Okay, so my engine is rinning pretty hot..the plugs are white and it gets hot at idle when I start it up. Even the compressor gets hot after awhile. I checked the oil feed and return and they both flow...not gushing out the return, but flowing. Do you think since I am running hot, and perhaps the cooling is not functioning properly, that my compressor could get hot too? thanks

Your compressor does get hot, but I do not think that is the reason for your car overheating at idle. I also overheated at idle, leaking massive ammount of coolant from the overflow tank. I changed the thermostat, hoses, and it all came down to the headgasket. Your HG is most likely damaged and you are leaking hot exhaust to your coolant passages, a leakdown test will confirm this. Do your temps increase or decrease when the car moves?

it could also be that it's time for a new radiator or the fans are not cooling it enough, check if it's clogged or not efficient. my best technique to test this is by buying one of those laser temperature guns and aim it all across the radiator and see what temperatures you get. if it's beyond specs, it's probably time for a new radiator. is it a stock one, if so, how many miles is your car?

Well I just got done replacing the HG 2 days ago..I got 180 all across so it seems like it's good. Maybe I'll change out the plugs. My fans aren't turning on so that might be a problem and I should burp the system too. But why would that cause the compressor to get all hot with the hood up n all.
Alvin

http://www.cardomain.com/id/96rst

well let's see, there's a scientific law that hot always wants to goto cold, meaning hot exhaust manifold which is bolted to the turbo turbine side, then travels to the colder compressor which makes it hotter. i've once laser pointed the turbine side and to the compressor side on idle, i got 340*F/180*F, so you figure if you ran hot plus boosting, imagine the heat it produces. so there's your answer.

A compression test will not determine if you are leaking exhaust to the coolant passages. My compression numbers came up good too, but the leakdown test did not. So here are the few facts we know. YOu are running hot at idle. I would think that there is no reason to run hot at idle since you are not really pushing the car, unlike when you boost. Question: Does the car overheat when you drive it? (not at idle). My car cooled down when I drove it, but this was because enough air was getting to the radiator, not so at idle.

I doubt that you are maxing your radiator, not at idle at least. Not everyone here has an upgraded one and they don't run hot. Tell me something else, does your overflow tank fill with boiling coolant?