help overheating

[rowhard]

just noticed the air conditioner was starting to blow out hot and look at that temperature and it was hot.

did this just happen once? what you describe here is the ac freezing up and that will cause overheating. If you were stuck in traffic and running the ac, that will happen

[zadam123]

happend a couple of times. if i keep it at aroud 50 mph i can last a half hr from start befor i have to pull over and let it cool down. at least thats what happend today with no traffic

[zadam123]

Well the mechanic said it was the clutch fan even though it didn't spin freely 4 me when I spun it or seem loosening . He said it is not spinning fast enough when the temperature gets hot.I guess well wait and hope this is the problem. Total is 175

[lasturbo]

I assume that is parts and labor cuz I got my fan clutch for under 90 bucks with a lifetime warranty. At least u are fixed now!!!!

[Marlin]

Should i try this on a cold Modor or let it warm up a little bit also how do i know if it's sucking dirt from rad. Do I just open the cap and look for bubbles is that what you mean?

For the sake of others, doesn't matter if truck is hot or not, you can actually feel the air from the fan blowing across the engine, it is really like a hurricane in there, at least with the torque cool fan clutch. Nothing to do with the radiator or anything. If you have any dirt or whatnot in the radiator externals, the fan will suck it through.

[zadam123]

At least u are fixed now!!!!

WRONG! He replaced the fan clutch with the aftermarket one ( when you guys said it sounds like a semi you werent kidding) so i throw on the ac and head home and 20 minutes later its still overheating WTF! i turned off the ac and it cooled down to like half way maby a little more so I called him back and he is trying to tell me it may be my head gasket.

I thought if a head gasket goes the car looses power and smoke comes from the exhaust. I am tired of this guessing game, im out $600. Is there anyway it can be a themostat, he told me if it was no good it would get hot really fast which it dont.

[tom4bren]

Another thing to try at least for this time of year would be to drain the antifreeze and just run straight water to get it home. The reason for having antifreeze at all is just to prevent it from freezing(clever name huh?) and to help prevent rust. Water by itself is a far superior coolant and would help keep your engine cooler in the meantime.

Not true. Anti-freeze is a magic elixer. It lowers the freezing point of the solution but it also raises the boiling point. The heat exchange factor could be as you say but if he's already prone to overheating, then he could actually overheat quicker if the water starts to boil.

I've never experienced it but was told that the vanes on the water pump can erode over time. On that tid-bit of info I changed the water pump on the Eclipse when I was having overheating issues. It was fine but it was time to replace the timing belt anyway so I didn't get too pissed.

I don't know if the VX has a similar problem but some engines are prone to getting an air bubble right behind the thermostat. That air bubble keeps the thermostat from responding to the water temp & opening. You have to get a special tool (can't remember what it's called) that fits on the opening of the radiator in place of the cap and allows you to have extra anti-freeze above the level of the radiator. When the bubbles work their way out, the anit-freeze flows in to replace.

If you do replace your thermostat, make sure you get the kind that has the blow-by plug. Supposedly if your engine overheats, fluid will leak by enough to save your engine ... in theory. In reality, take a pair of pliers and pull that plug out before you install in in the engine. Also, install it with the hole at the highest level. It should allow any trapped air to flow through and solve that trapped air problem.

Now to qualify EVERYTHING I've said. I'm still having overheating problems with the Eclipse so I may be out in left field. I've isolated the problem down to a relay that controls the fan (it never comes on).

[Ascinder]

Antifreeze does raise the boiling point, but water is unmatched at absorbing and carrying heat away. It may boil over, but then all that's boiling over is water and you can just add more to get home for far cheaper and less environmental impact than boiling out your antifreeze. I wasn't telling him to run his VX on it, he just wanted something to help get him home with.

[jdm monkey]

WRONG! He replaced the fan clutch with the aftermarket one ( when you guys said it sounds like a semi you werent kidding) so i throw on the ac and head home and 20 minutes later its still overheating WTF! i turned off the ac and it cooled down to like half way maby a little more so I called him back and he is trying to tell me it may be my head gasket.

I thought if a head gasket goes the car looses power and smoke comes from the exhaust. I am tired of this guessing game, im out $600. Is there anyway it can be a themostat, he told me if it was no good it would get hot really fast which it dont.

Maybe the thermostat is only partially opening... who knows.

[Riff Raff]

I would also point out that in my experience, any time you have weird/bad symptoms occurring right after somethings been worked on, it usually as a cause of that work. Most mechanics will tell you the "oh it's not that" story because obviously it would make them look bad to admit they screwed up, and 99% of the time the customer won't force the issue and make them correct their work. It also gives them more business since they're now working on "some new problem".

ASCINDER--- Hmmm, now the total is up to $600 and continues to grow. You are dead-on target about the mechanic!!!

[PK]

WRONG! He replaced the fan clutch with the aftermarket one ( when you guys said it sounds like a semi you werent kidding) so i throw on the ac and head home and 20 minutes later its still overheating WTF! i turned off the ac and it cooled down to like half way maby a little more so I called him back and he is trying to tell me it may be my head gasket.

I thought if a head gasket goes the car looses power and smoke comes from the exhaust. I am tired of this guessing game, im out $600. Is there anyway it can be a themostat, he told me if it was no good it would get hot really fast which it dont.

Well, it certainly could be a head gasket, or a cracked head.
But that should have been the first thing your mechanic checked and eliminated.
The engine would only loose power if it is real bad.
And it would not blow smoke, only steam like when you first start up on a cold day.

1. Check for water in your oil. (Oil goes milky like creamed honey).
2 Remove radiator cap and run engine at idle, revving up and down a bit as you watch water in radiator.

If the oil is milky, or you see bubbles, or water squirts out, then the head or gasket is gone.

Good luck.

PK

[Marlin]

Antifreeze does raise the boiling point, but water is unmatched at absorbing and carrying heat away. It may boil over, but then all that's boiling over is water and you can just add more to get home for far cheaper and less environmental impact than boiling out your antifreeze. I wasn't telling him to run his VX on it, he just wanted something to help get him home with.

And with the extra antifreeze you have since it is no longer in your truck, you can feed that to your significant other as a calorie free sweetener!!! Sorry, just saw the news about the chick that killed her husband and then a few years later her boyfriend by feeding them antifreeze.

[tom4bren]

Antifreeze does raise the boiling point, but water is unmatched at absorbing and carrying heat away. It may boil over, but then all that's boiling over is water and you can just add more to get home for far cheaper and less environmental impact than boiling out your antifreeze. I wasn't telling him to run his VX on it, he just wanted something to help get him home with.

OK, now we're on the same page

I H8d Thermodynamics in college. I do remember about the caloric capacity of H2O. Thinking about Steam Tables still gives me a headache.

I still remember PV=mRT from that class as well.

[zadam123]

Does anyone know how much a head gasket should see if that is the problem?.
I think the oil looks fine As far as bubbles are you talking about the radiator Because when i took top off the rad. bubbles were coming up

[tom4bren]

Bubbles in your radiator is not a good thing. What was going on at the time is important though.

Was it just a couple of small bubbles or were they big bubbles that just kept coming?

Was the engine hot at the time?

Was the radiator full?

I recommend you start over with the basics. Start with the most basic first.

Check to make sure the radiator hoses are OK (you can even do that before replacing the thermostat). With the engine at operating temperature, make sure neither of the hoses have collapsed. It doesn't sound like that is what your problem is but check anyway.

Take the VX to a radiator shop & get the radiator flushed & pressure tested. They'll should be able to spot any potential problems if there are any.

Most often the thermostat is the problem. Even though it was just replaced, do it again & get an OEM replacement from Isuzu (they are almost always better than the aftermarket ones from the box stores).