ugh car over heating

[truekoa]

well the koamaro has a coolant leak, it was coming from the upper coolant hose so I replaced that.

So no leaks now but when I start driving, the temp will slowly increase way more than usual, around 210 and about 5 mins of driving. I checked the entire cooling system, all the hoses, radiator, fans come on, etc and no leaks everything looks fine.

Can it be a bad thermostat? but if its bad how come it still reads the rising temp?

Thanks everyone.

[Shodown]

Re: ugh car over heating

Did you bleed the system of air when you replaced the hose? If not, then thats probably your problem.

Open the small valve on the thermostat housing/neck, start the car (cold start) and when coolant starts squirting out of the valve, close it and then it should cool back down and be fine after that.

[truekoa]

Re: ugh car over heating

Did you bleed the system of air when you replaced the hose? If not, then thats probably your problem.

Open the small valve on the thermostat housing/neck, start the car (cold start) and when coolant starts squirting out of the valve, close it and then it should cool back down and be fine after that.

crap your right i didnt!

[cam98aro]

Re: ugh car over heating

Did you bleed the system of air when you replaced the hose? If not, then thats probably your problem.

Open the small valve on the thermostat housing/neck, start the car (cold start) and when coolant starts squirting out of the valve, close it and then it should cool back down and be fine after that.

just a note, but when coolant comes out in a steady stream, it will bubble out for a few minutes depending on how bad it needed bled

[OneEightSeven]

Re: ugh car over heating

To check if the thermostat is working just start up the car and idle it for 5 minutes. Watch the temp gauge to make sure you don't get near the red. Once you know the t-valve should be running go check to see if the hot water is coming back into the radiator. All you have to do is squeeze the return hose coming back into the radiator. It should have been cold until the t-valve activated.

Bleeding may be a good idea. Run your heater when you bleed and whenever you change your coolant (flush). This is to get coolant into the heater core.

I know it's obvious, but make sure you're actually topped off. When I change out coolant I usually run it for a bit with the heater (5 min or so) then top it off. Then repeat until you can't top it off any more and all the air is gone from the system as well.

Are your fans kicking on? Without running fans my car will hit 200 even on a cold (for Houston) day or when idle for 10-15 minutes too. Also remember the gauge is not terribly accurate so if the car always warmed up to about the same temperature until fans click on then there's probably no problem.

[Jaysan]

Re: ugh car over heating

You can burp the radiator , cold start the car with the cap off and let the bubbles rise then once it stops top off your coolant and close it up

[cam98aro]

Re: ugh car over heating

You can burp the radiator , cold start the car with the cap off and let the bubbles rise then once it stops top off your coolant and close it up

i couldnt do that with my car, the rad fluid came gushing out all over the place

[Jaysan]

Re: ugh car over heating

your does your heater still blow heat ? while its overheating ?

[bohemianpasha]

Re: ugh car over heating

Our camaro recently started overheating and we took it to mechanic who said that there was nothing wrong with it except it was a little low on coolant. Now, while idling, the temperature goes up to about 5/8 - 3/4 on the gauge and back down to about 1/4 while driving. He said everything else was ok, but I find it hard to believe because the temperature fluctuates so much. I asked about thermostat and he said it was ok. I wonder if a faulty thermostat may cause such fluctuations or if it could be water pump. It is not leaking or making any sound, so I assume it is oK.

[Mark42]

Re: ugh car over heating

Thermostats have a lifespan, and when worn, will fail. Often the thermostat will have a mechanical breakage and fail. Sometimes stuck open, sometimes stuck closed. Less common is that the wax in the piston hardens and will no longer expand when heated. Sometimes corrosion prevents the piston from expanding/contracting properly, or just seizes.

Point being that if you question the condition of the thermostat because the cooling system doesn't seem to be working right, just change it. Better to know a fresh one is in than guess the condition of an old one. And they are fairly inexpensive.

FYI: Stant makes a nice stainless steel thermostat for our cars, cost a buck or two more than a regular, and does not corrode like the standard replacement thermostat.

[ssms5411]

Re: ugh car over heating

Good thing to do is drill a small hole on the side of the thermo so you can bleed it yourself which you should do , but incase you don't get it done all the way, letting it sit over night it will bleed itself out so you hust need to check the raadiator and overflow tank to make sure the fluids are at proper levels. I drive here in AZ and with a oversized radiator, 160 thermo, manual fan switch, lower RK airdam and running distilled water with RP ICE it still will get to 221, which is just before the 210 mark on the gauges this was when it was about 112 degress out I think and humid and got up north to 81 degrees and my car ran like at 175-180 I turned off the manual high switch and A/C. You have to remember stock settings for low fan is 220 and high fan is 230 which is crazy.