I replaced my thermostat two weeks ago and up unitl today, I thought that I had fixed my overheating problem. Nope. I was back down ot school today on 78 doing between 75-85 the whole way. My coolant temp guage was up 3/4 of the way for about 1/2 hour. It was real hot out, so I decided to put the windows up, close the sunroof, and hit the A/C. After about 4-5 minutes of having the A/C on, the temp guage went back down to normal. I'm guessing that this is because the second fan went on when I activated the A/C. My car still shouldn't overheat that easily. It was still overheating with the A/C on, just not as badly. Also, when I was idling today for 10 minutes, the guage went up 3/4 of the way. WHen I turned the A/C on, the guage goes back down to normal at idle. I don't get it. Maybe I should flush my coolant system. Hit me up with some advise.

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humm temp should not be that high, ti should be max half way.
did you put the thermostat in the right way? could be that it is not opening.
is it the right thermostat?
flush the system and run the car without the thermostat and c what reading you get.

that is all I can think of for now. if after that you are still runing hot, maybe your water pump is going bad?

-97 GS (First project, 299 whp)(sold)
- 97 RS 2.6 last numbers: 306hp, 352tq @16psi (Dead, parted out)
- 99 GS OZ, Hahn Kit, 56k miles (Sold)
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- 00 Nissan Maxima GLE (Daily Driver)
- 02 Audi A4 1.8T Quattro

you should put the heat on when it starts to overheat.

check to make sure you dont have lots of leaves blocking air flow to the rad.
check to make sure the fins aren't too badly bent/damaged.

what mixture of coolant/water you using?

could be water pump but doubt it

you can run without a thermostat to eliminate that

could just be old coolant

maybe try some of the water wetter product its really nice

1998 dodge avenger 4 cyl AT
Mods are:
Not enough

Check your resovior overflow tank. if it's low, fill it back up to the full level mark. That was why mine was overheating.

Most likely it's because of your water pump. Has it been replaced and if not how many miles are on the car?

yes, the water pump could be on its way out,

but first, when your car was at 3/4 the way up on the temp gauge (the stock gauge sucks, by the way) was your fan coming on by itself? The fanshould turn on and off with the stock gauge not showing any movement (this is because the average person driving a car would freak if they saw the temp gauge move around, damn designing to the lowest standard)

"Tutto fa brodo."

Todd Scungio
98 RS
15.173 @ 90.70 MPH

And also a 2011 Ralliart

also check to make sure both fans are operating when you have the ac turned on.. it will not run all the time but should come on mostly when you turn the ac on. if you dont see that fan come on after having the ac on full blast and leaving the car on for a good 5-10 minutes then that will probably be the culprit.

-Jason

97 Talon ESi-T (forever in progress...)


95 GS (Gone)
16.74@83.18mph
119.8 whp - 113.3 lbs/ft


2GNT #677
My Wiki Page: www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=Iamnotwhoiam
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/iamnotwhoiam/Talon/

The water pump was changed along with my timing belt a little over a year ago, maybe 15-20 thousand miles ago. I made sure that both fans are coming on when the a/c is on. I've had my car for almost 2 years and never changed the coolant (I know, I know); I never knew that I had to beleive it or not. The only thing that could be blocking the flow to the radiator is my lisence plate. I have a 96, so it's the early 2g front bumper. What I did, which I've seen other guys do, was flipped the bracket upside down so now the lisence plate sits in the grill between the fog lights. When I did that is when I noticed the temp guage acting up, but I figured that just having my plate there wouldn't cause that. Can I run my car w/o a thermostat? Will that make it stop overheating? Yes, the thermostat that I put in there fits perfectly.

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great advice above! Basics first. drain your old coolant, fill with water and run car with heater on(full hot with fan turned up high) until your thermostat opens up(operating temp). Drain again. Refill with water and do process all over again. I let my car run for 20 minutes or so. If the water comes out perfectly clean, you are finished flushing. If the water still looks muddy or not clear, do it again.

When it is clear, completely drain and then fill system with 1 bottle of redline water wetter(killer stuff) and 1 gallon of prestone antifreeze. I am not a fan of the new stuff. I still like the old yellow/green antifreeze. Then refill the rest of the system with distilled water. 2 gallons should do it(includes overflow bottle), you will only need about a gallon initially.

Before I pour in prestone in my coolant system, I fill the over flow bottle half way with antifreeze. I then pour distilled water until it reaches full mark. I then fill the rest of the radiator with distilled water.

When running your car for a bit, it will get rid of all the air and your coolant overflow will go down. The overflow will drop down 1/3 full and then just add a bit more distilled water.

After all of this, you should be fine. I believe the water pump either works or is does not. The thermostat either works or it does not. Your conditions are intermittent and this is most likely due to a clogged radiator/cooling system.

I initially changed my coolant and flushed my complete system at 30K miles. It looked nasty and had chunks of gook that came out of the line. I actually had to disconnect the lower radiator hose and drain it that way, because the gook clogged the small drain at the bottom of the radiator. The factory coolant that came in the car originally did not hold up well. I recently did my coolant flush at 60K and it did not look bad at all. Looked fairly new and the lines look line I just bought the car. I used Prestone and Redline water wetter at 30K and used the same stuff at 60K.

Sorry the advice is kind of out of order. Hope this helps.

97 RS(PTE SC-61, Built Long Block, Electromotive Tec 3)It's Here!

Wow thanks for all the detail. When I can get some cash (broke college kid) I'll buy some coolant and water wetter and do this up.

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$7 water wetter, $6 coolant, $2 distilled water(you can use tap, but it is best to use distilled). Easier to do the job on a lift if you have access to one. Maybe at your college automotive shop?

Cost of blowing a hose on the interstate and damaging engine....you get the idea.

97 RS(PTE SC-61, Built Long Block, Electromotive Tec 3)It's Here!

hm my car does the same thing and i flushed the fluid and it ran better but it still over heats with the AC on..so i dunno... check your fluid if you take out the little reserve take lid and white stuff sticks to it... time to take it somewhere and get dat shit sucked clean out and fresh antifreeze put in but i think my thermostate is bad how much do they run for?

Boca Raton, Florida
95 Eclipse GS- sold
99 Eclipse GSX- 386awhp
98 Eclipse GS- sold
92 Prelude

Funny i'm having the SAME problem. I have a big FMIC in the front of my car, but listen though, i have NEVER had any overheating problem with my car for over 5 years including while turbo'ed.

When i blew my tranny, my car sat jacked up for about 1-2 months. When i fixed it, that's when the overheating started.

So i figured it was time for coolant change, so i did the instructions that was posted above, and it still has the same issue. The problem is that it happens sometimes on short trips and sometimes it doesnt. Like one day i drove over 200 miles in warm weather and it never overheated. I'm thinking its a stuck thermostat but its a brand new thermostat (the 160 degree kind) so i'm going to change that. I am also thinking of wiring the second fan to come on with the first fan because when i run the AC like you do, the temp goes down.

My primary fan was the culprit initially because the fins actually broke off the fan motor so the radiator fan fuse kept blowing. I have replaced that since.

Its just strange. Sometimes it goes 3/4 and sometimes it doesnt. I have also the water wetter stuff in the radiator with fresh coolant.

=/
_________________
Vinnie Lima
kiku@asog.net
AIM: Kiku888
1997 Chrysler Sebring "Silver XTC"
I4 420a w/ HRC Stage 2.45 w/ FMIC
14.7@97 mph@6psi
Proud member of the
ASOG BoOsT JuNkIe Crew

_________________
Vinnie Lima
vlima@csc.com
AIM: Kiku888
1997 Chrysler Sebring "Silver XTC"
I4 420a w/ HRC Stage 2.45 w/ FMIC
14.7@97 mph@6psi
Proud member of the
ASOG BoOsT JuNkIe Crew

I once had an overheating problem....I replaced the Thermostat, Radiator cap, flushed the system many times.....still over heated.....I then concluded it was a blown head gasket....sure enough I took a day and replaced my Head gasket with a new one and have NEVER had it over heat again. Sorry to break it to but you might have a blown head gasket and don't even know it....cuz if EVERYTHING else is in perfect working order it's a blown gasket. Chrysler did not design these motors to over heat with all the proper components working. Since then I have drove in 90+ degree weather and never a hint of over heating One of the sign's I saw while over heating was when I drove the car normal (no boost or WOT) I had no over heating problems. It was when I hit WOT I noticed a puff of white smoke. I then knew for sure what it was. Check for some signs like antifreeze in oil or oil in antifreeze....keep in mind I had neither....just a hint of white smoke out the exhaust.

Greg Williamson
1999 Eclipse GS "Sport" (Sold)
Star Stage III
12.817 @ 109.36

hehe, I had the same problem and I figured out later that because when I first overheated I warped th head and I though I had fixed it by replacing the thermostat and fluching. It kep over heating with out seeing water leaks but I had no water either, found out that my water was getting in the engine and mixing with the oil...had to rebuild...hope that wont happen to anybody though..




drbalazo@hotmail.com
jmorales@navsta.psasd.navy.mil

Thank you and have a Rice day!!

I miss you mom, you are always with me RIP...