I just shelled out $200 to get the radiator replaced on this car; still, it overheated yesterday and I had to have it towed home. The clues to other causes don’t fit:
…The mechanic said the water pump was leaking, but the system contains coolant and yet when it stalled yesterday there was no trail of green liquid in the street.
…It could have been ascribed to one of the main gaskets on the engine block, but the billowing white exhaust ( which got me cited by a cop, Wednesday morning) has ceased.
In fact, I am beginning to suspect the thermostat, as suggested by one of the people who helped me push the car out of the street.
The saving grace is that replacing a thermostat very likely would cost me less than replacing the water pump or a head gasket.
Any comments, please?
With some leaks the coolant will evaporate before it has a chance to hit the ground.
Billowing white exhaust is a common symptom of a head gasket failure. It can also result, on some designs, from a leaking intake manifold or intake manifold gasket. (It’s steam, not smoke, and I’ve got to wonder on what grounds one can be ticketed for it.)
There are many possible causes of overheating, including – but not limited to – a faulty water pump (impeller problem), faulty thermostat, blown head gasket, low coolant level (from leakage and/or incomplete filling procedure), faulty radiator fan system, and restricted radiator, this last one being eliminated in your case.
Typically I’d start by leak testing, then fill the cooling system fully (no air pockets), then run the engine and monitor thermostat opening temperature and radiator fan onset temperature. When there’s suspicion of a head gasket problem I’d do a combustion leak test.
Replace the radiator cap if you haven’t done so. If a cap does not hold pressure it can cause overheating. It might just be a cheap fix. If you suspect a bad thermostat, just take the old one out, tie a string on it and submerge it in boiling water. If it opens it is still good.
Have you checked the radiator fan ? Sometime back, I know someone who bought a used truck that had silicone filled in some hoses so there was no coolant leaks but the engine would overheat.
You know…when they replaced the radiator they retained the old cap. I think I just might go ahead and replace the cap–with a fancier one, yet. Thanks for the tip.
Why did you start @ the Radiator? That seems a bit extreme for overheating as a starting point.
Usual causes are faulty thermostat, lack of fluid - and if you have a lack of fluid, finding the leak itself (hoses, water pump, fautly caps).
Anyway - nothing specific for that year of car - just general checklist I would head down - without any other indicators, first thing to replace is going to be the thermostat and checking for general leaks.
Makes sense, Simster…can you give me a guess about how much the replacement costs? (Ballpark figure)…
Some time before they did the work, one mechanic showed me a slit - like hole in the radiator that the fluid was leaking through…
[QUOTE=dougie_monty]
…It could have been ascribed to one of the main gaskets on the engine block, but the billowing white exhaust ( which got me cited by a cop, Wednesday morning) has ceased.
[/QUOTE]
the steaming white exhaust has stopped? :eek: Might be time to go car shopping. I had a '93 Taurus that gobbled up about $5,000 in repair costs when the head gasket blew.
The breakdown was along the lines of needing a new radiator, water pump, timing belt, head gaskets, head bolt set, thermostat, oil change, spark plugs, head magnafluxing and machining labor at the engine shop, and hours of regular shop labor.
Granted, some stuff like the timing belt and plugs were not absolutely needed, but they had to come out, so putting the old parts with 75,000 or so miles on them back in would be foolish.
Sounds to me like he’s run out of oil and its not even going to start.
There’s a small possibility the oil was only getting to the cylinder when the engine was really really hot, as things expand… eg if the block expands, the rings keep the oil out of , and the pressure in, the cylinder. (Rings are on each piston and worn rings means the block probably has worn out bore too )
It sounds to me its overheating BECAUSE its rings are gone and the smoke stopped because its now short of oil.
Another source of white smoke is worn out valve guides, but that fault should not cause any overheating. It adds to the expense of repairing the engine … so many things that may be worn out…
See, the rings wear out… due to air dynamics, it still creates pressure, but it wastes the pressure (leaks…bypasses… you can tell bypass when you remove the oil fill cap and there’s a puuft puuft of air out of it… more out than in… )
So to keep running, and produce force, the engine has to burn more fuel, and its burning more fuel at lower RPM than its systems can cope with… Well the water pump may not work well enough as its speed is related to RPM’s but now the engine is burning more fuel at low RPM… so it overheats…
If it’s a 3.8 then one or both head gaskets are blown. Stop faffing about with other stuff.
Isilder, rings almost never wear out. They’re made of much harder material than the cylinder wall. What people usually ascribe to “worn rings” is almost always cylinder taper.
