I'm wondering if anyone knows of the possible remedy to my overheating problem.
Earlier today I was at a stop light and I noticed my temp guage slowly climb past the halfway mark. It up to about 3/4, then I started moving and it went back down to 1/2. Then later today on my way home, while driving, the needle kept fluctuating between 1/2 and 3/4.
I read somewhere that turning on the heat on full blast will help the car... well, to my surprise after setting the heater on max it was blowing cool air! By the time I was up to the driveway the needle was stuck on 7/8's!
What could be wrong? The thermostat, water pump, radiatior cap? Around how much would that stuff cost? Thanks.

Hmmm, I think DeanoD inadvertently answered my question a week ago.
:D

http://forums.2gnt.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&forum=DCForumID13&om=6798&omm=6&viewmode=threaded

"Your thermostat is shot because it is not circulating the fluid. The fluid boils over filling up your overflow tank and running on the ground. You will see your overflow tank totally full(check it after a hard drive). When your car cools down, it draws the coolant from the overflow tank and it should be empty(this is in the morning)."
^^EXACTLY.

*edit: Would this be the same reason why my heater blows cool air? Or is that something else?

Correct me if i'm wrong, but your heater heats because of warm coolant flowing through a chamber. When the thermostat stops the coolant from circulating into the engine, no coolant is flowing to the heating chamber, hence, no warm air.



Jon

1997 Eclipse RS

14.21@101mph 10/4/02

MODS: 8.8:1 JE Pistons / Eagle rods / Stage 1 Hahn turbocharger / Melling Oil Pump / Autometer 5" tach / 4 JL 12" W0 subwoofers / Clarion 230w amp / short shifter mod / GReddy EVO exhaust / custom 2 1/2" downpipe / no cat con / CM Stage 1 / 30lb Mustang injectors / TurboXS MBC / 1G SMIC / Eibach Sportline springs / KYB GR-2 struts / GReddy 52mm EGT

My car is still playing the disappearing coolant trick.



Jon

1997 Eclipse RS

14.21@101mph 10/4/02

MODS: 8.8:1 JE Pistons / Eagle rods / Stage 1 Hahn turbocharger / Melling Oil Pump / Autometer 5" tach / 4 JL 12" W0 subwoofers / Clarion 230w amp / short shifter mod / GReddy EVO exhaust / custom 2 1/2" downpipe / no cat con / CM Stage 1 / 30lb Mustang injectors / TurboXS MBC / 1G SMIC / Eibach Sportline springs / KYB GR-2 struts / GReddy 52mm EGT

Ahh, well I replaced my thermostat and took it for a nice hard drive. I was pleased to find out that my heater now works and everything seemed fine. As soon as I pulled into the garage however, I let it idle for a bit and the needle started climbing again! Argh... maybe my radiator is clogged? I'm gonna flush out my coolant tomorrow.
A friend at school suggested it might be the water pump... but that's close to the last thing I'd wanna replace. What are some of the symptoms of a shot water pump?

That's the same EXACT thing that's happening to me. Coolant is disappearing its causing it to rise.

There are tons and tons of bad thermostats however, and you may just have one. I'd like to know the answer to the water pump question myself, cause its the only thing i didnt replace during the engine build. dammit.



Jon

1997 Eclipse RS

14.21@101mph 10/4/02

MODS: 8.8:1 JE Pistons / Eagle rods / Stage 1 Hahn turbocharger / Melling Oil Pump / Autometer 5" tach / 4 JL 12" W0 subwoofers / Clarion 230w amp / short shifter mod / GReddy EVO exhaust / custom 2 1/2" downpipe / no cat con / CM Stage 1 / 30lb Mustang injectors / TurboXS MBC / 1G SMIC / Eibach Sportline springs / KYB GR-2 struts / GReddy 52mm EGT

make sure your radiator doesn't have leaves and crap stuck in it. also if you wash you car at a high pressure carwash, you can bend up the radiator fin pretty good when trying to clean the front bumper.

how would you suggest i go after cleaning it?



Jon

1997 Eclipse RS

14.21@101mph 10/4/02

MODS: 8.8:1 JE Pistons / Eagle rods / Stage 1 Hahn turbocharger / Melling Oil Pump / Autometer 5" tach / 4 JL 12" W0 subwoofers / Clarion 230w amp / short shifter mod / GReddy EVO exhaust / custom 2 1/2" downpipe / no cat con / CM Stage 1 / 30lb Mustang injectors / TurboXS MBC / 1G SMIC / Eibach Sportline springs / KYB GR-2 struts / GReddy 52mm EGT

YEAH this happened to me when i was waiting for friend to get finished talking to shop about his Civc...Sitting idle for about 5 minutes, then it just started climbing climbing... Got to about 7/8ths of the way up,, *oh shit!* popped hood, one of my FAL's = broken, but I knew that already,,, other one seems to be working... Very strange.

I think mechanic said he wanted to replace the water pump... guess ill go along with that.. heh

Are your cooling fans running?

also, Your heater won't work well if you are low on coolant.

Just a thought.

yeah check your fans and check your coolant levels, if youre losing coolant you may have the same problem i had a month ago...blown head gasket. my car is still in the shop, as i just dropped it off yesterday. im a lazy bitch

i bet its one of your cooling fans.. normally the other one will turn on after a little bit and when you have your a/c turned on. mine did a similar thing last year and i determined it was because for some reason my other fan was not coming on.. so i just wired the one that wasnt coming on to the other fan so now both come on all the time.. and no overheating problems.. basically by driving it casues air to flow into the engine and help cool it off, but sitting still the fans help create that cooler air circulation.. if no fan is blowing air while sitting, then it could cause the engine to heat up some over normal..

of course it could be something like a head gasket at worse.

if it was the water pump the car would be fine while sitting at idle but heat up when driving because it would fail to properly circulate the coolant around the engine..

neways good luck.

Ahh, how lovely. I came outside today to go get my fatass Taco Bell after i got out of class, and noticed a small stream of coolant seeping along the ground out of hte passenger side of my car. Raised the hood and didn't see a trace of coolant anywhere along any of the hoses, radiator, or thermostat housing. Got down under my car and noticed that it was dripping down what appeared to be the crank pulley. That's fantastic! I'm almost certain it's the water pump now, but...if it was leaking, wouldn't that be teh seal, which was replaced when i did my build, right? I don't know for sure what the effects are of a water pump going out, whether it leaks or what, but its teh only thing i didnt change when i built my engine. Someone please tell me what to look for.



Jon

1997 Eclipse RS

14.21@101mph 10/4/02

MODS: 8.8:1 JE Pistons / Eagle rods / Stage 1 Hahn turbocharger / Melling Oil Pump / Autometer 5" tach / 4 JL 12" W0 subwoofers / Clarion 230w amp / short shifter mod / GReddy EVO exhaust / custom 2 1/2" downpipe / no cat con / CM Stage 1 / 30lb Mustang injectors / TurboXS MBC / 1G SMIC / Eibach Sportline springs / KYB GR-2 struts / GReddy 52mm EGT

not to rifde on anyones post ... but im in the same situation.

here check out some of the damage done...

http://forums.2gnt.com/dcforum/DCForumID16/5206.html

the new radiator helped for a bit...

Check for a heater hose leak. Heater hoses transfer coolant. My car suddenly started to overheat. I popped off the radiator cap even though i was almost certain that hot coolant would stream everywhere only to find out that it was completely empty. I added coolant, did a test drive around the block and all of the coolant leaked to the ground. I took it in the same day and found out I blew a heater hose. Fixed it the same day and never had a overheating problem since.

Where are they located?



Jon

1997 Eclipse RS

14.21@101mph 10/4/02

MODS: 8.8:1 JE Pistons / Eagle rods / Stage 1 Hahn turbocharger / Melling Oil Pump / Autometer 5" tach / 4 JL 12" W0 subwoofers / Clarion 230w amp / short shifter mod / GReddy EVO exhaust / custom 2 1/2" downpipe / no cat con / CM Stage 1 / 30lb Mustang injectors / TurboXS MBC / 1G SMIC / Eibach Sportline springs / KYB GR-2 struts / GReddy 52mm EGT

*bump*
Ya get it fixed Jon?

As for me, it hasn't overheated anymore. I flushed out the coolant, and added water with a bottle of "Radiator Super Cleaner". It says to run it for 3-6 hours then flush it out and add coolant as normal. Hopefully this is a long term solution.

hate to say it guys it looks as if your pumps are shot. It is really hard to see with the timing belt cover on but at the bottom of the water pump there is a bleed hole. Just like any water pump they will leak after a couple of years. There is a pressure test you can do. Its a pump that locks onto your radiator cap, you then pressurize the whole system. Look eveywhere including inside on the passenger floorboard. You will find the problem. late mike

No luck yet, just going through lots of coolant. I am scheduled to go in on Tuesday to have it pressurized, i went and lookd at o'reillys for the coolant pressurizer and they were 100 bucks. screw that. My jackass mechanic made it perfectly clear that he wasn't going to touch the water pump, but just test it all for me. If i can't find any physical leaks, i think i'm gonna do the flush & fill thing. Or shoot myself in the head, whichever comes first.


Jon

1997 Eclipse RS

14.21@101mph 10/4/02

MODS: 8.8:1 JE Pistons / Eagle rods / Stage 1 Hahn turbocharger / Melling Oil Pump / Autometer 5" tach / 4 JL 12" W0 subwoofers / Clarion 230w amp / short shifter mod / GReddy EVO exhaust / custom 2 1/2" downpipe / no cat con / CM Stage 1 / 30lb Mustang injectors / TurboXS MBC / 1G SMIC / Eibach Sportline springs / KYB GR-2 struts / GReddy 52mm EGT