My engine is overheating?

The car had overheated while waiting at a stop light. Had at least a cars length between me and the other car. After I replaced the thermostat it over heated with me just going down a block and quickly coming back.

From what I was able to tell from the time it first over heated till I changed the thermostat the level didn't seem to lower at all. After changing the thermostat and refilling things it doesn't seem like its gone down. I did my best to get as much air out of the tubes as possible. Of course adding fluid as the air was released and before I tried going down to the next block.

Hi Joe,

Yes I put the thermostat in correctly as I had double checked it before I sealed it closed. Yes the cooling fans did and do turn on. No the coolant never was boiling in the system. I wouldn't have thought so either but for some reason it was. As it was pretty hot outside when I tried going the block.

There must have been some air in the tubes some where. As after I had responded back to you last night I decided to check everything again to see if I missed anything. I squeezed the top and bottom radiator hoses to make sure no air or at least to try for non. When sneezing both fluid popped out. From there I went down and around the block to try it again and this time it stayed at normal temperature. Ran it this morning and no over at all. So I am hoping it was just air caught and not the water pump starting to go out on me like a friend is saying. Especially since they were telling me that it not taking care of the extra air is a sign of it going out. It would be extremely be appreciated and I would be extremely grateful if I could get your thoughts and or opinion on if my friend might be correct about the pump. Thank you for all of your help and advice.

How can I troubleshoot whether the fan is burned out or the thermostat is bad? Are there 2 poles I can jump to make the fan turn on to test the motor?

I just flushed my radiator and filled up anitfreeze and the car is overheating. Fans not kicking on and hoses don't feel like there is any antifreeze in them. How can I test the water pump vs the thermostat is bad? Fans should have kicked on by now.

Thanks, Matt

Thanks for your reply. I had changed the thermostat as the lower radiator hose wasn't hot, thinkiing maybe it was stuck closed. Refilled radiator & same thing once @ operating temperature. No pressure on the return radiator hose & feels empty, coolant not moving in radiator when running. Tells me water pump is not circulating. Fans won't come on as coolant isn't hot since its not getting into the block to cool off & engine overheating.

Thanks bluelightnin6.I kept squeezing both hoses closed no problem and figured has to be no circulation. Thing is timing belt has to be removed to get to the pump. Only 70k on the water pump from the last time timing belt was done and pump also. Aren't they normally supposed to last longer than that?

That probably explains why mechanic told me to keep eye on coolant after I had it inspected last. Seems I was losing a little. Rather lose it that way vs head gasket. Guessing its a 4-5 job at most for the shop. Might try to tackle it myself since they are closed until next week. Thanks for your advice bluelightnin6

I have a 1996 Toyota Camry with 194000miles and runs very strong. After driving about 16 miles on the highway, at my destination, I turned off the car and heard a water rumbling sound. I opened the hood and the coolant in my overflow resevoir was boiling heavily. I know the coolant is hot but I've never seen it boiling in the overflow before. Is this normal?

My car is idling really low in the morning when I first start it, and its loud. Sounds and feels likes its going to stall out. Now its also overheating, but the heat works just fine, so I dont think its the thermostat but I dont know much about this stuff so I need your help. When I first noticed it was overheating I checked and I was out of antifreeze but I put antifreeze in it and it is still overheating. Do you have any ideas?

Loud when first starting? It what sense? Does it sound like an exhaust leak?

In regards to the overheating issue you may have a system leak which can be an attribute to your overheating issue. If the system is full with healthy coolant and your stilll are overheating I would suspect a thermostat. Also are your radiator fans coming on? The fans may not also be coming on causing the car to overheat which can because of anything from a bad fuse, fan motor, wiring fault ect.

First find out why you are loosing coolant. Either a system leak is present, poor coolant boiling point, poor radiator cap not allowing the system to go under pressure to spec causing coolant to boil over.

This should give you an idea of where to start. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

I have a 93 toyota camry and just had the head gaskets replaced, water pump, timing belt, hydraulic tensioner and radiator replace. The car runs well while idling and eventually the temperature rises. When driven the temp rises rapidly and the water in the coolant resivor tank begins to boil. I just took the thermostat out and will probably change the coolant temperture sensor to see if that will help. One thing that I noticed when changing the raditor the old one was clogged with some type of seelant solution. Can someone please give me some suggestions in helping me resolve this issue. Thanks