random over heating.

[00_Altima MD]

Ok I was driving my car tonight and I look down and my car is almost to the black line on the temp gauge.

Here lately it will do it like when i have been driving for a long time all day.

open to any suggestions as to what it might be.

[twelv]

You have coolant leak or a faulty gauge.

[RED_DET]

Thermostat problem, maybe even radiator cap. Maybe even worse, water pump.

[ultimatuc]

^ maybe as simple as a ect sensor or fan relay.

[00_Altima MD]

what is the ect sensor and how do i check for the fan relay....however i dont think that it is the fan b/c everytime that i turn off my car i can still here the fan going for like another 10-15 seconds after the engine has shut off

[ultimatuc]

ect= engine coolant temp sensor. It works as a negative temperature coefficiant thermistor. meaning, it has high resistance at low temps, and low w. high. the ecu senses the voltage left over after sending 5v through the resistor.

you may just want to scan for codes to see if this is your problem.

do you get any water leakage from the passenger side? this would suggest that your water pump may be going bad.otherwise, start w/ the cheap and easy stuff like the thermostat, radiator cap.......

[NISTECH]

also check your little elbow radiator size hose near where the trans and engine meet in front. those have a tendacy to leak due to a loose hose clamp.

[00_Altima MD]

ok i have come to the conclusion that it my water pump going bad b/c b4 when i was having my over heating problems i was getting a little whistle sound at idle from the passenger side of the engine. That little whistle turned into a whine and it getting louder. However since the last time that it overheated i added some redlined water wetter to the mix as well as thinning it out with some distilled water, compliments of fred. So i still havent had any trouble with it over heating since the last time and that was about a week ago and after fred and i thinned out the mix and i added the water wetter we went for a little drive to test it out and hasn't over heated since but that noise is still there. However it is only there at idle so just let me know what you think.

Should i still go ahead and get another t-stat or should i just not worry about that and have the other water pump installed?

[RED_DET]

I say water pump.