Why does my car overheat after getting off the freeway

The mechanic said the original was loose a bit. But not horribly. I drove it today to see if it would warm up, bu the whole drive it was good till I got home when I went up a little bit then the fan came on and it went down and stayed down. Its just never moved before all this started so its wierd to me.

I will do that. I checked the coolant before I went to work today and found that the overflow was about 3/4 full and the radiator was low. The exact amount that the radiator was low was in the overflow. Boggling that the radiator did not suck the coolant back into the radiator.

Well I have changed the thermostat to an OEM thermostat just to make sure that the autozone one I put in wasnt a piece of junk, and still the same thing still. I purchased a block-tester to chem test the system and it should arrive tuesday, so I will conduct this and get back to u to let u know of the findings.

Today I completed the block test and that is negative. The system is sucking the fluid back into the radiator as normal, but I still have a slight warming problem. Fans ar working, radiator new, thermostat new and oem, water pump new, have good coolant flow and about a 60-70% anti-freeze mixture. Radiator cap is good and the mechanic shop said pressure test was good. Any other ideas?

Another question. Is the coolant resevoir suppose to be under any pressure? Even I its not I wonder if it might be bad as when I get out of my car I can smell coolant, but I dont have any leaks, so I assume that the smell is being pushed past the resevoir cap gasket from the pressure and coolant being released into it from the radiator. Any thoughts?

Oh its a 1.1 cap. The guage sits about 1/3 the way up from the cold, but after a drive in the freeway and the car comes to a stop for a minute (like sitting at a stop light) it will rise to about halfway up. This is odd to me because before I started working on i, t it never moved at all. Maybe it is paranoia. Any ideas why I can smell coolant so much from outside my car? I had a coworker walk past my car the other day after the car was off for about a half hour and told me he smell antifreeze. And I can smell it pretty good too when exiting the car.

I havent needed to fill it anymore. As for the coolant level it sits at the full cold when the engine is cold (like sitting all night) and full hot or just above during operation from what I can tell. During the day when it is warmer out, as I live in the utah desert, the coolant all drawn back in the radiator but I assume its because its hot outside an the coolant doesnt cool enough for it to dothis. Yes the gauge will go down to about the 1/3 mark when moving. The fans will eventually bring the temp down from the half mark to the 1/3 mark, at least so far it has, I havent had any real over heating like I did before I changed the waterpump.

The coolant Doesnt all get drawn back into the radiator when its hot out is what I meant to say in my previous post.

Hmm. It looked the same size as the previous original radiator. The fan does come on and it will bring the temp back down, then it turns off. I worry about it cause of already said paranoia. Lol I will maybe take it to a car wash and spray the radiator off to see if the fins are blocked.

Today while observing it I observed the temp gauge go over half way before the fans started to cool it off. Here is the radiator I purchased:

Spectra CU1290.

I purchased it from a autozone. This all started when I installed this radiator, maybe it is the reason for my troubles. Any recommendation on a radiator?

I have the same problem, I have done everything you have except for water pump. So you all's conclusion is that replacing the water pump should fix the problem/ or fixed yours? And how would water pump go bad? Everything I read about water pumps going bad is that they leak. Thanks

I have found that it wasnt the water pump at all. I have replaced 1500 dollars worth of parts and labor and mine is still having the same issue. I would start with a pressure test and a chemical test and see how that goes. When u start the car with the radiator cap off and it gets to operating temp, if u see flow of coolant in the radiator, then its most likely not the pump. Because of the cost to have the pump done I would try and be absolutely sure its that. Everyone told me that it was that, I spent almost a $1000 to get it replaced and mine still has the problem.

Did u do something to cause the problem? I replaced my radiator and thats what started it all.