about my overheating problem, and he says he'll do a pressure test...

Found out that my radiator was leaking... He says our type of radiator leaks easily because of how its designed... And even if the reservoir says the level is good, it is not a good indication that it's okay. Since the cooling system relies on pressure to pull the coolant from reservoir, if theres a leak in the radiator, the system would not work...

The best way to check is by unscrewing the radiator cap and take a look... Only do this after the engine is turned off for around 15 minutes, and open slowly (treat it like a bottle of soda).

[Sleepr awd]

that is an interesting conclusion! i'll start saving for a fluidyne