Im very sorry guys, but I dont know where else to post this on the internet where i'll get a quick/good response. Here's the problem with my friends car...

it overheats all the time...driving any more than 30-40 minutes...they must add coolant all the time (very bad idea not to get it fixed, but this was helping until he had the funds)....

today they were driving, and the car was VERY sluggish, hard time getting up hills, soon it broke down. I went and looked at it... heres the symtoms, the car wont turn over, but tries to when you pump the gas a little bit....you can hear it sputtering...

- when it broke down a lot of smoke was coming from under the hood
- theres coolant spilled in the engine bay, not bad...just in a few spots... so im assuming there must be a leak somewhere....

what suggestions can you guys give me..and again, im very sorry for posting about a non-honda car here, but you guys are the most knowledgable people i know and im hoping i can get some quick responses.

 

Tough to tell, but I would wager a guess at bad thermostat or bad fan/fan relay caused the overheating and eventually a head gasket failure. Now that there's no compression, it won't stay lit. Put a compression/leakdown tester on it and see what you can see. I'll bet you find something right there.

Perhaps this is a sign from the gods. Put a bullet in the Geo and leave it.

 

lol....i drive a honda partner im going to go back and check it later on tonight in case it was just flooded by her, lets say it starts....i only have half a mile to drive it to my house, i can even push it.

What should the first step be for me? with the last step being replace the thermostat...

 

okay..heres an update, i need a little more feedback..

I let it sit for a few hours, and went to give it a go a few mins ago...turned over fine, and drove it home....i let it idle for about 10 minutes, and sounded fine. What i noticed though that my friend never told me is that the temperature stayed all the way down at cold... now, why would this be? is this because of a possible bad thermostat? or would it just be controlled by a fuse?

what other possibilitys could be causing the problem of the over-heating/anti-freeze spill?


Modified by pburke23 at 5:47 AM 7/2/2004

 

First off, find where its leaking from and replace the parts needed, more than likely its a hose, they get old and brittle then crack etc. A good leak will cause a pressure loss in the cooling system thus not cooling effectively = overheating. Fix the leak, fill it up, bleed the air out and see what you get. If theres still a problem, staying cold or overheating next step is probably your thermo or you have a clog somewhere. Good luck.

 

okay, so youre saying that its staying cold....but overheating??

I was just figuring that the gauge wasnt working, how is it controlled?

im having a very hard time finding out where the leak is coming from.... any suggestions on the best way???

also, if the gauge is not working...how will i know if the car is overheating...before letting it smoke like crazy again


Modified by pburke23 at 6:20 AM 7/2/2004

 

bump for some help!

 

Well sorry to say this but i gotta feeling your radiator had some cracks under it or worst still, RUST!!!........i recommend you drain out the water in the radiator.....there's a screw you just loosen it and wait let the water drain. then see if there are rust in the water....if so...then you gotta do some cleaning on the radiator......


Note: Once there's rust...there sure be clogs!! Better Check it!!

 

okay, what syptoms that i listed make you assume this? Im still tryin to figure out too, why the gauge doesnt go up....just sits on cold, when the engine is obviously overheating...

 

bump for some help so i can try and work on this tomorrow....

 

I had assumed when you said it was overheating that the gauge was going up. So if your saying the gauge doesnt move but your <U>positive</U> its overheating how are you determining its overheating? Theres a sensor just under the distributor that sends the signal to the thermo gauge, its a 1 wire plug, there will also be a 2 wire one right next to it. Just check this 1 wire plug and make sure its secure. If the gauge still doesnt work, get a multi-meter and test to see if the sensor is even giving a signal.
Even if the sensor isnt working it wont make your car overheat, it just lets you know if it is. Be sure your fans are turning on, flush the coolent, make sure theres no air pockets, and fix all the leaks.

 

thank you for the info. It's overheating because after about a half an hour of driving yesterday, it would not start, and was smoking out the engine bay like crazy...it started a few hours later. Any possibility it could be something like the thermostat?

 

check to see if the coolant is leaking between the head and block, or if the reservoir is overflowing. Those are symptoms of a bad head gasket

 

Is the thermostat opening?