Sr20det overheating whiles driving only!

[Djinfinit]

So my sr is overheating, it has a ka rad, and it will only overheat whiles driving.if i pull over and let the car run with the altima fans on and interior blower on it cools down. I can drive again after that and it will get hot again, and then i pull over and let it cool down at the side of the road, again leaving the car running. also for some of the smaller piping such as the heater core hoses and stuff like that there are some kinks, dont no if it would matter, as im sure pressure would open it up.

Also i just bought. A new radiator cap and thermostat.Not installed yet.

Its quite annoying, any help is appreciated.

[Hijacker]

what year car is the red top in? And are you going by the factory temp gauge or an aftermarket one?

[Djinfinit]

factory its in a s13

[codyace]

1. Unkink those hoses

2. You did switch the dash temp sensors right?

[Djinfinit]

no need s13 into s13

[Djinfinit]

i just bought a new thermostat and installed it the old one was f*** stiff, but it still opened slightly under boiling conditions

[AZhitman]

You guys are missing the most obvious thing to look for.

If the car is overheating in motion, but cools off when stopped., the fans could be pushing instead of pulling.

That would mean no airflow while moving, but plenty while stopped.

Easy to check, easy to fix.

Also, there's no pressure in those hoses, so NO, they won't "open up". They're installed wrong. Unkink them.

[Djinfinit]

if i can feel air in front of the rad with the fans on does it mean its pushing or pulling?

[AZhitman]

If it's pushing, it will blow air OUT through the front.

Easy test - Hold a cig or drop some shredded paper in front of the radiator while the fans are on (although, you should be able to tell whether air is flowing the proper way just by feel).

[Djinfinit]

its pulling

[AZhitman]

Hmmm.

Bleed cooling system. Test temperature at which the fans kick on. Check timing and A/F ratio.

The only reason it'd heat up while driving but not while sitting still (other than backwards fans) is engine load, which leads me to believe there's a timing or a/f ratio issue.

[Djinfinit]

Oh yeh timing was set pretty high i just adjusted it to the middle

[AZhitman]

"high" and "middle" aren't exact. It needs to be set to factory specs, which you can find in the FSM (which we have available).

[homeslicej2]

Another thing to consider too, do you have a gap on the underside of the front bumper cover/FMIC b/t it and the radiator? I had a large gap b/t my Greddy FMIC and the rad. The engine would run hot at speeds above 40mph or so unless I turned the heat on full blast. Once I installed a panel as seen part way down in this article ( http://www.enginebasics.com/Advanced%20 ... rison.html ), I never had an overheating problem again. You should fix all the things others have suggested as well. If it overheats even at slow speeds then I agree with hitman, you probably have a timing and/or A/F ratio issue (super lean) as those Altima fans should have no issue cooling that motor down, even when wired on slow speed.