street demon2k3

yesterday the same thing happend to my bro and all i did was put water in the radiator and it was fine. today in the morning i was in stop and go traffic for about 25 min and everything was o.k. then 2 hrs later i washed my car and traveled about for a 1/2 mile(1 minute at the most) and i saw the needle go past the 220* mark, then it went past the 265*. i was stranded for about 30min before i added more water to the radiator just to get back home. cant find anything wrong with it now, no visible leaks or cracks. i looked under the car and there were water stains(rust colored) from the radiator, but no visible leaks anywhere. what could this be? any help would be appreciated sorta low on cash cuz i had to pay insurance then i bought some subwoofers, so i only got $45 until i get my cash from a board member i sold my borla to. does anyone have input on this???

Kataklysm

Well first use coolant isntead of water it works alot better Second get a 160 thermo and a fan switch and it won't happen again.

FastZinTennessee

I would be most worried about blowing a headgasket now. It's happened to me twice, because of overheating. Once it blew a headgasket immediately, the next time it took a month for the gasket to finally blow. You might want to start saving up for that just in case.

As for where the coolant is coming from, look at the weep hole on the bottom of the waterpump housing. If the waterpump is going out it will leak from there. Otherwise you can have the cooling system pressure tested by shop to show if it's leaking.

z28marine

Well, if you have to keep putting water into it then its going somewhere....right?

street demon2k3

i have a fan switch already installed, and i think it already has a 160* stat cuz the car never goes past 220* in heavy traffic. i only used water cuz i wanted to be sure it was something in the car that's messed up and not just the 105*+ temps here in Texas before i spend money cuz im a little low. where could i get it pressure tested, dont want to move my car unless i really have to, really got me scared about that head gasket thing?

street demon2k3

yes the water has to be going somewhere, but i just cant find it. is the pressure tester the one they put on the fill tube where the radiator cap is?

FastZinTennessee

It's a tool that fits where the radiator cap is. Take off the cap, put on the tool and using a pump it pressurizes the system. You can watch the pressure bleed off and tell whether the system is ok or has a leak somewhere. Just about any mechanic shop has that tool and can do it for you. You'll save some money and get the same diagnosis at an independant shop.

Sorry about scaring you on the headgasket issue, but I feel that I'm kind of an expert on this. I'm going through this for the second time on my car, and it's really ticking me off. The first time my electric waterpump decided not to come on, and the car went to 260*, and when the pump decided to start working, the temp of the coolant in the heads went from 260 to about 125. I'm surprised it didn't crack the heads, but it did blow a gasket. Now the radiator got clogged, temp went up to 260+ in traffic and a month later a headgasket blew. Don't take any chances with the cooling system or you'll be stuck replacing headgaskets.

Robbie

My car started doing the samething. The thermostat was the culprit. When I removed it it was in a locked/wedged position therefore jammed. Replaced with a new one and itran like regular. Hope it helps, and its a cheap fix.

street demon2k3

i think i'll check the stat just in case, but i did a search and i read that autozone had a tester you can rent out, is it true?

Donny O

autozone does have a loan a tool program so they might very well have one you can use. give thema call and see!!

street demon2k3

checked the stat it seems fine, doesnt stick or anything. checked the car this morning and i saw nothing leaking. could it be that my rad is just plugged up?

FastZinTennessee

When my radiator was clogged, it caused the car to overheat, boil coolant over and spit it out(loss of coolant).

The way I checked my radiator was this- Started the car and let it warm up. I then used a Raytech gun (it uses a laser to read surface temperature of objects- very cool stuff) to check the temperature of my upper and lower hose. I was only getting a 10* temperature drop with the car warmed up and cooling fans on. The temperature drop should have been a whole lot more. So I replaced the radiator and that fixed my problem- for then

street demon2k3

i dont know if the radiator is clogged, but earlier today i had the car on without the fan switch on for about 30min. and it didnt even get to 220*, it stayed around 180 the whole time. is the hypertech stat the only stat we can use on our cars, because the one thats on there isnt a hypertech. on the side it says germany and something like moto-rad engraved into it?

moparman

If coolant keeps disappearing, and no white smoke, or oil in coolant, or coolant in oil, look for radiator leaks. Also check hoses. I'd check the coolant level every day.