So a few weeks ago I was having over heating issues, caused by 1 of my fans not kicking on due to bad wiring. It was easy to tell it was the fan because as soon as I got the car moving with some air under it, it would start to cool off again.

Last night I was driving the car out to dinner, about 5 miles, no issues.
Got back in, drove another mile or so to a friends house, no issues (probably too short of a distance to tell).
When I started driving home as I got 9/10ths of the way there I hear the ding come on from the gauges and see the coolant is pegged around 250 and it kept climbing even as I limped it down the block and parked it.

I thought that I possibly sucked something up that would've caused a sudden blockage from underneath, but I looked underneath this morning and everything looks clear.

The coolant had all boiled over so I refilled the resevoir with some water/antifreeze this morning and turned the car on to let it idle for a few minutes. Both fans definately seem to be kicking on, although the left fan is so obscructed it's tough for me to see, I just put my hand nearby and felt a good bit of air moving so I'm assuming it's not that again. But the temps kept climbing past 220 even just idling so I turned the car off.

Some background info. The car is heavily modded '01 Coupe (heads,cam) with a Dewitt raditor and 172 deg thermostat. Would something blocking up one of the coolant lines manifest itself so suddenly like that? I've put about 800 miles on the car since I got it (75k+) and other than the fan haven't had any issues with heat, the car normally runs pretty cool, around 190 if I'm moving.

One thing that bothered me is although the temps were fine last night, the car did seem to be idling a little awkward at points. At one point I clutched in and the engine just hovered at 1500 for a while.

Does anyone have any ideas? I can take it in to get serviced but at this point I can't even get the car there without having it towed, so I'm trying to see if I can fix this one myself.

Thanks

 

If the coolant isn't flowing, it will overheat. Is the water pump "weeping"?

It's not an electric water pump (aftermarket) is it?

Not uncommon for a water pump to fail at or close to 100,000 miles. Usually they will weep (leak a bit) before failing.

Also not unusual that any slight cooling issues would be exposed by August Temps.

 

Its possible that the condensor is actually still blocked with debris. Air flow around the fan may only be that, around it, rather than through the radiator. Your thermostat may have failed too from the first fan loss.

 

I'm thinking it could be the water pump. I'll have to check that more carefully when I get back.

I'm just hoping limping it the last few blocks didn't do any permanent damage...:-(

 

Check the hoses for 'crimps' or 'collapsing'. If your hoses haven't been replaced in a long time, they get soft and can actually collapse and close themselves off. This normally results in XXX on the temp gauge at med-high RPM but when you turn the car off, then back on, the temps show normal (sometimes even after burping out some fluid at the tank).

FIX: I buy similar length 'universal' hoses, pull the internal wire structure out of them and reinstall it in the stock hoses. Eliminates collapsed hoses. (keep the universals for emergencies).

Just in case this might be your problem............

 

To check your water pump, put the ignition in the on position and you should feel it working if you open the hood and put a hand on it. If it is not working then follow the wires from the pump to the relay and see if there is any power coming out of the relay, or just replace it.

Otherwise it may be a stuck thermostat. You should be able to tell from the temp of the hoses. The lower one should be cooler (I think I have that right). Either way it should be a cheap fix.

 

Got it fixed. The wire connectors on the water pump relay had corroded and melted. Had the relay and wiring replaced and everything seems back to normal.

 

I've never heard of a water pump relay so will guess you meant one of the three fan relays. Glad its back to normal!

 

Electric water pump.

not sure if that's what he meant..but he could have.

 

Duh on me...that makes sense.

 

Don't worry. You're not alone. The OP never said anything about an electric water pump.

 

Sorry yeah, I had posted this on another forum and forgot that I hadn't said that here.

Minor details.

 

Cool, let us know what the other forum figures out for you...