'87 Camry Overheating

Check the free repair guide on Autozone, Figure 5 (2.0L), 6 (2.2L) for diagrams of the thermostat housing:

If there is no leak then you should be able to see coolant circulation through the radiator neck, or restrict/relax the radiator hose (be careful of moving engine parts) and see if you can feel pressure surges.

Or it may be blocked radiator (you'll have less working area of the radiator) or the start of head gasket failure (compressed gas pressurizing the cooling system).

So you should have it checked by a good mechanic.

Thank you for the advice. I suspected the same reason for the steam and it was close to home when it appeared. I failed to mention that the fans were working fine as well and also this car only has a few thousand over 100K. It looks like from where the coolant went over next to the battery and on the inside of the engine compartment on the driver side that when it overheated it blew the liquid not into the overflow but past it. The overflow tank was almost empty. I squeezed the top and bottom hoses - no pressure so I popped the cap and found the radiator was low. I didn't have to time to note the circulation because before I could watch the liquid in the radiator as I said I had begun pouring coolant into the radiator w/ the motor running and it gushed it back. I immediately shut the engine off.

Gushing out is likely air going out, Fill it run it a bit then shut it off. Air gets trapped and there should be air bleed bolts or maybe air can be run out. Run the heater and when it overheats running the heater can lower motor Temp. You should get a new radiator cap and dont run 100% antifreeze or it will overheat if its realy hot out.

Check for a leak in the radiator. If you were low on coolant, that could explain your symptoms, and at this age the radiator should have been replaced.

Ok, I thought you waited until it's cooled first ("After it cooled I popped the radiator cap and started the car."). Adding liquid to a very hot radiator could do just what you observed (radiator spitting it out). Besides, it's probably not good to chill very hot metal like that.

So after it's cooled gradually and pressure tested fine, fill the radiator and clear the air from the system (for example, fast idle

You have a leak somewhere so do try to locate it. As I just wrote in another thread, "You can borrow a pressure tester from Autozone, free with deposit, refund after you return."

Free-loaner tool, cooling system pressure tester:

Thanks to all of your for replying. I've duly noted all of the advice. I changed the thermostat, both hoses and radiator cap. After several days of 100=B0 weather and driving the usual miles everything seems to be well. Also, thanks for the autzone link(s). Now if I can figure out how to get to the same repair sections you all did I'll be doing good. LOL

For instance I'm advising a buddy on changing out his thermostat on his '96 Ford Ranger but can't find the page(s) w/ the illustrations etc. I keep ending up at a page that shows nothing but the thermostats.

-al

Al, how's this, for the 4cyl version:

Hope this helps.