The other day I noticed some interesting noises coming from my 87 LX-i when I got out to drop off a letter (left the car running). It sounds like clicking or ticking, but it doesn't seem to be coming from the heads or valve train and it doesn't always happen (intermittent and random). I thought it might be the injectors because I have heard people say they can make that type of noise, but now I am not so sure because the car has overheated on me a couple times.
The first time it overheated it never made it up past 3/4 of the way, but that was enough for me to wonder because I have never seen it make it up that far. Then, I was driving into work today (4.5 mile trip) and because I was late I didn't let the car warm up like it normally does. Anyways, during the drive the car made it up to its normal operating temp, but just a couple minutes later it was all the way up to the "H"!!!!!!!! I didn't want to shut it down and I couldn't have anyway because I was in the middle of city traffic so I just let it run hoping it wouldn’t continue to stay so hot. The car gods must have heard my screams and curses because it went down back to normal temp after a few minutes of being waaaaaay too hot. It then stayed at normal temp for the rest of the trip into work.
Originally, I was thinking that the thermostat must be intermittently sticking, but now I am wondering if it could be the water pump is going bad which could explain the weird noises? I know that neither part (thermostat or water pump) is very expensive or hard to change, but I have never really worked much on vehicles and I just don't have a whole lot of confidence or a lot of money to be replacing parts. It seems logical to replace the thermostat first and see where that puts me, but even as cheap as they are I hate spending money on parts that won't fix the problem and I really hate the feeling of still having a problem with my car after trying to fix it.
That being said is there an easy way to eliminate either of the parts or any tell tale signs that I could look for to be more confident that I am replacing the right part? I have done some searching in the forum and I know about placing the thermostat in water and making sure it opens at 180F, but if it is the thermostat and it is only an intermittent problem that might not indicate correctly. Would it be worth taking it to a mechanic for the piece of mind or should I just man-up and do it myself?
Of course I appreciate any suggestions and hopefully I can get this damn things fixed before it becomes a much more expensive problem.
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