weird s13 overheating

[s13boy89]

ok its freezing cold out side you know so cal at nite and at the drive thru and look at my temp guage and see the its running hot got home and checked it radiator full with water and top radiator hose hot and bottom one not and looked for something on here and nothing so help thanks

[downshift_sideways]

Nice spelling. Ever heard of commas and periods? spellcheck?

No wonder why you have so many red bars.

[ranger240]

change your radiator cap

[SnakeKack]

I'd check the thermostat first and see if it works. Or just put a new one in for the hell of it while it's open, since they are only like 7 bucks.

[anumeric]

I agree with the other guys, check your thermostat. Those things are known to have a high failure rate. Also check out your water pump.

Wei

[nicku]

to check your thermostat just touch the upper radiator hose and bottom radiator hose while its hot...and see if they are the same temperature. if they ARE. then most probably your water pump.....if they are not the same temperature...then your thermostat is shot

[LA_phantom_240]

Get a Fail-Safe. We sell em at AutoZone and I only hear good things about them.

[S13Boosts]

thermostat! do you see smoke? if not its the thermostat!

[s13boy89]

well i drove around today for a good 20 minutes, it didnt over heat at all, stayed in the middle the whole time. parked and felt the hoses, and the bottom one is hot, but the top one is a lil bit hotter, not by much though.

[240boy90]

^^^^ LOL! down shift....but yeah, wat everyone else said about the thermostat. Try it out.. win win situation with a new one

[DreamN]

have you done anything to fix the overheating problem though?

sometimes thermostats are finicky and don't always open when they're suppose too (i.e. stopped at a red light). first thing you should do is bleed your system for a good 5-10 min just to be on the safe side. buy another thermostat seeing as they're less than $10 and while your at it a new radiator cap. it's just good ol' preventative maintenance.

how long has it been since you've changed your radiator hoses? if you'll be changing your thermostat and see even the slightest of wear on either hose I'd ditch both and get some new ones.

[DreamN]

^ what? down shift?

[Suckmycack]

He's laughing at Downshift sideways Comment.

[240boy90]

yes downshift sideways' comment^^^....never thought illiteracy could be so amusing...lol!!...but nvm that... did the thermostat work???..

[s13boy89]

hey guys, i put in a new thermostat, jacked the car up from the front, and added coolant and turned the car on without the radiator cap and let it idle, but it wouldnt stop bubbling and coolant started pouring out alot so i turned it off, is it supposed to do this?

[s13boy89]

just drove it around a lil bit and within 10 minutes or the temp started to go up almost to the H again so i parked it, and the lower hose still isnt getting hot.

[240boy90]

Losin' coolent??Is there any crazy white smoke pourin' out the back when you start the vehicle? how long has it been since the water pump was changed?

[s13boy89]

no white smoke, havnt changed the pump

[240boy90]

kool...sounds minor...howd the water pump go?

[s13boy89]

havnt changed the pump, im thinking i didnt bleed it right sence i stopped cuz it was bubbling coolant out during the bleeding process

[aa87]

headgasket?
if its continous bubbles and making bleeidng the impossible

msglngth

[DreamN]

s13boy, did you remove bleeder screw near the intake manifold when bleeding it?

[s13boy89]

no i didnt touch the bleeder screw, am i supposed to bleed it with that screw out and the rad cap on that way?

[DreamN]

screw off, cap off, jacked up front, and for 5-10 min or until you don't see any bubbles coming from the bleeder hole. also, it's not a bad thing to squeeze both top and bottom hoses while doing this, just don't get burned or anything.

[s13boy89]

are there supposed to be a bunch of big bubbles coming out of the radiator too when i do this? i was getting coolant everywhere when i did this

[DreamN]

nope. something is f'ed. bad radiator maybe, try it without the thermostat installed and see what the outcome is?

[s13boy89]

so its not supposed to bubble that bad?

[Codrifter]

so did you have the radiator cap off when you were using the bleeder screw. u supposed to have the cap on when ur using the bleeder screw

[DreamN]

Originally Posted by Codrifter

so did you have the radiator cap off when you were using the bleeder screw. u supposed to have the cap on when ur using the bleeder screw

you sure? I've always done it with the cap off and it's always worked.

[s13boy89]

i never did the bleeder screw, but right now i just drove the car hard and the temputure is staying stable.