twinturboa600

my car is overheating. after the thermostat needle went to 5/6 of the bars, the overheating warning came on.

I was about 1/2 mile from home, so i drove home slowly and popped the hood. At first i thought maybe i was low on coolant.. so i slowly opened the coolant reservoir. I noticed the coolant was BOILING!! and it rushed out.. leaking everywhere. I closed the cap, came back a hour later, filled it up with more coolant.. and thought i would let the car sit for a few hours. a few hours later, i drive it for a few miles. When i started the car, the needle is all the way left.. for most of the trip, it is in the middle (50%:: normal) but the needle was slowly rising and by the end of my trip the overheating warning came on again...

i have 90K miles... is it the water pump? thermostat? i go to UC San Diego (originally from sacramento) and was planning to drive my car back up to Northern California next friday (dec 9th).. but i guess not.. not with this problem. Im not gonna drive my car any more till I hear from you guys. Please respond immediately, thanks!! i really appreciate it. I searched a little on the forum archives, but i couldnt find a cause-effect directly relating to the waterpump or overheating in general.

email: rsachdev@ucsd.edu
phone: (916) 837-3514
aim: ricencurri

thanks again guys, i will check the forums every 30 minutes as well

Justin:NorCal

The thermostat is probably not opening. Has the Timing Belt procedure been done yet?

MarkFank

highway speeds it is most likely your thermostat.

My thermostat went out recently & it would get hot regardless of the speed I would drive. If it was a fan problem, you'd be overheating in traffic but at highway speeds there is enough airflow to keep it cool.

twinturboa600

no not yet...
is the thermostat something i can replace myself? does my thermostat need replacing, or repairing?

twinturboa600

so either way, i shouldnt drive it long distances?

nhkayalker17

90K and no timing belt replacement??? Isn't that in the 60K service???

MarkFank

It may be worth doing the timing belt, tensioners & water pump at the same time since you have to have the front end of the car off to get to them. Plan on $1100 to have all this done at a dealership.

MarkFank

I wouldn't risk it. If you overheat too much you can damage the engine.

Mike2kS4

Feel your radiator, if it's relatively cool, your 'stat isn't openening properly. If you have a leak, well, the repair for that is obvious.

There are also some more sinister possibilites too... but these are the most likely.

O.W. Kenobi

Never open the coolant reservoir when the engine is hot. You're lucky you didn't get burned.