thermostat broken?

[johnwc723]

for the past couple weeks my car has been reporting hot temperatrues (on the dash temp gauge) ranging from hot as can be to a little bit above center. (sometimes it will switch between the two within about 10 seconds!?)

i thought at first it might be a broken temperature reporter but i have realized that my engine really is running quite hot. I hardcore flushed the coolant system (i thought maybe some stop leak might have clogged something) and i put new coolant in and it still overheats.

has anyone else had this sort of problem with their car and found a way to fix it

[rdn]

how did the water look like (and the oil..)..?....are they mixed?...or does the water a sort of "boil" even when cold?..

[BITESIZE]

When my thermostat went out, the gauge read cold as hell, but my engine was hot as hell. But if you can't figure out what is wrong, just get a new thermostat anyways, I think I only paid $10 for it at autozone.

[Mac]

Could be the temp switch on the bottom of radiator. At about 190 deg it should close and turn on the fan. First check to see if your fan comes on, if it doesn't it is probally the temp switch. You can disconnect it and short it out and with the key on the fan should come on.

If you think it is the thermostat just feel your top radiator hose, I think if the thermostat is working it will be hot.

[wthramann]

RDN is asking the right questions. Also is the coolant level droping? Hope we are wrong.

[johnwc723]

the coolant wasnt really oily, however my car will heat up like hell in like 5 minutes of driving and all the coolant keeps on "disappearing" (i think it might be boiling out) im thinking of taking out my radiator and looking at it because it is bent in a little bit in the front middle (accident)

also i used 2 bottles of radiator stop leak (Not a once) awhile back because it was leaking a bit, could that have totally clogged up my radiator and like welded its self inside it causeing it to just not work anymore?

[rdn]

open the radiator lock, fill it up with water and start the engine (don't put the lock back...make sure the engine is cold). then, look into the radiator and see if there are any 'bubbles' of air in there...could even look like boiling even if the water is cold. if there are, then the exhaust is getting into the water system (doesn't have to be oil).....

additionally check the oil as well (for traces of water)

hope its simpler than that though

[BITESIZE]

I had a crack in the top of my old radiator and it would also boil the overflow tank, a new radiator is about $90. I hope for your sake you didn't blow your head gasket. Change your thermostat, it's cheap and easy, if that doesn't fix it, then keep going, Another tip, stop leak shit never works, don't ever put it in anywhere. It only makes the problem worse. If you have any questions, let me know, I've fixed about everything on my 89 accord.

[cruznz]

radiator repair shops just love people who use stop leak ,....rdn seems to be asking the right questions......can you see the water circulating in the radiator when the rev's are increased?.......may be your waterpump.....just a thought

[rdn]

i'm sasking since it happened to me for not so long ango...the head gasket can blow between the water and oil chanels (in that case you would see the water mixed with the oil either in the radiator or in the oil)...or between the water chanel(s) and one of the cylinders (in that case you would se 'steam' comming out of your exhaust pipe and 'air bubbles'- or even boiling in the radiator/overflow tank)....either way, among the symptoms, you can have oscilating coolant temperature

in my experience, the water pump when it breaks, it starts to leak, but still pumps the coolant. I don't know, however, how this is on handa since i never had probs with it.

the bad news, as i see it, it's the oscilating coolant temperature

i really hope i'm wrong

[cruznz]

i mention the waterpump from my experiences repairing a couple of civic's and 'ludes..........fault;...blown head gasket........cause;...all fins on waterpump impeller gone,rusted away,....poor coolant circulation, overheated,..........not to say this is always the case in overheating,...but just thought i'd mention it.
So now, everytime i do an engine job,...i change thermostat and check/or replace waterpump

As for the pump leaking.....it is because the seal is stuffed and possibly the bearing too...pump is designed to leak in this manner to inform driver of this fault

[johnwc723]

yeah i want to check my water pump, but where is it exactly? (i know its belt driven, all i see is the P/S pump and below it the A/C hmmm ...

[mindlos]

its attached directly to the engine and driven by the same belt as the alternator.

[rdn]

as Pete mentioned...wait until the engine is cold...open the radiator lock...turn on the engine and look into the radiator while accelerating.....if the pump is ok, you should see the coolant circulating in the radiator (a sort of "waves"...).......otherwise, there is not much to check while the pump is still attached to the engine

[johnwc723]

when you say radiator lock to you mean the cap or the drainer thing?

[BITESIZE]

He means the cap.