help, cooling issues.

[clovers525e]

well, i really need some help on this quickly so i can stop driving my friend to work every day. he has a 96 motor in his s13, its been over heating for a little while now so we replaced the thermostat, waterpump and i flushed out the system today. i figgured the thermostat may have been bad so i picked up another one today and installed a temp gauge. the gauge is on the upper radiator hose and while driving it will start out at 180-190ish and stay there for a little while, then it will start making jumps until it hits around 250ish at which point i usaully opt to cut off the car. the weird thing is that the top of the radiator and upper radiator hose will be hella hot, too hot to leave your hand on them, the middle of the radiator will be luke warm and the bottom cold. i looked in it today and it had some corrosion in it, so i'm guessing new radiator time? is 250 too hot for the upper radiator hose to be reading? and does coolant spill over into the overflow tank all the time or only when it overheats?

[aradapilot]

before you go and buy a new radiator check the fan clutch. they can wear and lose friction over the years, causing the motor not to grab the fan and spin it enough to cool it. 2 or 3 years ago mine went, car overheated every time i wasnt driving fast enough to wind cool...got a new thermostat and that wasnt it...then i realized it was the fan clutch. part's about $30-35 and can be replaced from under the car in 15 minutes (from above you have to remove the intake pipe and disassemble some plastic shielding). not necessarily it, but don't invest in a whole new radiator until you check this.

though if the radiator was indeed different temperatures its likely theres some clogging.

[DjPantsSpecR]

190 is what the sensor on the upper radiator hose should STAY at once the car is up to temp

250 is very hot. and when you flushed it, dod you burp it for air, because you maye jsut have a nasty bubble.

or you've over heated it enough that it has a warped head. thats how i bought my 240. its constantly boiled intot he overflow. trust me, youre much too hot.

what kinda fan is he using?