93 Camery Cooling Problem

[nichols45]

Having an overheating problem. Here is a short history of my daughters Camry. Car overheated and I found the radiator rotted out and replaced it. Started car and noticed white smoke coming out of tail pipe. Replaced head gasket. Got every think back together now when I drive less than 5 miles the car overheats. Cooling fans are running. Replaced thermostat but still have the same problem. When idling no problem. Hopefully not the water pump. Any ideas?

[RIP]

Welcome to the forum. Did you check for warped heads when you changed the head gasket? Might need to resurface the heads. Is coolant flowing past the rad cap openning? No? Change the pump. While you're at it change the timing belt too. A shop can do a flow check to check the entire system.

[nichols45]

Rip,

I did not check the head for warp but should have. I am not getting any white exhasut now but don't know if that would indicate a warped head and fluid leaking by. What did you mean about the checking rad cap? As soon as it overheats the collant dumps into the overflow tank but sucks back when the engine cools. When I hooked all the hoses back up I have 3 hoses that go to the bottom of the carb and at least 2 of them look like they feed coolant to the cab body. I did not lable them good when I disconnected and am not sure if I got them in the right order. Any suggestions?

[RIP]

Check your manual in the Camry Service Manual thread at the top of the forum. It may show you how the hoses are routed. By "check rad cap" I meant remove it and start the engine. Once the t-stat opens you should see coolant "flowing" past the openning. That indicates the pump is pushing fluid. You're going to lose some coolant in the process. Doesn't indicate the pump is pushing the right amount of fluid so you may want a shop to do a flow check.

Look through the Camry FAQs thread at the top of the forum. May be some useful tips there. If you have no indication of vapor coming out the pipe when running down the road, or oil in the coolant or visa versa, I'd go for a new pump. A compression check is an indication the gasket/heads are good. Not a sure thing but, a very good indication.

[nichols45]

Rip,

I did not check the head for warp but should have. I am not getting any white exhaust but not sure if that would indicate a warped heaed or collant leakage. What did you mean by check rad cap?