jaguax

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys, I'm in kind of a dilemna here. This is a bit long but detailed, so PLEASE bear with me because my family now has only one working car to be shared by 3 of us. Not good.

My car has recently developed a problem where it overheats. When it first happened I assumed that coolant was a bit low so I added a little bit more to top off the radiator. And that seemed to do it. It was fixed for a few weeks, with no overheating issues.

Well a few days ago I noticed that the temp was getting over the halfway mark again with the engine fans blowing away. Great.

I added a tiny bit more coolant, and drove it again... It was good for half an hour at least, and then the temp gauge started to raise again. Damnit.

So later that night I take it on a short trip to get some fast food with a friend and the temps seemed dandy for a while until the way back, when all of a sudden I notice the temp guage near the top! (but not quite at the danger zone)... I felt the upper radiator hose at this time and I could feel it "throbbing". So I let the car sit for a while and manage to make it home, stopping to let it cool off at least 3 times. When I get it home my dad notices that the upper radiator hose is nice and warm, while the bottom one is cold!

Still with me? Good.

I forgot to mention that during the periods in which it has been overheating, I've been checking for leaks, and could not see any. The next day though, my dad takes a look at it in the garage. He pours coolant in the radiator while the car is off(cold engine) and notices that a WHOLE lot(not all) pours out near the front of the engine(or side depending how you wanna look at it since the engine is side mounted). I love cars.

So... later that day we top off the radiator again and notice that it doesn't leak at all. We start the car up, let it warm up to operating temps, and it doesn't overheat at all. In fact, everything seems normal so I take it around the block for about 20 mins and everything is absolutely normal. No leaking, no overheating, nothing. How the leak fixed itself is beyond me. Also, the radiator doesn't seem to be clogged at all because squeezing the lower radiator hose causes the coolant to overflow out of the radiator. Also, at this point the lower radiator hose does warm up like normal.

So my dad checks all the hoses, no leaks at all, so the only thing we can think of is the water pump.

Now since this story is already getting too long I should just quickly mention that I've been having a problem with the heat in my car lately, it's been randomly blowing cold air despite being on the hottest setting, and other times it would blow heat like normal. Other times it would blow hot air and then all of a sudden get cold randomly. Is it related to the overheating issue? I have no idea.

So we replaced the thermostat today, topped off the radiator, and let the car warm up. I go to take it out for a test drive, and notice the temp guage drop from halfway all the way down to cold. WTF???

I pull back in the driveway, and shortly thereafter it goes back up to a little less than halfway. Ok... whatever... But then I hear the engine fans kick in again at full blast. Not a good thing. Temp guage indicates a little less than halfway like I said, and my heater is blowing out freezing cold air again. The upper radiator hose is nice and warm, and the bottom one? ICE COLD. Damn.

To make a long story short, something is definitely messed up with the cooling system. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Apparently sometimes the coolant leaks, and sometimes it doesn't. And the heat in my car sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't. Hoses are all good, thermostat was just changed. Bottom radiator hose sometimes remains cold while the top one is hot. The only thing left that we can think of is the water pump.

The car has ~135k miles. I wasn't expecting a problem like this from the "bulletproof" VG's but hey what are you going to do...

So I need your guys advice. What do you think the problem is? Do I need to replace the water pump? All I know is that I need to do something FAST because my mothers car also happened to break down today, leaving the whole family with my sisters car.

Please help if you have any ideas on what's wrong. I REALLY appreciate it. Thanks guys

backNblackj30

defective or stuck thermostat. Try new thermostat yours is prob messd up. Worth a shot they are cheap.
try flushing your radiator as well thats cheap to do yourself. maybe clogged. try everything else, then if nothing works. well your water pump may be goin out, while your changing that do the timing belt.
good luck keep us updated.

Yicco

thermostat needs replacing, but heres why: when your water pump goes bad, there is a tiny hole in the bottom of it that starts to leak a little with the engine running, but practically pours out water when its off. so if you can get a flashlight, a second person and some water. 2nd person adds water to radiator while you get under the car and look at the bottom side of the water pump (preferably jack up the right side, take off the wheel and look from there). if water comes out of the water pump then replace it. Now back to the thermostat. Once your water pump goes bad it cannot effectively circulate coolant to the engine because no pressure exists, so the thermostat never gets suction behind it and can't circulate coolant through it. Your thermostat may not be bad, but its getting worse because your water pump is bad. more hot coolant that doesn't pass through the thermo will screw it up. so go ahead, buy the parts and get to work, cause its only a 2 hour job and I garantee you'll be a lot happier you did both at the same time and not one next week because it still overheats!! thats all for me folks.
Z


edit: since you already replaced the thermo, just replace your water pump, and also try pulling the radiator (takes like 15 minutes after you drain it) and flushing it out of the car, you can get a good shake going with it in your hands....
Z

mattcomet82

iTrader: (6)

yicco is correct

Greeny

iTrader: (43)

My water pump leaked off and on for a year before i finally changed it....It would go for weeks and not leak,then it would leak for a week or so...

jaguax

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys. Does the waterpump make noise when it starts going bad? Because every so often I hear kind of a metal on metal whirring sound at around 2K RPM when I'm driving.

vansskaterfreek

iTrader: (14)

that is most likely a bad bearing in one of your pulleys for your a/c or power steering tensioners.... withthe car running, hold a screw driver touching a spot on the pulley that isnt moving, and put your ear up to the screw driver.. if the pulley has a bad bearing, you cal definately tell......if i were you, id change your thermostat first because they are a few dollars at a parts store, and it is an easy fix.... water pump is alot more complicated and alot more money.. so go cheap first...

mattcomet82

iTrader: (6)

he already said he changed the thermostat. at this point the seals have failed inside the water pump, so yes it is time to change it out. while it is apart, this is also time to switch the timing belt. once your water pump works correctly, your thermostat will also work correctly. be careful driving it too much tho, your new thermostat will fail quickly with faulty pump.