Overheating problem, temp gauge all over the place Options

[Mycurse180]

My car has never had a temperature problem, always right in the middle of the gauge.

Today on my way to class, I noticed the temp went all the way up. Naturally i shut the car off and pulled over.

I decided to drive it back home since I wasn't far. I got home, checked the coolant level and THERE WAS NONE. Good job previous owner.

I filled it with coolant and expected it to be fine. Took it for a test drive and the temperate randomly fluctuates between really hot and normal.
It will climb high and then drop back down to normal very quickly and it repeats the process. I asked a guy I knew and he said maybe you have air in the system and to run it without the radiator cap for a while.

Anyone have any input? Appreciate it!!

[mkernz22]

cold start it with the radiator cap off and then slowly add more coolant so that you "burp" the system and you can also fully fill it as well

[Mycurse180]

cold start it with the radiator cap off and then slowly add more coolant so that you "burp" the system and you can also fully fill it as well

Okay cool. Coolant won't fly out of the rad with the cap off will it?

[mkernz22]

it shouldn't because it's being sucked down haha
still wear goggles just incase
just fill it until it's pretty close to the top

[presure2]

cold start it with the radiator cap off and then slowly add more coolant so that you "burp" the system and you can also fully fill it as well

Turn your heater on hot, and fan on high while you do it.

[NOVAKx17]

As long as the car is cold when you start it there won't be any pressure for the radiator to force the coolant out, once you start it up start filling it with fluid... keep filling as needed until it is full and won't take any more.

[TRD_Ian]

dont blame the previous owner lol thats your own responsibility to check!. how many miles are on your car? id start worrying why you all of a sudden had no coolant, IE checking for leaks..if you had toyota coolant in it start looking for pinkish/red crusty residue for your problem prolly around your water pump area..when you go to "burp"the system make sure you have the proper mix ratio of water and coolant, watch your temp gauge and like manny said turn your heat up all the way and select the air to face for your blower that way its pushing the most air. fill up the rad and the res and start the car and just carefully watch its gonna bubble a bunch and wait for your thermo stat to open up u can tell this by your lower rad house i believe when it gets hot and you should also be able to see a bit of a swirl in the coolant once it opens up. i usualy speed up the process by reving the motor from the engine bay up around 3 grand to help it heat up. whole process should take about half an hr. but like i said id start looking in to why you had no coolant see when your timing belt and water pump were done last and checking for that coolant residue

[Smaay]

jack the front of the car up as high as you can, that will help get the bubbles up. no coolant wont come gushing out as long as you begin the process with the engine cold

[Neon90424]

Maybe the car saw another celi

[Mycurse180]

Thanks for the hints guys, this will be my mission for tomorrow morning, hopefully it sorts it out.

@Neon...Funny you said that, I did pass a nice black (7thG)..cough cough...haha

I like my 6G though...Work in progress.

[Mycurse180]

How long til I know it's good guys?

Just until the rad and reservoir bottle are both full?

[trdproven]

yea but reservoir bottle you fill manually after.

[Smaay]

you know its burped when you can feel hot air coming out the heater, like pressure said, turn the heater on full blast while you do this

[bsamps4]

Make sure when you cap it off that you let it run for a little while just to check if you have any leaks in your radiator. Something similar happened to my car. I checked the coolant level before I bought it, and it was fine, but my radiator developed a few leaks and had to be replaced.

[Mycurse180]

All fixed!

[zfjohnson07]

what was it

[Mycurse180]

what was it

I just did what you guys said..."burped the system". All good now.

Thanks again.

[injection]

what was it

I just did what you guys said..."burped the system". All good now.

Thanks again.

Keep an eye on your headgasket, your factory temp gauge isnt that accurate, and by the time you get to 3/4 high on gauge, its to late. your car shut off, so thats good...hopfully just in time.

what was it

I just did what you guys said..."burped the system". All good now.

Thanks again.

Keep an eye on your headgasket, your factory temp gauge isnt that accurate, and by the time you get to 3/4 high on gauge, its to late. your car shut off, so thats good...hopfully just in time.

what was it

I just did what you guys said..."burped the system". All good now.

Thanks again.

Keep an eye on your headgasket, your factory temp gauge isnt that accurate, and by the time you get to 3/4 high on gauge, its to late. your car shut off, so thats good...hopfully just in time. if any problems, look for white smoke out your exhaust...good indication

[Mycurse180]

I don't think any damage was done. I shut it off as soon as I saw it get hot, let it cool off then limped it home.
I did the "burp" thing and temp stays perfect, runs fine again, it's all good.

[Mycurse180]

It strikes again!

I overheated and this time I caught anti freeze leaking by my serpentine belt [or whatever] and I'm pretty sure it's my water pump that's leaking!

I kept pouring water in to my reservoir and limped it home. It did get hot a couple times...I fking hope I didn't do any damage to my engine.

[delusionz]

how long ago was the car serviced with the cambelt and water pump?

are you sure thats where the water is coming from?

[Mycurse180]

how long ago was the car serviced with the cambelt and water pump?

are you sure thats where the water is coming from?

Don't know bro, have only had it a few months.

[96stgreendemon]

yeah, that definitely sounds like the seal around your water pump failed, or your water pump itself failed, could of been from being loosened or just age, thats a fun replacement.....

[Mycurse180]

Got quoted $400 to replace the pump and timing belt...Don't have the tools here at college apt. to do it myself.

Fuuuu.

[96stgreendemon]

Thats really not a bad price for the work

[delusionz]

What milage you got dude?

We do our cambelts and waterpumps and tensioners every 100,000kms which equates to 62,000 miles.

To be on the safe side, if you buy a car with 80,000kms (46,000miles) you get it done anyways the same week you buy the car

check around the engine bay to see if any mechanic has left a sticker saying when the cambelt was done

[Mycurse180]

What milage you got dude?

We do our cambelts and waterpumps and tensioners every 100,000kms which equates to 62,000 miles.

To be on the safe side, if you buy a car with 80,000kms (46,000miles) you get it done anyways the same week you buy the car

check around the engine bay to see if any mechanic has left a sticker saying when the cambelt was done

146xxx miles

[delusionz]

Then you may or may not have gone past the point of the 2nd major service, if you're unsure about the cars history then nows the time

[Mycurse180]

Then you may or may not have gone past the point of the 2nd major service, if you're unsure about the cars history then nows the time

Yes sir...I'm getting the pump and timing belt done.

Next up is plugs, wires, fuel filter, distributor cap?

What else?

[TRD_Ian]

3sgte

[Mycurse180]

Well, water pump and new timing belt install complete.


WOW! is all I can say...It runs like a completely different car. Some of you might remember I was having a problem and couldn't rev past 4000rpm, well that's completely solved now, she pulls hard, I'm very impressed! It must have been SO out of time before. It's a lot less noisy and is just a whole different car now.

[delusionz]

Yeah, Your belt was probably stretched too, sounds like everything on that side of the motor was overdue for replacement.

Glad to hear you're up and running again.