overheating

[jballerstein]

ok so i'm driving down the road, temperature gauge starts to rise, goes into the red zone, stays there for a few min and then drops back down to normal and then stays there... any ideas? i've replaced the thermostat, the radiator cap, the coolant reservoir, and topped everything off... this is very annoying and i would love some help on this!!

[jballerstein]

btw, it only does this on cold start.. if i turn the car off and then turn it back on the engine stays fine.

[Dattebayo]

You got an air bubble in the coolant. When you changed the coolant, did you remember to run the heater for a while before and leave it on the highest setting before turning the car off so the heater core valve was open? Did you change the coolant on a level surface? Did you place the T-stat in the correct way?

[jballerstein]

Ummmm no, to all the above except for the thermostat.. I'm pretty sure I did that right... So now how do I fix this issue.. Because it's really annoying lol

[ashtonishment]

how is it in traffic?

[jballerstein]

well i know i was sitting outside my buddies house a few days ago for about 20 min, and it took that long to start over heating... but i haven't been stuck in much trafffic so other then the above example i don't know.

[Dattebayo]

Park the car in a very level area. Start the engine and turn on the heater full blast for about 10 minutes or so. Then shut the engine off when you feel it blowing really hot, do not turn off the heater fan when shutting the engine off. There is a bleeder screw on the coolant neck, marked pretty obviously. After the car has cooled down a little, open the screw up, check your coolant level. Repeat until problem solved.

BTW, how did you install the T-stat?

[jballerstein]

i used a putty sealant... and i just put it in there and bolted it down... it leaked a bit so i redid it and it seems fine now... and i cheated a bit on the bleeding part... i put it on a very steep incline, nose facing up the hill... and just to make sure i was loosening the right screw, its the plastic one on the bottom of the radiator right? cuz i bleed that one while i was squeezing on the upper radiator hose... it didn't over heat today while i was driving itl, so i wonder if that fixed the issue.. but i wanna make sure i was getting the right screw.