Car Overheating??! maybe temp guage?! not sure ;/

Don't know much about 87 Tercel but, it looks like a lack of water.

If water is running to the heater core, you should have heat, if just a mix of air bubbles and water it's no good. If you heat up your engine to max, you'll likely get hot air but at cost. The head is aluminuim and could warp. The warp renders the head gasket useless.

Some cars mount fan switch high, a low radiator fluid will not run fan. What's the radiator level? What's the age of the thermostat? On cool radiator, cover with heavy rag open cap, do you see water flowing or air bubbles at operating temp? K

The most likely reason for no heat at the heater is that there is no water at the heater. You have air there, which offers poor heat transfer. You best make sure the water, not just radiator, is full. Have someone that knows how to properly fill it do it for you and check the system out. You could just have a monor leak that was not noticed over time. With that mileage you could also have a leaking head gasket. Look for the simple and cheap first or you will blow the engine for sure.

Check you lower radiator hose for need of replacement it may be partially closing when the thermostat opens.

You need to get a handle on this fast though, before you blow a head gasket and possibly warp the head.

afro wrote:

You are describing a slow leak that has let air into the system.

No heat inside is usually a dead give away for that. The heater hoses are up top and fill with air first.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

afro wrote:

Approximately 10/2/03 22:57, afro uttered for posterity:

After making sure the radiator is full of proper mix, check the thermostat and water pump. This presumes that all radiator hoses have been checked to make sure none have collapsed.

If the thermostat never opens, the engine is going to get quite hot. However, the hot water from the engine will never be available at the heater, nor will it go to the radiator for cooling. Two quick tests would be to CAREFULLY feel the hoses to the radiator when the engine is hot. If those hoses are cool, the thermostat is defective or jammed closed.

I disagree a bit....

Most vehicles have the heater inside bypassing the t-stat. The heater hose comes off the pump, the thermostat housing only usually has the top rad hose on it. The big hoses can still be cold and heat will start to come inside first if the fluid is topped up.

That is why turning on the heater can be a temporary fix for a stuck or sticky t-stat, the heater core bypasses the thermostat and acts like a mini rad.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

I went outside and noticed the radiator and the reservoir was bone dry. So I filled it up with a half-half anti-freeze and water mix. I filled up the reservoir, and put a little in the radiator itself. I noticed after I drove it to school and back the temperature stayed below 50% the whole time, so that was my problem. BUT, about 2 hours after I got home I went back outside to check the reservoir level and noticed it was out again. So I filled it back up....I haven't driven it since then...

Could it be the reservoir was dry after the first fill up because I didn't put enough in the radiator itself and it was using all the mix from the reservoir instead??? Or that it is leaking??

thanks

-LT

You have a leak....

I hope it is dripping on the ground when the engine is running.....

How does the oil level look? If it is high or frothy, the head gasket is likely leaking....

Mike

afro wrote:

Good news: the heater core took up the fluids. Most people forget to turn on the heater, bled or run the engine warm during fill-up. Did you do this?

Bad news. There’s an invisible leak internal or external. External: coolant hose(s) etc. Internal: head. How to look for external leaks, look for dried mineral deposits otherwise change the rest of the hoses.

I once had an 88 Tercel brought to me with a radiator problem and first thing I looked for and found are bubbles flowing across the filler neck. (To clarify, compressed air is coming from the cylinder(s) and shows up as bubbles at the filler neck.) Koji