This was the second time this car gave me the same problem. I'd say the engine itself had a clear problem staying cool. The only solution seemed to be a replacement engine; and I wasn't going to do that with 165K miles on a 16-year-old car.
sporadic overheating ........ then cooling on its own after a few minutes, air in radiator, new radiator cap was installed, coolant started staying in reservoir, showing low coolant, more air... been watching real close, finally yesterday..... you can smell the coolant, small cloud...... head gasket is bad! Hopefully the block / head are not damaged. Service / parts $1000.00 or Backyard Mechanic under $500.
The temperature of the car was close to the 3/4 of the gauge when i was in traffic. I changed the thermostat, all the sensors, the radiator and the water pump, to find out that the head gasket was damaged and the head was cracked ... lots of fun. i found out what was the problem when i realized that the engine was burning some prestone .... about 1 gallon every 2 months ...
i heard a loud squeeling, fan belt type noise; the pulleys sounded loud and it overheated. I was using a/c at the time. But now it seems to be overheating all the time. Help! Where do I start my troubleshoot?
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Car ran hot regularly. Cooling system couldn't keep engine cool. Heads warped/cracked. Had replaced.
- jonla, Carlos, MN, US