I'm at a lost as to what the problem is and hope that you guys can help me out.

I've replaced the water pump (remanufactured) & thermostat (with failsafe).

The car drives fine for about 10-15 mins, then the temp gauge starts flying up till it can't go any higher then next thing I know it flops back down. I tap on my gauge cluster to get the needle back to normal. Then it acts up again when I do turns, either left or right.

Then the weird thing is that when I drive for a long time, I can smell what smells like braking in the brakes. The smell is like having your brakes stuck while you drive or when you first break in your brakes...I really hope this makes sense. Anyways that's what it smells like, but it's not from the brakes at all...weird, I know.

Then one day I open my hood for inspection and find my oil cap on top of my engine and oil everywhere. That of course freaked the **** out of me. The engine of course was hot enough to cook food on, as I did my spit-on-the-engine test and it sizzled.

The top radiator hose is super hot, I couldn't touch it for more than a couple of seconds, same with the radiator, but the lower hose is warm and I can wrap my hands around it.

Do you guys have any idea what damage was done or what the problem with the hot engine? Let me know if I need to clarify anything else.

thank you in advance...

 

It's just your temp gauge. You motor is supposed to be too hot to touch.
The smell might be another issue.

AND GOOD LORD HOW CAN SPIT ON YOUR MOTOR!?

 

Thats normal. The engine makes alot of heat, read the intake manifold spacer thread on more info about that.

You probably have to replace the temp gauge. You don't have to replace the whole cluster, you can just swap out the temp sensor.

As for the brakes make sure you don't have a caliper stuck or something.

~Alex

 

Hmm.

You could have a leaking radiator, mine had a leak in it and it smelled kind of like what you're describing, and of course ran hot because the coolant was not staying in there. It might be worth checking.

Wait until the car cools down, open the radiator cap and you should see antifreeze in there. (If not in your overflow container)

Either way, fill it up and check for leaks, it can't hurt...

 

u sure u have the themostat in right? It not backwards or anything? Or is there air in the system and thats why you are getting erratic readings and a hot engine. I mean it should be too hot to touch anyways.

 

That burning smell may be wiring to the temp gauge burning. I'd look at that.

 

remanufactured water pump

 

All of the above,but check the radiator first.