My car all of a sudden overheated. 1992 protege DX. I hurried and pulled over. Later that day I changed the thermostat, what I thought to be the problem. Still no luck. It would run hot after awhile then I would shift into neutral(5spd), and rev it, and it would go back down, then repeat it again. untill it would no longer go down. Now it just gets hot and stays there. No oil in radiator already checked, and my engine oil isnt milky. No white smoke either. It bubbles into the overflow when its running. And when I grab the top house I can feel it bubbling and with the cap off it starts shooting it all out. I replaced thermostat twice, and I replaced Coolant temp. Sensor. I dont notice any leaks either in the morning. Any Ideas???????
Thanks
Brian
BTL1130@aol.com

 

I also flushed the system 2 times.

 

have you checked to see if the water pump is still intact? If the impeller has no fins on it you're not pumping anything.

First check your hose pressure on your radiator hose...verify that it's getting circulated through the motor first. Then while CLOSELY monitoring your temps turn your heater on full blast and see if the temps go down.

do this first and let me know what you see

 

Pressure in hoses are high. Meaning cant squeeze the hoses when running. Temp gauge does not go down when heater is turned on. Took to a mechanic earlier and he just looked at it started it and told me it was a head gasket, and it wouldnt stay started either unless heavely on the gas. He didnt do a pressure check or anything, just watched it.

 

sounds very much like a headgasket failure to me, it will have blown between a cylinder and a waterway, it doesn't need to be a huge leak to cause overheating. Change it quick before you damage anything else.

Since you have overheated the engine it would also be wise to have the head checked for flatnessv and skimmed if needed while its off.

 

If the hoses get pressurized as soon as you start the engine, then yeah, it's the head gasket. Normally the cooling system won't immediately develop pressure but if the head gasket is leaking exhaust into the cooling system, it'll make the hoses swell up quite a bit almost as soon as the engine starts. You might also notice the smell of exhaust in the radiator.

 

Well my mechanic had me do a quick fix. to put a can of K&W block sealer in it, he said it has always worked for him. Well it didnt work. I was going to work it was running fine then all of a sudden it got hot then died on me, on the hwy. Wouldnt start again. Just a wrrr wrrr sound when trying to start, cant hear an actual cranking sound. So its at the mechanic again. They said they were gonna replace the head gasket.

 

Good luck, dealing with my own overheating problems right now.

Absolutely sure theres no leak?

Mine had to be driven about 6 miles with temp guage maxed before we could stop. Ends up just the water boiling out of a crack next to the filler.

When ours started overheating it would do what you're describing, and when we pushed the gas through it and it would jump back up, there was a rattling noise coming from the engine.

Luckily, the block isnt cracked, we just have to keep it filled.

Radiator full?

 

well I no longer have the car after it died the final time they finally decided to do something bout it. It was a cracked head. Then the fuel pump went out. Cost $800.00 parts and labor for the dealer, He wanted to charge me for it, not happening. The trade in value is only $800.00.

 

too bad for that!!!!!!!!