Overheating problem. Urgent help/advice required!!

Shahrez · Post by **Shahrez** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 3:32 am

I have never had this problem before but i guess it happened coz my coolant had been slowly slowly leaking for a while now. so yesterday my car temp sensor showed that car was overheating. I pulled over and sure enough it was, and the coolant reserve reservoir was empty, and i knew it was low from a day or two ago, anyways, i filled it up with water as i was in a rush for work and headed off to work.

came back home with coolant and realised that the radiator had no coolant in it at all. so i filled 3-4 litres in there and started her up. she heated up again after a few minutes. and i could hear bubbling noises as well.

Not sure wether to try to flush the whole system and see how it goes or should i just save the coolant money and take it to the mechanic who quite possibly do the same flush thing and charge me for the coolant + labour or he might find a different cause for overheating.

here are some facts about whats going on.

1. there is no milky residue anywhere.
2. never had this problem before
3. i had a different coolant before the one i added yesterday, but dunno if that really would do much coz it was almost empty anyways.
4. i did not flush the system after adding water, i added coolant into the reservoir which as 2-5% full with water.

So basically i need some advice with what to do!! cheeers!!

kirksta · Post by **kirksta** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 6:06 am

See if the passenger floor carpet is drenched or moist?
It could be that your heater core has cracked and is leaking from the inside of your dash. Same thing has happened to me before and has also happened not long ago on my missus car.
Fill your your cooling system and let the car run, whilst you have the heater turned on, then check the passenger floor carpet.

Shahrez · Post by **Shahrez** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 10:46 am

kirksta wrote:See if the passenger floor carpet is drenched or moist?
It could be that your heater core has cracked and is leaking from the inside of your dash. Same thing has happened to me before and has also happened not long ago on my missus car.
Fill your your cooling system and let the car run, whilst you have the heater turned on, then check the passenger floor carpet.

hmm no that doesn't seem to be happening.

The other thing is that the engine is making a weird noise. Like there is air or something. Possible airlock?

chuster · Post by **chuster** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 5:43 pm

when you filled it up again with coolant did you bleed the hoses to get rid of the air? That could cause the bubbling noises. But as for the original problem, i dunno why its leaking.

Post by **Bennoz** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 6:00 pm

Radiator cap!

Shahrez · Post by **Shahrez** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 6:33 pm

Hmm no I didn't bleed the hoses hey. Bubbling as in the water was boiling and then the coolant as well I'd assume. Radiator cap seems fine to me? Unless there is something that Iam missing?

Shahrez · Post by **Shahrez** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:21 pm

alright upon further investigation, seems like the coolant is leaking from bottom around the left side of the engine. quite possible could be the water pump?

Post by **vipfto** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 9:43 pm

Shahrez wrote:alright upon further investigation, seems like the coolant is leaking from bottom around the left side of the engine. quite possible could be the water pump?

thats possible how many kms has it done and have you changed before?
but that could also be point from where the water is just collecting and dripping

BlackNajik · Post by **BlackNajik** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 3:33 pm

Shahrez wrote:alright upon further investigation, seems like the coolant is leaking from bottom around the left side of the engine. quite possible could be the water pump?

mate you have a leaking water pump! I had the exact same thing a couple of months ago, coolant leaking through, bubbling with water replacement etc

Check out RPW for the water pump, they supply them for around 120 mark since I last bought it and take it down to your mechanic for him to put it in! You will be saving a lot of money by supplying your own part! Normal quotes for water pump assembly and repair was around $1000 with pricing for water pump at $300 if the mechanic sources it themselves.

Also you might want to consider changing the timingbelt depending k's, while they are in there it saves the trouble of paying the extra cash for doing it later!

All up mine cost $560 with Water Pump + Timing Belt replacement and installation

Best of luck mate, hope this helps!

payaya · Post by **payaya** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:21 pm

You better hope its not your head gasket. I have worked on a few cars where the oil was not milky but had a head leak.

Is there any white residue on your rear exhaust manifold?

SchumieFan · Post by **SchumieFan** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 11:57 am

Check the heater hose...

i had a split in mine, it drained my radiator, blew my gaskets and caused me years of ongoing problems...

Shahrez · Post by **Shahrez** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 9:32 pm

thank god its not my heater hose then! finally found out what was the problem, good ol water pump was leaking! so getting one from RPW for $120 including GST. every single mechanic is charging around $200 for it. so good saving there.

Post by **vipfto** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 9:51 pm

Shahrez wrote:thank god its not my heater hose then! finally found out what was the problem, good ol water pump was leaking! so getting one from RPW for $120 including GST. every single mechanic is charging around $200 for it. so good saving there.

i would rather be heater hose mate!

prepare for $ to be spent on labour doing water pump might as well do timing belt etc while in there
by the way for anyone interested i got waterpump from camskill cost just a shade over $80 delivered (with exchange rate 2 month ago) only took a few days too

SchumieFan · Post by **SchumieFan** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 12:56 am

yeah mate that water pump is right at the bottom of the motor...

Courtesy Dstocks:www.completefto.com.au(and my bestfriend CAPS)

good luck getting it replaced without taking the motor out!

SchumieFan · Post by **SchumieFan** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 12:57 am

vipfto wrote:
Shahrez wrote:thank god its not my heater hose then! finally found out what was the problem, good ol water pump was leaking! so getting one from RPW for $120 including GST. every single mechanic is charging around $200 for it. so good saving there.
i would rather be heater hose mate!

prepare for $ to be spent on labour doing water pump might as well do timing belt etc while in there
by the way for anyone interested i got waterpump from camskill cost just a shade over $80 delivered (with exchange rate 2 month ago) only took a few days too

i got a new generic water pump (chinese) from a mitsi dealer for $45... that was about 2 years ago.... its still not on the new motor!

Post by **Bennoz** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:59 am

Yeah its a common part. All 6Axx series motor pumps are the same, including the locally sold HJ Galant. Hence you can pick them up at any auto shop.

payaya · Post by **payaya** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 6:28 pm

SchumieFan wrote:yeah mate that water pump is right at the bottom of the motor...

Courtesy Dstocks:www.completefto.com.au(and my bestfriend CAPS)

good luck getting it replaced without taking the motor out!

No need to pull the motor out. It will cost around $1000 all up.

SchumieFan · Post by **SchumieFan** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 2:45 am

thats true but itll be easier if you take the heads off...

oh wait..., i forget people dont do this themselves...

um

ill get my old man to take some pics of the donor engine at some point.... ie... before my 'oldtimer' stat becomes a 'past it' stat