HELP car overheats
HELP car overheats
Whenever I start the car the fan is always on. I dont know if this is normal or not. But when I drive, after 1st starting the car the Temp. arrow surges up after about 5 min of driving. It surges up to the before last line on the Temp. Gauge. (the one right before max heat). Then after a min or two goes back down. If im driving on the highway the temp gauge is always at normal. But when I stop the temp gauge slowly rises along with my rpm's goin to 1000. I dont know what it could be. I took it to the mechanic and this dumbass said there's nothing wrong with it. Im gonna take it to another one on saturday. Guys please help.
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Luke
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yellow_jacket
- Posts: 1355
- Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2003 4:43 pm
- Car: 95 240sx
Something is wrong with your car. It should not ever get over half way. This condition will greatly shorten the life of the head gasket as the head will warp and blow it.
As far as the fan clutch goes, yes it will always be spinning as long as the car is on. It should however, spin mutch slower when the car is not getting too hot. When the car gets around half way or more you should be able to hear the fan come on wide open as it will be much louder.
As far as the fan clutch goes, yes it will always be spinning as long as the car is on. It should however, spin mutch slower when the car is not getting too hot. When the car gets around half way or more you should be able to hear the fan come on wide open as it will be much louder.
DaNEWgUy wrote: BTW not too sure what a head gasket is. Should I be worried about it? How much should one cost to replace it?THanks
the head gasket is there to seal the cylinder head and the block, and IT IS something to worry about, personally i would not drive the car if i was you. it could lead to problems like warping the head and such. i went through that problem before and had to go through all the work in replacing all the gaskets. i did it myself and only had to purchase a gasket set, which i got for only $60. but if you were to have someone do it, it cost big bucks on labor. trust me, dont drive the car if it still overheats.
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Structure240sx
- Posts: 5615
- Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2002 5:04 pm
Took it to the mechanic today and he said it was a blown head gasket. But I saw no signs like oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil. Im not sure exactly how he figured out its the head gasket. But he said its 700 with labor. Thats a lil too much for me right now. When i first start the car the car seems fine and doesnt overheat. It only over heats after about 3 to 5 mins of driving. Whats wierd is when I drove back home from the mechanic it only overheated once, I shut off the engine for a minute and then drove the car home for about 10 mins with no problems at all. This seems to me really complex. Any further info is greatly appreciated.Also how hard is it to fix the head gasket myself if that is the problem. Im no mechanic but I'm handy, do you think it would be possible for me to do it myself? or is this is a job for the shop?
Thanks!
Thanks!
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AznRide
- Posts: 924
- Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2002 5:36 pm
- Car: Cars, hondas, import cars, girls, cars, girls, girls, and more beautiful girls.
a cheap way to f ix this is whenever you car is overheat, turn the heat on with full blast. Your temp. gauge will go down and give you less chance of ... you know what. This could result in a bad thermo, but you changed that already, could it be a defected thermostad? Who knows, but if this work, your thermostad is being gay again. Let me know the result. My 95 240 is doing the same thing, but i'm swaping out the 75K miles motor for the SR so I don't wanna do anything to it yet.
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Luke
could be one thing leading to another, make sure ur fan is working properly... when the fan doesnt work the car will have a tendency to overheat at slows speeds and in stopped traffic, but when u get enuf air flowing though the radiator when driving it cools it enuf to keep it from overheating.
test it... if u leave it sitting will it overheat? when u drive does the temp magically go down?
as i said one thing can or could have already led to another. overheating leads to a warped head... and if its been this way for a while it may be too late... remember to check the fan belts/clutches... make sure its working right!!!!!! if u dont the same thing may happen again!!!!
test it... if u leave it sitting will it overheat? when u drive does the temp magically go down?
as i said one thing can or could have already led to another. overheating leads to a warped head... and if its been this way for a while it may be too late... remember to check the fan belts/clutches... make sure its working right!!!!!! if u dont the same thing may happen again!!!!
There is a kit that tests too see if there's exhaust in your coolant which will for sure verify a BHG.
Air pockets in cooling system, run system without rad cap too bleed out air.
Bad rad cap, it won't hold pressure and system overheats, this is a crazy one, was my problem for almost a year befor eI found it out
If thermostat is new, maybe pull it just too be sure thats not it.
What kid of check did the mechanic do for a BHG?
BTW you should be able too do it yourself for $400 or less, assuming you are mechanically inclined.
Air pockets in cooling system, run system without rad cap too bleed out air.
Bad rad cap, it won't hold pressure and system overheats, this is a crazy one, was my problem for almost a year befor eI found it out
If thermostat is new, maybe pull it just too be sure thats not it.
What kid of check did the mechanic do for a BHG?
BTW you should be able too do it yourself for $400 or less, assuming you are mechanically inclined.
There is a kit that tests too see if there's exhaust in your coolant which will for sure verify a BHG.
Air pockets in cooling system, run system without rad cap too bleed out air.
Bad rad cap, it won't hold pressure and system overheats, this is a crazy one, was my problem for almost a year befor eI found it out
If thermostat is new, maybe pull it just too be sure thats not it.
What kid of check did the mechanic do for a BHG?
BTW you should be able too do it yourself for $200 or less, assuming you are mechanically inclined.
Air pockets in cooling system, run system without rad cap too bleed out air.
Bad rad cap, it won't hold pressure and system overheats, this is a crazy one, was my problem for almost a year befor eI found it out
If thermostat is new, maybe pull it just too be sure thats not it.
What kid of check did the mechanic do for a BHG?
BTW you should be able too do it yourself for $200 or less, assuming you are mechanically inclined.
Here's a question - is it really hot ? Possibly your gauge has gone bad. Is the radiator overflowing into the puke tank, or any other signs that the engine is having trouble? Try opening slightly the cooling system vent on the intake manifold to see if any air escapes, etc. Be careful around hot cooling fluid, don't take off the cap if it is hot
I doubt its the thermostat cause fluid flows thur it perfectly. I dont know how he got to the conclusion of the BHG, but I didnt see any oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil, neither did he. I bleed the system of airpockets and that didnt help. Cap seems to be ok since i dont see any leaks under the cap or hot fumes coming out when the fluid reaches high temp level. What I did notice is that when the temp reaches 250 or above 240, the coolant overfill tank begins to smoke thru that hole. The car isnt bein driven anymore, im just waiting to take it to another mechanic. Really hope its not the BHG, thats really expensive and plus my head could be messed up because of that. Is buying a new engine a good idea at this point, i mean i have 128k on this one.
i would advise by going ahead and fixing it, you said yourself that you were not that mechanically inclined, but who would put the new motor in? if you did it yourself you would end up paying around the same either way. my advise, get a head gasket it, remove the exhaust manifold and intake manifold, and its easy as pie after that. this is just my .02
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yellow_jacket
- Posts: 1355
- Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2003 4:43 pm
- Car: 95 240sx
It sounds like a head gasket. I don't know how he diagnosed it, but oil mixing with coolant is one sign that you may or may not have. In the majority of head gaskets I have done there has NOT been any coolant in the oil or vice versa.
As far as replacing the motor. Most likely you will be getting a used one that may end up shortly with the same problem or greater problems. Right now at least you know what you have. Just bite the bullet and get a mechanic to fix it. From the price you quoted here is what he should be doing:
1)complete removal and reinstallation of head, intake, and exhaust manifolds.2) should send the head off to the machine shop to have it checked for cracks and for flattness.3) buying a complete gasket set and all fluids
As far as replacing the motor. Most likely you will be getting a used one that may end up shortly with the same problem or greater problems. Right now at least you know what you have. Just bite the bullet and get a mechanic to fix it. From the price you quoted here is what he should be doing:
1)complete removal and reinstallation of head, intake, and exhaust manifolds.2) should send the head off to the machine shop to have it checked for cracks and for flattness.3) buying a complete gasket set and all fluids
i just went to the mechanic yesterday and here's what he did. He ordered a sealant called "blue deviL" or something like that. It said "number 1 in the country for fixing...." I don't remember verbatim but it said it fixed head gasket cracks, head cracks, radiator leaks and a few other things. First he drained my coolant, poured the blue devil sealant in the radiator and then filled up the rest with antifreeze. The directions said to run the car for 30 mins on idle. After that I noticed that the temp gauge arrow doesnt go much above the C. And at idle the arrows goes straight thru the C. When driving it barely goes up and when driving on the highway it even goes a lil down, but never below the C line marker. My rpm at idle is also affected it stays up, above normal idle. He said as temp outside rises (summer) so will the temp gauge, but car will never overheat. I dunno exactly what he did but I dont even know if this is good for my car. But it doenst overheat anymore.
What do u guys think?
What do u guys think?
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yellow_jacket
- Posts: 1355
- Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2003 4:43 pm
- Car: 95 240sx
I did not see this mentioned, but there are 3 other ways that can help determine if the head gasket is blown. 1 is check the spark plugs to see if they are damp with coolant. 2 is to see if there is any steam or liquid coming from thre exhaust. The other is to do a compression check on all the cylinders. This will almost always determine if you have a head gasket problem, provided you do not burn any oil and that the intake and exhaust valves are sealing normally, but this would be obvious because it would cause the cylinder for that valve not to fire. Normal cylinder pressures are around 170psi, but that also depends on how many miles are on the motor. If they are below 120 or 130, I would say for sure that the head gasket has a problem. All of the info is very good especially about driving with this problem. Remember that the cylinder head is aluminum and will not tolerate overheating the way a cast iron head will. Let me know.
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Turbo_Ka24
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Sun Sep 01, 2002 7:57 pm
- Car: Racing...
Ok...my car had all the symptoms that his car has had. This is what i did. I changed my water pump, didnt do ne thing. Completely took out my thermostat, since you dont need it during the summer. It still overheated. So than, a hose had a whole in it from the back of the engine, i guess the heater core hose or something, we changed that, still over heated. So we figured it was the fan, considering when i revved up the engine, it didnt go ne faster, and you could hold it. So it didnt over heat for 2 days. Than it started overheating again, it would go real high, than low. THan when i stopped it go high, and than when i drove it got low again. But when i lift up my hood, the side tank is bubbling and steam is coming out of the radiator, and it smells like smoke kinda, and also, there is water on the top of the radiator. I am thinking it is the radiator now? What is your guys' take on it?
ya it is odd, ive been doing so much to my car, right now i am looking for a cheap transmission, but it has to be in good condition, no grinding or ne thing. So if ne one is selling, im looking for around 150 bucks. I hate my car w/it's overheating shiat. I have no idea, and my dad said also, if when you start ur car, you have water or antifreeze come out ur exhaust, that also shows a bhg