Have a 97 z and im dumb as dirt when it comes to figureing out whats wrong with a car. Engine coolant light came on, so I checked it and it was full. Drove car up the road and didnt even get a few yards when the temp. gauge shot up to red line. Why? Like I said checked the coolant and it wasnt low.

 

bleed air out of system and check thermostat

bleeder screws
thermostat

try bleeding first
if that doesnt work heres shoebox's rightup on changing the thermostat
here

 

you probly have air in the system. to do this you will need to turn the two bleeder screws. One is underneith your elbow the other is right next to it. They are common head screws. Make sure you put something under the one under the elbow so that if fluid does leak out you dont get it on the opti. when fluid starts coming out in a steady stream close the screws. the one under the elbow will most likely go first then the other. This should fix your problem. After you have succesfully done this check all your connections and make sure all your hoses are good an tight and examine you radiator to make sure there are no holes. Worse case senario you might have something that is causing the air to get in the system causing an air bubble in the system keeping the fluid from flowing as it should. I have recently gone through this so any other questions just ask

 

Thinks guys! Will try tomorrow and let you know what happens. I get freaking paranoid when it comes to car problems, but could have sworn been hearing a air hissing sound. May be exactly what it is.

 

Ok guys, did the bleeding screw thing and no go. Drove the car back up the road and the temp. gauge shot up to red line and than went back down to normal, and back up again to red line and so on. Seems to sound like there is a hissing sound when driving. What you think? Check the thermostat? If a line has a hole in it whats the best way to check it?

 

get it pressure tested - thats about it- if u hear hissing something is leaking

 

when you say you checked it and it was full, did you check the radiator or the overflow bottle?

 

The thing over in front of the battery. Plastic thing. Told you guys im an idiot when it comes to cars.

 

It sounds as if you checked the coolant overflow resovoir. When the engine is cold, take the radiator cap off and see if the radiator is low. If it's low, refill with the proper coolant and see if the problem continues to happen.

 

Sometimes it is the sensor. I finally just unplugged mine to get it to go off.

 

you need to make sure that the car is cold. If it is not. the overflow may be full due to the airbuble or the fat that you are having overheating problem and the boiled up coolant is running into your overflow tube.

 

Checked it cold and its full. Also, checked radiator and it wasnt empty. Even if it was the sensor it wouldnt cause the temp. gauge to go red line and than back down and so on would it. Man, wish I would have learned to work on cars. Oh one more thing, when you bleed the lines is fluid supposed to come out?

 

Yes, coolant will come out of the bleed screws when you loosen them. It could be you have a bad coolant temp sensor. You need someone with a scan tool to check it so you can see if the car is actually getting that hot.

 

Coolant never did come out of the bleed screws. Thinks guys for all the info!

 

ok, so you say you checked the radiator and "it wasn't empty". You want the radiator filled to the top. You can actually see the level sensor on the back side of the radiator just below the pressure cap. It square and greyish if I remember correctly. If the level was below that, there's your problem. If the level is not full, the air on top will prevent the system from pulling coolant from the overflow bottle so it will not matter if the bottle is full. If you keep loosing coolant, hopefully it's just a leak. The seal on my water pump started to leak a few years back and it would only leak under pressure which means only steam would come out the weep hole. This is fustrating because you'll loose coolant but you won't see any of it drip or puddle on the ground. The clue was a stalagtite like build up of "stuff" at the weep hole.