Why is my car overheating?
I would suggest the primary issue be the overheating. I will list the things I know that should cause an engine to overheat. Bad thermostat: You mentioned it has already been looked at, does this mean it is working fine? Low Coolant: Also this I assume has been taken care of. Low Oil: Oils acts as a lubricant as well as another way of keeping the engine running cool. Water Pump: It could be faulty. I have seen this issue twice before on a 2000 Nissan Quest, as well as an 03' Chevy Trailblazer. On the Quest I believe it was an issue with air in the cooling system, I was never able to confirm this. It had an overly complicated series of steps on how to properly work on the cooling system. I miss the days where a cold engine and removal of the radiator cap was all that was needed.Make sure that there isn't a code being thrown, was there a check engine light on? Generally when an engine starts to overheat the heater still works and can be used as a way to squeeze some distance out of an overheating engine by turning on the max heat and fan speed.
What is a quick way to tell if your car is overheating or your gauge is broken?
There are several stages to overheating.If you notice that the temperature gauge is broken and if the radiator fan is running in full power for a long period without cutting out is the initial sign that the engine is overheating. Pull over immediately at a safe location away from traffic and switch off the engine and open the hood/ bonnet to ventilate the engine.The next or worse stage of overheating before the head-gasket blowout will be sluggishness. the car will loose power and you might need to downshift the maintain highway speeds. when you feel this sluggishness, pull over immediately and carefully open the hood/bonnet and let the engine cool down while the engine is running in idle speed. after about 3 minutes switch off the engine and wait for about 30 - 45 minutes before you open the radiator or the coolant reservoir to top-up the coolant.Before opening the radiator cap or the coolant reservoir lid, it would be safe to first pour a good amount of cold water on the lid or cap to cool off the pressure (DO NOT POUR COLD WATER OVER THE ENGINE, BUT ONLY OVER THE RADIATOR) and only open the cap using a large thick cloth to protect yourself from steam flashes or boiling water splashes.
My Car is overheating.?
I think it might be a couple things based on what you've said but it's true that more information about your vehicle will be needed to properly assess what's wrong - for one thing it may have something to do with a temperature sensor in your car. Once your car goes above a certain temperature this sensor turns on the fan automatically in order to cool down the engine compartment and radiator, so if your sensor is broken, then the fan won't know if it's hot or not. Another thing you might want to check is the level of coolant in your car. Before you start your car in the morning, pop the hood open and check the level of the coolant in the container. This container should be a clear container so you can see the level of the coolant (usually greenish in color.) It should be slightly below a hashmark, marked on the container. The reason why it should be slightly below the hashmark is because as your car is running, the coolant heats up and expands as it takes the heat away from your car. Also check for leaking of coolant underneath your car. If there's a leak, take your car in for service to have it pressure tested. For the interim, until you take your car to a mechanic, you might want to blow the hot air out of your car by turning on the heat in your car - I know it sounds ridiculous being summer and all but it will help your car cool down for the time being.. plus it forces you to take it in to have it serviced as I'm sure you would hate to have hot air blown in your face all day in the summer. Aside: Make sure that if you have a passenger, ask that person to move their feet away from the heating fan underneath the glove compartment or they might burn their feet.. just saying this because I had a car like yours and I drove it once and my friend fell asleep.. woke up and his feet were all red. If it's got nothing to do with coolant levels, leaks, or sensing / thermostat issues - I'm at a loss as to why it overheats. I dunno, another thing that just occured to me is that it might have to do with something in your radiator and it's blocked somewhere along the line with rust or whatnot which is preventing the flow of coolant.. or *maybe* it thinks you're hot and it's getting all excited. Either way, take it to a mechanic.. but don't let yourself get ripped off - be warned.
Why is my car overheating while idling in drive?
Several answers. Cars have a heat sensor and when car reaches certain temperature, radiator fan activates by turning and taking engine heat away. Once it is back to normal temperature, it turns off by itself. When sensor stops working fan will not automatically start.Radiator itself gets clogged with water and antifreeze sediments and need to be cleaned or replaced.Also there is another part called thermostat and that prevents water from moving to radiator before engine gets its ideal temperature. Needs to be replaced.Make sure radiator cap is good and functional. The radiator hoses get worn and crack and radiator fluid starts leaking. The hose clamps may be loose and water leaks out through there.Ah and to make things more interesting, under all those hoses and belts and parts there is the water pump. It will start leaking when worn out. Don’t forget to check all the belts. Once old they make noise and break. Once they break, engine overheats.
Why would my car overheat after an oil change?
While you are checking for anything hanging under the hood, check for unhooked hoses or hoses that are leaking. Also check your coolant levels. Depends on the garage and what all they do, but sometimes they check or drain and fill the coolant. Make sure they put enough back in and that it is the correct mixture. There are lots of things that could have either been disconnected while they were working on it or that could have just quit afterwords. I agree with most of the other posts. Good luck on finding the problem.
Why is my car overheating, and why is the reservoir boiling?
I would like to add a point onto the other answers that people supplied. There are multiple possibilities but there is one I would like to recommend checking for yourself….I would look over the cooling system to confirm that there are no air pockets.I say this mostly because if the Resevoir is boiling, then this means that the cooling system is expanding (the extra volume being returned to the cooling resevoir.So as said before…. the one thing you can try is to remove any possible pockets of air in the system. Take off the radiator cap when the system is air temperature (NEVER WHEN IT IS WARM OR HOT!) and first see if the coolant is as high as the resevoir feed line (the hose connecting the resevoir to the radiator). If it is not then top up to that level. If you decided that you need to add coolant, you can lightly squeeze the upper radiator hose to help in drawing the new coolant in.After that, keep the radiator cap off and start up the vehicle; wait until the thermostat opens so that the whole cooling system is cycling. You can put the heater on full/hot if you concerned with the rate that the coolant heats up.Put the cap back on when the coolant is approaching the cap opening and shut off your vehicle.Basically, by having the cap off as the cooling system is fully circulating, you give the fluid the ability to push out an air pocket as it expands. One may think that the resevoir would provide this job, but the resevoir to radiator hose is too narrow to do this.I hope this trick helps you out. Also, consider how old the coolant is in the system and replace it with the right mixture for your climate. In another forum answer I talked about how coolant does not last and overheating glycol reduces its ability to perform properly afterwards.If you have any questions, comments, etc…. Feel free to message me! My line is always open
HELP PLZ! My car is overheating while idle and going slowly?
It's not the thermostat, which doesn't care at all whether you are idling or not. In my entire life I have only once seen a thermostat cause overheating, and that was in a car that had been driving down the highway when it suddenly overheated. They are often suspected but almost never responsible. There are two possible reasons for a car to overheat while idling but be okay while driving - air flow or water flow. Air flow (fans) is the far more common problem but from your description that is all working right. The radiator is supposed to be colder near the outlet because the radiator is cooling the coolant down. And that other fan is the A/C condenser fan, so it is working right also. Actually, other than the basic overheating problem everything you describe is completely normal for the conditions. That leaves us looking at water flow trouble. Water flow is not a common problem, but if there is a large bubble caught in the cooling system that will do it. I'm not familiar with the Mitsubishi, but many cooling systems have procedures for bleeding trapped air. It is also possible that the radiator is nearly plugged so the coolant doesn't circulate enough at idle; this will happen if tap water is added to the cooling system in large enough amount. The hard water minerals precipitate out in the radiator as the liquid cools and the small tubes become blocked. If that is true the heater will put out lots of heat as the engine overheats, while if the water pump has disintegrated (rare but not unknown) the heater will put out cold air when the engine overheats. The test for a plugged radiator is a flow test. Shops can do it for about half an hour labor or you can do it yourself by removing the radiator hoses and sticking a garden hose in the upper hose fitting of the radiator. If the radiator is okay it will pass all the water the hose can put out. The last radiator I changed (for a friend) was so blocked I could hardly blow air through it. Radiator blocking typically shows up at higher speeds but if the pump is not trying hard it can happen at idle.That 25 minute lag makes me a bit suspicious of the radiator.