Overheat!!!

SXTwolfe · Post by **SXTwolfe** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 6:25 pm

alright so for the past couple of days when i let my car sit to warm up or im not going be be there for more than 10 minutes or so my car starts heating up massively. when i start driving (until today that is) it would go back down to normal temps. i have checked all the fluids and added some coolant to the car as well. there is nothing leaking underneath either... at this point today it has started going up massively in temp all the time except when on the highway then its back to normal temps once i slow down though its right back up basically in the red. does anyone have any ideas or has had this issue and knows how to fix it??????

Post by **occasional demons** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 6:30 pm

Is the radiator fan operating?

Post by **racer12306** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 6:44 pm

Yeah, the fans sound like a good first check.

esteinmaier · Post by **esteinmaier** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 8:17 pm

Fans having trouble. You boiled the coolant out of it. Now it's overheating because it's empty. Fix the fans, fill it back up, and hope you didn't warp the head causing the HG to leak.

SXTwolfe · Post by **SXTwolfe** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 8:43 pm

esteinmaier wrote:Fans having trouble. You boiled the coolant out of it. Now it's overheating because it's empty. Fix the fans, fill it back up, and hope you didn't warp the head causing the HG to leak.

fans are running. i hear them wind up almost as soon as my car starts up. its now doing it even while driving and there is coolant in the radiator. i topped it off earlier today while i was out and about....

but just in case ill check again though really pretty sure they are running. there was def coolant in the thing though...

SXTwolfe · Post by **SXTwolfe** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:08 pm

INVUJerry · Post by **INVUJerry** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 10:43 pm

Is it as soon as you start the car? Like, sat over night and turned it on? If so, I'd try chaning the temp sensor.

SXTwolfe · Post by **SXTwolfe** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 12:20 am

invujerry wrote:Is it as soon as you start the car? Like, sat over night and turned it on? If so, I'd try chaning the temp sensor.

alright well checked the fans and both are working properly. it started out with the temp slowly climbing one night when i went out for break at work and needed heat so let car warm up. normally it stops at the first line and stays there. that night it just kept climbing and climbing. then the next day everything was fine. then yesterday (10/28) it started again while idling the car except it was climbing faster than when it did it before. then today it did it again after about 45 minutes of driving brought roommate to bank and in a period of ten minutes it jumped from first line to the almost red line. then a little later on in the day while doing more errands it started doing it while driving. the dinger was also going off at one point. and now again 9presumably because its so cold) its acting normal (then again ten minute drive just seemed to warm up fast but didnt go above its normal)

Pablodragon · Post by **Pablodragon** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 8:08 am

Hope it's not the heater core... sometimes it's really hard to tell, but you will get some wetness on the passenger side floor

Sounds like my same problems over a week or 3...

I went thru 2 thermostats, a radiator and a re-furbed head (as well as a new timing belt and water pump, just because the engine was apart...) before we figured out it was the heater core.... and that's a real bitch to replace, or a big expense, if you have it done.

nsxmatt · Post by **nsxmatt** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 8:34 am

Feel the lower radiator hose and see if it's hot. Could be a stuck thermostat.

SP33DN3ON · Post by **SP33DN3ON** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 10:46 am

get one of those thermostats that fails open. the stock ones on our cars fail closed.

esteinmaier · Post by **esteinmaier** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 11:36 am

No, cuz then it wouldn't have gotten better when driving at speed.

SXTwolfe · Post by **SXTwolfe** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 11:40 am

well so far today it has not done it again. i have no idea what is going on. im going to looking into the suggestions here and post back. thank you all!!!

SXTwolfe · Post by **SXTwolfe** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 2:50 pm

well at this point in leaning with agreeing with the thermostat idea. ran the car for about twenty minutes then checked the hoses to make sure there was coolant running through them and the one attached to the thermostat i could literally pinch all the way together. went out and bought a new thermostat and also the gasket. right now i am just waiting for the engine to cool off before i drain everything and replace it... will post on how it goes and whether or not it helps in a few day. although today it has not even come close to overheating at all which is odd. going to replace it anyway as its probably getting about that time.

Post by **racer12306** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 2:53 pm

It's not going to be the thermostat because the engine cools off when you are moving.

Are you sure there isn't a huge air bubble in the system?

SXTwolfe · Post by **SXTwolfe** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 3:52 pm

could be we will find out.

SXTwolfe · Post by **SXTwolfe** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 6:30 pm

never say never... you can see the original one and yeah its rather screwed. the new one is installed and have yet to see the temp go above the first line. it may not be the original issue but it was part of it at the very least....

Post by **racer12306** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 8:28 pm

While it probably was a good idea to change that, it wasn't your issue if the temp went down while driving.

You can see if it still worked by putting it in a pot of water and bring it to a boil. It should open up a little before boiling.

Post by **occasional demons** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 9:43 pm

The question is, was/is it really overheating at all? If the temp sensor/circuit has issues, it is going to run the fans/show hot on the gauge. If it is shorting to ground, or partially shorting, it would push the needle to the red. Modern t'stats will fail in the open position. (unless something is physically holding it shut)

But if it is truly overheating to that extreme, I would keep a close eye on the HG/oil. I had a heater hose go this summer, and the gauge didn't even come close to 3/4, and now I have a HG leaking coolant externally. It didn't happen right away, but none the less it is leaking.

The cam will definitely be removed before the head is unbolted.

Could you hear it boiling at all? If you walked in front of the car while the gauge was that high, you would hear it boiling.

Post by **racer12306** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 9:48 pm

occasional demons wrote:Could you hear it boiling at all? If you walked in front of the car while the gauge was that high, you would hear it boiling.

Forgot about that.

It would be boiling something fierce with the gauge that high.

SXTwolfe · Post by **SXTwolfe** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 1:56 am

wwhen it ent that high i heard nothing out of the ordinary

nsxmatt · Post by **nsxmatt** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:09 am

racer12306 wrote:It's not going to be the thermostat because the engine cools off when you are moving.

Are you sure there isn't a huge air bubble in the system?

No it won't. A stuck closed thermostat won't allow coolant to flow through the radiator. The coolant is stationary allowing the car to warm up quickly so it can then open and let the system operate normal. If he went on the hwy with it stuck closed the car would warm up very fast and overheat quickly since the air is running over the radiator that isn't even working yet.

esteinmaier · Post by **esteinmaier** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:41 am

Yea, that's his point. The OP stated that the car would get hot just sitting, and then later got worse after it had been overheated idling a few times.

I've never seen a neon with coolant problems that didn't boil some off, which leaves air in the system. So then you boil the rest off. Thus substantiating my hypothesis.

nsxmatt · Post by **nsxmatt** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 4:07 pm

The boiling brings air to the highest point and to the overflow. This is why they install them. His problem was just a thermostat which once they start to stick, will get worse. He replaced it, problem should be solved.

Post by **occasional demons** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 6:10 pm

The way modern t'stats are designed, if the thermo bulb fails, the spring will push it open. They will not fail closed.

nsxmatt · Post by **nsxmatt** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 7:09 pm

We had a 2009 Honda pilot in a while back with 6k miles and a stuck closed thermostat. I had one on my civic do it and I've seen plenty others. Just because a part is designed to work one way doesn't mean it will when it fails.

Post by **occasional demons** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 7:29 pm

Well, I can't speak for some imported parts.

I have yet to have one in any of my Chrysler built engines from 1980 on, (or Mitsubishi for that matter) fail closed. Always open, and in the dead of winter.

SXTwolfe · Post by **SXTwolfe** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 5:39 am

the thermostat was fine. the gasket around it was shot to hell. i played around with the new one and the old one before the install and both were opening and closing just fine. i dont know what happened. however there was one thing. when i changed it out there was about half the amount of coolant that there was suppose to be. im guess that with the gasket failing like that it was preventing it from opening which is why it got worse after a few days. i can honestly say i have no idea what the original problem was but at this point im not letting my car idle nor am i driving it much until i can find the issue. so far the little i have driven there has not been any issues (though its cold as hell here) we will see what happens.

P.s even with the new one the hose feels like there is nothing in it at all....

INVUJerry · Post by **INVUJerry** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 6:00 am

Change the hoses, let the car heat up and touch the radiator to see if there are cold spots (blocks). Is the heat working when it gets hot like that?

SXTwolfe · Post by **SXTwolfe** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 1:13 pm

invujerry wrote:Change the hoses, let the car heat up and touch the radiator to see if there are cold spots (blocks). Is the heat working when it gets hot like that?

oh yeah heat is working. seems likes it is hotter than before. and when i start moving its like my car has turned into an oven. its did help a little with the issue though...