coolant issue

[92sho16]

Ive done some searching and i havent come up with a solution. My car will run hot and fill the coolant overflow tank and spill over sometimes. I need a solution to this because its not even hot weather yet. My question is maybe do i need to replace something or could i just put a switch on the fans to make them run before i shut the car off?

 

[SHO--ripper]

Have you tried replacing your thermostat? mabye it isn't reading the temp. correctly and in turn the fan is not going on. Or you may need a new waterpump/radiator. I would go with the $12 thermostat first. GOod luck.

 

[mharris999]

If you did a search, I'm guessing you saw most of the normal suggestions(replacing thermostat, flushing cooling system,ect..)

Overheating can be caused by many things, worst case being a leaking head gasket eek! (there would likely be many other symptoms), to something as simple as the thermostat being stuck. boink

Having the fans run to try to cool the coolant before shutting the car of might work, shrug its hard to say. But even if it did, it would really only be a stop-gap solution headbang .

Your best bet would be to try to track down what is causing you to run hot, and fix that. thumb

 

[Bank of SHO]

I've been having the same problem for several years. On hot days, the temp would climb very high. I would have to turn the a/c off and turn the heater on to bring the temp down. The overflow tank would also spew fluid on the ground.

Per suggestions here, I just finished installing a new thermostat, engine coolant temperature (ECT) sensor, and temperature sending sensor/unit. I'm still performing the front end 60k, so of course the car isn't up and running yet. The real test will be when the temps reach 100 degrees here.

It was also suggested that a radiator blockage could cause this, but I don't think so in my case. I plan to flush the cooling system anyway.

 

[sdpatt]

SHO--ripper:
Have you tried replacing your thermostat? mabye it isn't reading the temp. correctly and in turn the fan is not going on. Or you may need a new waterpump/radiator. I would go with the $12 thermostat first. GOod luck.

The thermostat is responsible only for routing the coolant to the radiator when the temperature reaches the setpoint temperature. It is the ECT sensor that is responsible for monitoring the coolant temperature to activate the radiator fan(s).

The water pump will pump coolant as long as the pulley is turning. The mode of failure for water pumps is shaft seal leaks or bearing failures - not the inability to pump.

I agree with the thermostat replacement idea.