Overheating...., Diagnose my problem? Options

[95GTCelica]

Alright 6GC People I need your help...

Today after driving for about fifteen/twenty minutes I parked and noticed that the temp gauge read above the red line and the H. Popped the hood and heard gurgeling coming from the radiator with some overflow. I let it cool down for an hour then came back and drove around the block a couple times. I noticed that the temperature goes through the roof when it starts and slowly climbs. But when i hit about 40mph it cools down to about 3/4 of the way and when i stop it goes straight back up. I had a similar problem like this before and it was a bad water pump which was replaced a few weeks ago. Today there was no coolant on the ground just the few drops that spilled from the overflow. The engine seemed to be running fine and I wouldnt have noticed anything wrong with it unless i looked at the temp gauge. So can anyone help me? Any ideas? I'm stumped.

[lubu]

I think ur fan (or sensor which ultimately responsible for powering the fan anyways) may have fcuked up. Since the engine cools down when ur driving means that the air flowing through cools the radiator and when you stop there is no air flowing through to cool it down hence the rise im temp.



This post has been edited by lubu: Aug 15, 2008 - 1:21 AM

[95GTCelica]

I dunno....When I get out of the car both are on, but could they be off when i drive?

[Batman722]

change your thermostat, it's bad.

[DEATH]

And stop driving it like that until you do change it out.

[GriffGirl]

It totally sounds like your thermostat is sticking. The reason it's cooling when you hit 40 or so is because you've got better air flow and that's helping to cool things down some. If that doesn't work, try the radiator cap next; if it doesn't hold pressure, it'll totally overheat on you too.

I know this SUCKS in LA traffic/heat, but if you get stuck overheating, blast your heat, it'll help some with the overheating. Better to be really uncomfortable for a few minutes than risk blowing a head gasket. Also, keep an eye on that water pump - it's possible (not likely though) that it wasn't seated/sealed properly when it was replaced. It could be leaking some but evaporating from the heat before you ever see it drip. Your best bet in this situation if the cap and thermostat replacement doesn't help is to take the car back to where you had the work done and tell them about your problem and what you did to try to fix it. I had this exact problem with my 4Runner when I had the water pump replaced, and it turned out that it wasn't sealed properly and they had to open it all back up again (at their expense, of course)

[lubu]

Another theory is that you might have a clog within the engine's block and that stops the water from carrying the heats and dissipates them. If this is the case then even though your fans are on, when stop the temp will still rises up coz the heats are not being dissipate by the radiator and still trapped inside the engine's block, with the car moving the air flowing into the engine dissipates some of the heat and hence the temp returns to normal.

But for your sake I hope the thermostat is bad.

[95GTCelica]

Is there any way for me to test if the thermostat is working or not? im going to take it to the mechanic monday because they are closed today and the rest of the weekend. By the way thanks for all the responses.

[GriffGirl]

Truthfully for the process to test the thermostat, you might as well just replace it, especially since they're so inexpensive. To test it you have to remove it anyway... Do you need tips on how to replace the thermostat?

[95GTCelica]

yes please! that would help out alot. thanks

[DEATH]

Yeah I agree with Griffy - thermostats are cheap and very easy to replace. Just replace it and the cap to be sure and move on from there. Both can easily be accomplished in an hour on the 5S-FE [Not sure what motor you have tho]. Don't pay someone to do this if you can avoid it - I see that being at least $100 bill for $20 worth of parts [IDK - Last time I bought a stock thermostat and cap they were both $5 ea - but that's been a very long time].

This post has been edited by DEATH: Aug 15, 2008 - 3:56 PM

[95GTCelica]

yeah that sounds awesome...i guess i will see if i can swing by the dealer today and pick both those parts up. Yes, its the 5S.

Edit: $66 for the thermostat?! or is that just regular dealership prices? If so anywhere i can get it for cheaper? I need to save as much as I can but cant afford to have my baby off the road for this long.

This post has been edited by 95GTCelica: Aug 15, 2008 - 4:21 PM

[Remy]

OEM thermostat for 95 celica its under oem parts----mechanical----cooling system------thermostat Price:$12.00

www.1sttoyotaparts.com

[Bitter]

are the cooling fans coming on at all?

[lubu]

are the cooling fans coming on at all?

I dunno....When I get out of the car both are on, but could they be off when i drive?

[Bitter]

does your coolant smell...well it should smell like coolant. if it smells sickly or like exhaust...not a good thing.

[cheeco]

radiator fins are probably clogged with debris. remove the radiator and spray the fins with a garden hose

[95GTCelica]

does your coolant smell...well it should smell like coolant. if it smells sickly or like exhaust...not a good thing.

Yes it smells like it should...

I picked up the thermostat today, twenty bucks from the dealer so i figure if i ordered it off the net it would come to about the same. Tommorrow morning I will switch it out. I will also check on the debris in the radiator fins while im there, but i dont know what could be in there.

By the way thanks to everyone. This is really helpin me out.

[Renegade]

head gasket can be an issue too? if u went past the red u have warped the head and need to replace the gasket and machine the head again. i'm surprised u didn't kill it

This post has been edited by Renegade: Aug 16, 2008 - 12:06 AM

[DEATH]

Seriously don't forget to change the cap too. Alot of cooling issues are traceable to that seemingly insignificant part [Some that act just like yours is]. The cap holds back a certain predesigned pressure. as it wears out the seal starts to fail and the pressure is reduced sending the coolant to your overflow and ultimately out on the road.
Just change it too to eliminate that from the equation.
And read the post before mine - stop driving it hot before you warp the head and cause yourself worse problems.

[95GTCelica]

head gasket can be an issue too? if u went past the red u have warped the head and need to replace the gasket and machine the head again. i'm surprised u didn't kill it

Well I only drove it around the block once and figured that it might not do any harm. I didnt think it would get so hot so fast. But in hindsight it wasn't the greatest idea. Thanks I'll look into that too. Right now I am going to replace the thermostat and look to see if there is any deris in the cooling fins while it's cool out. Hope it works. Thanks

[95GTCelica]

Well it didn't work...back to square one. But the old thermostat didnt look like my new one. The old one lacks a bleeding valve and the new one looks substantially beefier. Any more ideas?

[Renegade]

it's ur head gasket, u will start to loose coolant slowly, probably every three days you will have to top off the coolant. a way to find out is to change ur oil and see if coolant is in ur oil. the coolant will separate from ur oil when u drain it in a pan.

[95GTCelica]

alright i'll try that im due for another oil change soon anyway. thanks

[95GTCelica]

no coolant in my oil.... any other suggestions?

[Bitter]

oil and coolant mix doesnt always occur.


do a compression test once the engine is warmed up fully.

[Batman722]

Well it didn't work...back to square one. But the old thermostat didnt look like my new one. The old one lacks a bleeding valve and the new one looks substantially beefier. Any more ideas?

then it's probably the wrong part. Where did you get it ? I would go OEM dealer for that.

[95GTCelica]

It came straight from the dealer, picked it up myself. I'll see if I can track down a compression test kit, looks like it could be a good thing to add to any toolbox. Then I will check it tommorrow. Thanks for the help.

[Bitter]

Well it didn't work...back to square one. But the old thermostat didnt look like my new one. The old one lacks a bleeding valve and the new one looks substantially beefier. Any more ideas?

then it's probably the wrong part. Where did you get it ? I would go OEM dealer for that.

nah, its not uncommon for the dealer part to look better than the cheap**** aftermarket part thats in the car from a previous owner. the oem t-stat is made from a thicker sheet steel, is heavier duty, and indeed does have a jiggle valve to help bleed air.

[95GTCelica]

O.k so I did a compression test...twice, just to make sure the numbers were right.

First time

195,195,205,210

Second Time

190,200,205,210

What do you think?

[Bitter]

eroded water pump, air pocket.

just to be sure its not the head gasket, get a combustion gas test kit. you add a chemical to a sample of your coolant and if it turns blue or something then you have CO2 in your coolant which means a combustion leak into the cooling system.

[Batman722]

I still think it's your thermostat.

[95GTCelica]

eroded water pump, air pocket.

just to be sure its not the head gasket, get a combustion gas test kit. you add a chemical to a sample of your coolant and if it turns blue or something then you have CO2 in your coolant which means a combustion leak into the cooling system.

Well I'm going to try to take it to the mechanic tomorrow, should be the end of this probem. I really dont have too much time during the week to do this stuff. Although I learned a hell of alot with compression testing, changing the thermostat, and I actually want to do it myself so I can learn more. If I feel adventurous enough tomorrow I will give this combustion gas test thing a try. If not mechanic.

I still think it's your thermostat.

Really? Why do you say so? I just replaced it...Maybe I screwed it up somewhere?

[DEATH]

If you didn't change the cap you'll be kicking yourself in the end [that's if the mechanic is honest enough to tell you it was that simple].
I still agree with Batman tho - It still sounds like your T-stat. But just change the $5 cap just in case.

[nics]

recently i had the same problem. it seems that there is so much pressure in the radiator that all my coolant goes into the over flow tank which leads to loss and overheating. does this really happen when your thermostat is stuck close?

im planning to change it with failsafe thermostat. is this a good brand and 192 degrees is ok?

This post has been edited by nics: Aug 18, 2008 - 1:58 PM

[cheeco]

did you pull out the radiator and clean it? clogged radiators are a very common cause of overheating in traffic, but ok on the highway, assuming the fans operate ok. gets especially worse when the a/c is on.

[95GTCelica]

I still think it's your thermostat.

O.k just got the celica back and the culprit was the thermostat!!! What the hell I changed it for a brand new one! I didn't find out why though because my mechanic had to leave early, i'm gonna call him tommorrow so i can get all the details. I still cant believe that it was the thermostat, Batman you nailed it right on the head.

Thanks to everyone who helped, i learned alot.

[nics]

I still think it's your thermostat.

O.k just got the celica back and the culprit was the thermostat!!! What the hell I changed it for a brand new one! I didn't find out why though because my mechanic had to leave early, i'm gonna call him tommorrow so i can get all the details. I still cant believe that it was the thermostat, Batman you nailed it right on the head.

Thanks to everyone who helped, i learned alot.

did you CEL went on? mine did yesterday.