'92 4cyl Overheats - Fluid comes out of radiator overflow....

This really sounds like your thermostat is failing...or there may be an obstruction somewhere in the system. The intermittancy of the overheating is interesting. Is the cooling system being flushed per the maintenance schedule?

Tom

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Or could one of your (old) radiator hoses be collapsing with the high temp?

Does the coolant in the reservoir return to the radiator when the engine cooled down? If not, it may be a sign of a blown head gasket. If so, I'd recommend using only FelPro's multi-layer steel (MLS) head gasket. FelPro MLS provides excellent seal especially on aluminum head/iron block engines that's unmatched by any other type of head gasket (well, except maybe by SCE Copper).

Also, do you notice leaks showing up under the plastic timing cover on the passenger side of the engine?

Other possible areas, as mentioned by others, include a thermostat stuck closed, bad or plugged radiator cap (the return vacuum valve plugged, preventing coolant from returning to the radiator when the engine cooled), a blocked radiator (especially if you use tap water with the coolant instead of distilled water), or a leaking water pump (damaged by green, silicated coolant).

The air near the temp sensors with low coolant will cause them to wild, so this can explain the check engine light and the temp gauge jumping all over.

BTW, you should use a non-silicated coolant (like the Toyota Red or the new generation of Prestone Global) to prolong the life of these pumps. Dexcool can give you problems in some situations with air in the system, so I'll stay away from them for now. I don't know if Airtex water pump's unitized seal can deal with silicated coolant better. But I personally replace all pumps using only Airtex from the local NAPA parts store.

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Could be a host of things from cheap to expensive. Driving it after seeing steam could push it to the expensive side. Bad radiator cap, bad hoses, leaking/cloughed radiator, bad thermostat, bad water pump or the head gasket (along with a warped head from driving it when it overheated). How much coolant is left in the radiator? Try putting water in it and see if it leaks out any where. Will it idle smoothly after putting water in it?

Yesterday afternoon I took out the thermostat and tested it, and from what I could tell it wasn't doing it's job so I went and got a new one, then installed it. After that I filled it back up with coolant I took it for a test drive. I drove much further than I did when I first saw the problem, stopping to check everything a few times. It all seems to be fine now. Though, yesterday evening it wasn't as hot as it was Friday afternoon, but then again it wasn't that hot Friday anyways. Hopefully I didn't screw anything up initially and it's all fine now. Only time will tell.

Thanks, Corey

Hmm, After checking the car this morning it seems that the radiator overflow reservoir is next to empty again and I can't see any fluid when I look into the radiator, though ike I said, it ran fine and never showed any "bad signs" yesterday. Is it possible the radiator is leaking and its taking all of the fluid out of the reservoir with it? I'm not too knowledgable about how all of that works. Any information helps.

Thanks, Corey

May be it got air in the system last time when you fill it up. The air would come out in a cooling cycle. Just top it off and see what happens.

I just got back from "test" driving it some more on the interstate. It ran fine for a while, then I saw the gauge rise, from maybe 2/5 up to

3-4/5 of the way up. It moved rapidly, very noticably. Once I got home their was a good bit of extra fluid in the overflow tank (as I believe their should be), but it all looked fine. I went back into the car, turned off the engine, and then saw some steam/smoke, but it was nothing like it was coming out the other day. The fluid in the overflow tank seemed to be boiling. Other than that, it all seemed to be fine, and that was after a good distance of me driving it a bit harder than normal. Tomorrow afternoon I'm gonna let my mechanic look at it, and we'll go from there. Any tips before I go see him?

Thanks, Corey

As in, the thermostat isn't working or as in I didn't install it correctly? Doesn't matter much at this point, it's at my mechanics house for the night so he can get to it first thing in the morning.

Thanks, Corey

Rapid, massive coolant loss like that should leave a trace. Now whether it's external to the engine or worse, internal to the engine, is something your mechanic should be able to tell you.

So you see no signs of coolant drips on the ground at all? Do you see white smoke coming out of the exhaust?

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I didn't notice a leak, though with where the vehicle is parked it's possible that it went unnoticed. We'll find out tomorrow, hopefully it won't cost me too much, I really can't afford it. I'm trying to save up to replace the rear struts but things like this are killing me. Lets say that it's leaking externally, looking on the bright side, any idea what's the worst it could be and how much it'd cost?

Thanks, Corey

We'll only be guessing right here before the mechanic takes a look at it tomorrow.

Say on the cheaper side a leaky water pump or pump seal, bad hoses or a radiator with hair-line-cracked plastic tank or leaking o-ring between the core and plastic tanks. The steam you are seeing may be from the reservoir tank, but if not it could be one of the above external leaks.

I've been using parts from NAPA for the cooling system. Airtex pumps and Modine (now Proliance) radiators and Gates hoses. A completely new Airtex at NAPA (559099) costs $34.99. I personally wouldn't go rebuilt here. A new radiator is about $120-220. Rad hose is about $15 each. Getting to the pump is about 3-4 hours book rate. If so also consider a new belt, pulleys and seals. Radiator should be about an hour's work. If your engine overheated like that the water pump seal is not far behind (if not gone already).

So good luck and please let us know what the mechanic found. Thanks.

(IMO best-in-class belts and hoses also have timing kits) (good online prices for reference, takes a while in shipping)

BTW, for rear struts you might want to check out Gabriel Ultra (not the regular Gabriel) with occasional specials at Autozone. Good stuff. Reg $65-72 strut, or $25 rebuildable cartridge for the 92. If you need to change the mounts/rubber/spring then a whole assembly like Monroe's Ready Strut may be more cost effective (I personally wished Monroe had put the Reflex strut in there instead of the Sensatrac). But IMO the Ultra is the better built. Installation typically is $50 per corner.

(check out the G-force video)

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Hi guys, I don't have much to elaborate here but it seems the water pump needs to be replaced and their are a few other minor issues. It's going to cost me about $360 parts and labor. I'll give ya'll all the extra info later.

Thanks, Corey

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