overheating

[jbaldwin]

my radiator was leaking, and i figured that is why my car was overheating, so i replaced my radiator,and my thermostat. but it is still overheating. i felt the top hose, and it is hot, then i felt the bottom hose and it is cold. does this mean that i have a bad water pump?

[Davescort97]

Originally Posted by jbaldwin

my radiator was leaking, and i figured that is why my car was overheating, so i replaced my radiator,and my thermostat. but it is still overheating. i felt the top hose, and it is hot, then i felt the bottom hose and it is cold. does this mean that i have a bad water pump?

Not necessarily. Most water pumps will leak if they are starting to go bad but will still pump coolant. The water pump runs off of the timing belt. If the gear or impeller sheared it would have broken your timing belt and since your engine runs you can rule that out. Check the position of the thermostat. The spring always goes toward the engine.
If it is overheating bad enough to peg the temperature gauge, I would assume your thermostat is positioned wrong or it is defective.

[jbaldwin]

i checked everything that i could find, the car is running like it working fine, but my gauge is still reading hot when ever i let the car run for a while. how many more things could affect the temp.

[Speedy_1234]

the temp out (sunning- hot- cold) if you have put antifrezes and to put a thermostat that is low like 160 would be best because when the car get to 160 degress the thermostat opens and cold water or antifreze from the radition go to the motor and the motor water or antifrezze goes to the raditior also what it could be is the top of the raditior it might not be good also does the fan work?

[jbaldwin]

the fan works fine, i checked it, and you can hear it running. the radiator is brand new, right out the box, along with the stat.......By the way, how much coolant does it take to circulate through the motor, and radiator, because i filled the radiator, and the coolant bottle,but it keeps running low when ever i run the engine. Is it possible that the engine is running so hot that it is burning off the coolant.

[Davescort97]

Yeah, a 160 degree stat would be good. Manual takes 5.3 qts. Automatic takes 6.3 quarts. It is possible that the coolant is boiling off.

[jbaldwin]

I will try the 160 stat to see if it works. thanks everyone for your ideas, they have helped me trouble shoot this ongoing problem.

[catback23]

Sounds like an air pocket, fill the radiator and reservoir and then run the engine with the radiator cap off. When the thermostat opens the fluid level will drop and you can air more coolant. When you done adding coolant put the cap on before you shut down the engine.

[jbaldwin]

catback, you were right on the money with that idea. i did what you said, and my car is running like a champ now!!!!!!! I just wanted to say thank you very much for your help, i would have never thought of that. you just helped me, a soldier be able to travel home in his own car one last time before i take a trip across the water. I cannot thank you enough.