Over the past month or two my car has been randomly overheating. When it first started I found a leak in one of my hose's so I had a new one put in. I thought that would have solved the problem but then a week later it overheated again. Now the problem is its overheating every 5 to 6 days (refilling with about half a bottle of coolant everytime it overheats) and I cant find a leak anywhere. Im letting my car cool down right now, then going to go let it warm up one more time to see if I can find a leak.


Maybe there's something im overlooking?


I even tried that stop leak from autozone untill I could buy a new radiator but that stuff is just about worthless.

 

Check for white smoke. You may have a bad gasket that's letting coolant into engine.

 

There is white smoke but I only see it when its cold out and the car's warming up.

 

did you check your thermostat ?

 

check for air in the system. When it first started leaking you lost fluid and it was replaced with air, then you refilled on top of that air. Just my guess.

Also I noticed you said.... obviously you need a new radiator

 

I bought a new one yesterday, should be putting it on tomorrow.

Whenever I put the new thermostat in im going to flush the system as well.


That was my assumption from the begining, that the radiator was toast but id rather know for sure instead of buying a radiator and it overheating again the next day.

 

Hmmm Sounds like the rad then, if not, then thermostat.

 

pressure test both the radiator and the radiator cap. i was a dumbass and just bought a brand new oem radiator ($300 a/t radiator) without pressure test. turned out it was just low on coolant.. friend suggested it was the radiator and/or headgasket

 

my 97 civic does the same thing.
i got it checked and they said that its the water pump

can it be?

 

the lost coolant after overheating doesn't necessarily indicate a leak. what's probably happening is the safety release on the radiator cap is opening the let pressure out when you overheat.

also, running low on coolant isn't the only cause for overheating. just to be clear.

on with it... for everything to work correctly and stay cool the radiator fan must come on when the engine gets to normal op. temp. the thermostate needs to open as well. you can feel the heat of the coolant in the hoses when the thermo. opens. you can jump the two pin harness to the coolant temp sensor on the thermostat housing to check the fan quickly. (i'll say it to be thurough) you need to be full of coolant. and the water pump needs to be moving coolant.

i wouldn't jump to the conclusion of a bad head gasket... not without other headgasket symptoms.

i would check the fan first, if that's good then make sure your radiator cap looks good and seals properly. and unless you have over 100k mi. on a cheapo-cheap waterpump, leave that till last. Pressure testing is the way to check for leaks, look around especially underneath with a light for any dampness. then trace it back to the source. the problem should turn up by that point. good luck!!

A warning: overheating is super bad for aluminum motors. you want to get if fixed quick and right so you can avoid more potential damage.

 

go to kragen or sears and get a cooling system tester, pressurize the system with the car off, look for pressure loss... look for leak, do u smell coolant inside of your cAR?

 

Did you get the thing fixed ?