Been perusing the forums looking for my specific problems but couldn't find them all in one place. My car just recently began overheating on the oil temp gauge. So I got a full oil, transmission and radiator (flush?) service done.

Driving off the lot it started reading high on the temp again, overflow and coolant is at max/norm and the coolant doesn't seem to be hot when the gauge hikes all the way to H on the temp. Also the car has been making a rattling noise when I accelerate but is quiet when it is in idle. I was driving on the highway and the engine started stalling and you could feel it over the entire car and died once before I finally got home.

Any help would be great.

 

Sounds like you have a dead water pump or a thermostat that's stuck closed so no water is circulating in your engine. Stop driving right now. The engine might already be catastrophically damaged with the rattling and stalling...Tow it to a trusted mechanic and get it fixed!

 

Oh, man I was hoping it wasn't serious. Any idea what the estimate would be around to replacing the water pump and thermostat? Just so I don't get taken overpaying. And thanks for the help and quick reply.

 

If it's one or the other (and it may be something else entirely!), it will be cheap for the T-stat and probably a couple hundred, maybe a little more, for the water pump unless you can do it yourself and save some money. The key for me is when you say the coolant doesn't seem to be hot even though the engine is overheating and your heater doesn't work. Does the fan blow still? A plugged catalytic converter can cause the stalling, but you wouldn't be overheating. I'm hoping someone else can pipe in with more thoughts. Do you have any more information about what the car may be doing?

 

Yeah, it still blows air but it is cold air even on max heat. And the car takes a while to ramp up to H on the oil temp gauge about 10min or about 1-2 miles.
The car died on the highway when tryng to go on a higher gear, I was going around 60 mph and tried to go a bit faster when it started seizing up a little and not grabbing the gear. I then eased off the gas and then gradually just coasted around 50-55 the rest of the way

 

You keep saying oil temp, I am guessing you mean the factory Coolant temp in the gauge cluster?

There may be severe damage done if it is stalling and tapping/knocking. To check the thermostat, let it run and get warm, NOT OVERHEATING. Feel the radiator hoses, if one is hot and the other is cold, probably a good sign the thermostat is stuck closed. Maybe even start with a cold engine and run it with the radiator cap off and see if you can see coolant moving. The no heat issue does lean towards a bad pump though.

 

When the engine is cold and not running, take the radiator cap off of the radiaror and look inside. The radiator should be completely filled with coolant. If it isn't, then you have to figure out why. And if the radiator is not full of coolant, the heater will not blow hot air.

You keep saying oil temp gauge. The car does not have an oil guage of any kind, temperature or pressure. It does have a engine temperature gauge.

 

Yeah sorry for the confusion, I meant engine temp in the gauge cluster. Thanks for the tips, I'll check out the radiator when I get home. Thanks for all the help guys

 

it definetly sounds like your coolant tstat is going bad. Especially if you dont get heat in the ac that is a pretty good sign of it failing. As for the rattling grinding I had a problem with this when I bought my max. check your oil level. 02-03's are notorious for making oil "disappear" so it might be your timing chain.

 

The stalling that accompanies it has me worried though...especially with the overheating...

 

oh yeah most definitely. That is different than mine. I did a write up on changing the tstat cuz mine was stuck open. But just going through what I did when I had some problems. BTW OP let me know if you need a write up on how to change the stat

 

At least yours was stuck open. Then the car just runs cold all the time...

 

Yeah, its kinda weird though. Like my max threw a code for it so i replaced it. When it had the fouled tstat it would like show temp at the 3rd dash on the gauge. I changed the tstat and it still will not rise above the 3rd dash. Except now I have no code.