Overheating Question

[joemathews]

My water temp gauge started climbing uncommonly high today; I drove it on the interstate for a few miles for the first time in a few months probably, and after that, my temp went up to about 80 percent toward the H. It usually doesn't climb past half way, 2/3 at most if I'm driving hard.

Well, with some heat on I can at least drive it, and if it gets very close to the H I will certainly pull over. My current plan of attack to solve the problem is as follows:

1) Replace thermostat
2) Replace radiator cap
3) Check radiator fans if the above does not work. Anyone know when they are supposed to come on?

Any more suggestions? I am hoping it is a thermostat problem. Getting a new thermostat is worthwhile anyway, if it is still the original one.

[thefro]

make sure that it is full, check the mixture of coolant, i'v been told that it makes a difference. also dont forget your water pump.

[kjewer1]

Ona 2g its ont likely to be the fans, but its possible. I would check that first though, just because its so easy. Let the car idle until they kick on. 210 degrees is where you should see the main (pass side) fan come on. On a 1g fan not ocming on is more common, beucase they use a switch on the radiator that often fails. In a 2g the ECU has full control of the fans.

The other two things you mean to try are good steps to take. These things should be changed every so often anyway, so no harm done if it doesnt fix the problem anyway...

[98GSX]

well i had that same problem...check all your hoses... i cracked hoses and lost all my coolant... also the thermostat NEEDS to be replaced bc it was overheated and probably no good... also check the water pump... and maybe your radiator needs to be replaced... get a fluidyne and your car will run MUCH cooler... you may wanna have yours checked bc it may have a clog....

[98GSX]

dont drive your car... it will just get hotter and hotter.... then you will melt the head like me !

[joemathews]

I just put on a new radiator cap and will see if that solves the problem. My coolant resevoir was full to the top (a little bit trickling out past the cap it was so full), so I'm inclined to think it is probably not a leak in a hose or something. I noticed no other leaking coolant under the car. I have my fingers crossed that the radiator cap will do it, but I'll let you all know.

-Question: if I drive the car and keep it from getting too close to the H on the water temp meter, can I still damage it? I mean, should I just lay off the car and run it only to try and fix it until the problem is solved? I do NOT want to melt a piston or blow a headgasket.

[98GSX]

well...
dont drive it then... i blew my head and pretty much destroyed the gasket....you know the plastic cover that covers the spark plug wires? i melted that... hehehe dont drive it till you fix the problem

[nicerydez]

yeah i don't know i tried all those steps before on my car when it was overheating and they all seemed to not fix the problem... what you should do is take out your thermostat and re install everything without the thermostat, then start your engine and let it idle till the fan comes on and the what you should do, be very carefull and remove the cap while the engine is running then rev your car up and then let go of the throttle and see if coolant comes shooting out then i'm sorry but it is your head gasket. what happened to me is that same stuff you were saying, my coolant resivouir tank was always overfilling and my car was always running too hot. i changed the gasket and i havn't had a problem with it since. works awsome!

p.s. you don't have to take the thermostat out if you don't want to it should open up when the fans kick in anyways i just decided that i would take mine out! just be carfull when doing this because of the obvious coolant and steam are very hot! i hope it was something as stupid as the cap for you cuz the gasket is a bitch to do in these cars!
good luck

[nicerydez]

the other ways to tell if your head gasket is gone is if their is water in your oil, you are burning coolant or not only will coolant come shooting out of your car when hot but their will be air in your coolant lines and it will bubble..

[joemathews]

Cap wasn't it, unfortunately. Next on my list is the thermostat, so I will pick up one of those tonight or tomorrow and throw that badboy on. Maybe that will do the trick. I've had no signs of a bad headgasket yet--no water in the oil, no white smoke out of the exhaust, no steam from under the hood. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it is something simple and easily rectifiable!

[1stGenRocks]

do you have a datalogger or some way to track knock? if youve recently done any new mods you might want to undo them and see if it fixes it. because if you get knock it will make your engine temp go up. you could also try turning down the boost and see if that helps. if it does your probably boosting to high and getting knock or you got crappy gas

[joemathews]

Nope, no new mods--bone stock under the hood. I have new parts just waiting to be installed, but I am going to wait until I figure out the problem. I noticed that the sparkplug cover was starting to melt around the screws, so I am really going to be careful driving it now--temp goes up more than 80 percent and I am pulling over.

[fredjacksonsan]

I'd check the radiator. My brother had a similar problem, replaced all the things you're planning on replacing, but still it got worse and worse. His started overheating when summer came on also; turned out that the radiator was about 10% clogged; he replaced it and -boom- (John Madden boom) it went right back to normal temp. Of course he then had all new cooling system parts.

[BoostedSpyder]

ya try flushing the rad really good. i had that problem but it turned out that my overflow tank fell off. i opened the hood and it was gone. cap was there. 27 bucks at the dealership later...

also don't have you overflow tank 100% full. i would even dump most if not all of the water out of it and give the rad room to breathe. my bet is on a rad flush though.

[dupeto_e]

i bet its your termostat. same thing happend to me with my first laser. it cost me head gasket. after i fixed the gasket i didn't even bother puttin a new termostat. the same thing with the GST now. one day my temperature started raisin and i just take the termo off. i dunno about u guys, but here's how i catch when my car is starting to go HOT : once the car get to a point where its TOO hot, a loud clicking noise appears. like bad lifter or wherever. i suggest if u hear something like that and have your temp gauge a little over half the midle , shut the car off and let it cool for a while. i personaly would not let my car's temp gauge go over and past the midle of the gauge...even in the hottest day or a few 0-100 mph runs. its just not supposed to.(and u know its getting real hot over here)
finaly i want to add that driving your car constantly hot or a little hotter would cost u your valve oil seals, than the car starts smoking and u wonder and on and on...
thats at least what i know for problems after overheating. hope it helps


p.s.by the way if u need help installing the up's for your car pm me( my sell is off for a lil)