96 hatch DX overheating. Been perfect but all of a sudden water temp spiked and there was steam on right side. Greenish splatter all over the place but reservoir looks full (was about half. I topped it off but doesn't seem to go lower). I turned the heat all the way up to max but air didn't feel hot, either... Left it parked. Was too hot to pop the radiator cap.

Heat shoots up very fast if I start the engine again. What does everyone think? Blew a seal? Radiator toast? I'll try to find my Helms tomorrow.

 

Radiator fan was turning.

I'm thinking blown head gasket. I'll look at it more in the morning.

 

ur water pump probly took a ****..

if not when i headgasket goes bad, pressure burst water out of radiator,
do a compression test, and or check ur oil, to see if it has any water in it

 

The radiator has plastic tops and bottoms, inspect it for breaks/leaks.

 

I did check the oil and had a good level. Didn't appear watery but just did a dip stick check. Are these plastic parts like bezels/surrounds or part of the radiator itself?

Probably gonna have to get it towed, though... can't seem to go more than a few hundred feet without temp spiking and beginning to steam again and don't want to do worse damage.

 

something similar happen to me, i changed evrything from cooling system , water pump etc, and it ended being a bad radiator, even tho it might look like it has flow it still can be bad..

 

pop the radiator cap and leave the car running check for milky coolant and constant bubbles

 

If it heats up that quick im thinking its your water pump. have you tried beeding the cooling system? it will cause it to not flow.

 

Pressure check the system, if there is a leak it will force it out, esp the radiator.

If you see that much coolant, might not be head gasket, but a leak somewhere.

 

Let it sit all night and most of the morning since I had some other things to do. I do notice that the sponge thing in front of the radiator is soaked. Doesn't seem to overheat today, especially that it's alot hotter. I have it parked with AC running full blast and temp is normal...

Maybe thermostat and/or radiator cap? I'm kinda of suspecting the reservoir might be plugged cause it doesn't seem to go lower or higher (staying where I topped it off yesterday). Pressure check sounds like a good idea... and/or intermittent water pump. Don't have enough confidence to get on the freeway with it but trying to avoid going to the dealer. The section in the Helms seems pretty... skimpy. I'm in the radiator section anyway, though.

 

No milky coolant or bubbling with the radiator cap off and engine running with a/c on. Took the oil cap off and don't see any water in there, either.

 

Changed thermostat ($10 at autozone) and that wasn't it. Overheated on 5-6 mile drive. At first, though I was getting response from the heat, though which brought the temp stable, but not down. It was a warm day, so that sucked lol. On drive back was seriously overheating again and couldn't get all the way home. Heat was again non-responsive and coming in slightly cool even with it on hot. So parked it again to let it cool. Steaming again from right side and noticible spray.

Had dinner, went back an hour or so later. Noticed no pressure at all when I popped the radiator cap... Even though the reservoir was full, started filling the radiator with 50/50 coolant. Notice a dripping coming from the top passenger side. Back to Autozone and buy a radiator for $80. Just switched it out. Did a 3 mile'ish drive and didn't come up. Heat is again responsive both directions. So I'll do another 5-6 mile drive tomorrow and hope to call it good. Only thing left is the water pump.

 

Make sure to bleed the cooling system.

This may take 20-30 minutes.

1) Park the car on an inclined driveway with the front end higher than the rear.

2) Push/turn the dash heater lever/**** to MAX heat. Fan need not be on.

3) Follow the directions in the diagram below

 

did it over heat with new radiator?

 

Don't recall seeing that in the Helms, but sounds reasonable and I was gonna check the level again anyway. I'll do that tomorrow. Thanks!


Not yet.

 

Don't just replace parts.

You might of been able to get a pressure checking tool on loan from Auto zone.

You might be lucky and the rad was the problem, just saying.