89tracerman

my car overheats when i drive it in the street but it doesnot overheat when i drive on the freeways why is this?

DerangedHermit

What kind of fan do you have? Efan?

89tracerman

no its the one connected to the engine

marlaman

do you still have the bottom underengine plastic tray thing on there and the fan shroud on?
M

89tracerman

it gots the top plastic thing. but dont know what you mean by the bottom under engine plastic tray?

gaskibba

The problem is air flow thru the radiator. Be cause you've don't overheat at speed, forget about the platic stuff. Your fan is probably freewheeling somewhat and not moving air too well. Just get another one from a boneyard and drop it in.
From the symptoms you describe that's the only posibility.
Good luck
Gerrard

torean

reach under ur car and try to touch the bottom of ur rad..if u cant and theres a plastic tray blocking it..then ur good..its there..if u can touch the rad and the tray isnt there..it should be there...if the tray is there then ur fan clutch might be bad....to double check this..while the car is parked...put ur hand above the engine and see if the fan is pushing ALOT of air....also u if u can stop the fan while the engine is warmed up....the fan is busted... go to the junkyard and pick up another one....hopefull it'll be good....or go towards the efan..might be a good choice to buy new rad caps and thermostat also

89tracerman

air flow thru the radiator? sorry im a newbie

torean

the fan clutch pulls air through the rad when the car is not moving......if the fan is not spinning properly....not enough cold air is moving through the rad to cool it properly

89tracerman

changed thermostat and cap and the fan blows alot or air, it is imposible to add coolant while car is on cuz it gets blown away by the air.

torean

hmm..is the fan shroud on?...

89tracerman

fan shroud on? is it the thing on top of the fan? cuz if it is yes it does have it.

gaskibba

Just what do you mean by "overheats"? Does it boil into the overflow bottle? Or does the temp gauge just go up? How far. Symptoms please!!

89tracerman

both the car boils and the temp goes up over the 3/4 mark (whats the normal temp1/4 right)?

RyoFC3S

iTrader: (1)

The fan shrowd is the gigantic black plastic peice that covers the radiator and partly surrounds the stock fan. If you can see your radiator from the engine bay then you don't have one.

-Andrew

torean

hmm...grab a mirror check the weeping hole...if its not leaking......then im all out of ideas....

89tracerman

weeping hole? as i said im a newbie

torean

ok....hmm....how should i explain this...im going to assume u know where the water pump is located.....its attached to the other end of the alternator belt...behind the pulley theres a hole on the housing....if theres water coming out.."weeping hole" it means the water pump is losing its seal...and time for a new one...IM me on aim and i'll explain it to u more SN is the same as my name on here

gaskibba

Does it not "boil" when you go right up to highway speeds? Does the gauge stay around the 1/4 mark? Does it cool down from 3/4 mark when you speed up to highway speeds?
Gerrard

torean

i was assuming that highway speed hte rpm would be aroudn 3-4k...while around city driving it would be around 2-2.5k

89tracerman

actally i have never taken it on the freeway when the temp is high only when its normal and i doesnt over heatuntill after 5 minutes when im out of the freeway. and yes some times when i drive fast on the streets it starts to go down but at the first red light the temp shoots up. (is the normal temp 1/4)

89tracerman

oh i forgot i was having fun with a friend this morning on the freeway and i hit a top speed of 120MPH and the temp was still normal and its not the weeping hole cuz i also changed the water pump (OFF-TOPIC he had a integra and it toped at 105MPH)

torean

what are u running in the rad?..water or 50/50 mix?....did u bleed the cooling system properly?

89tracerman

bleed the cooling system properly? this is what i did firts i added antifreeze 50/50 then let the engine run then when the thermostat opens i turned off the car and added more 50/50 and i was wondering about the screw on top of the radiator i turned it but it seemed to go no where. can u explain the corect bleeding procedures?

torean

unsrew the plastic plug at the hose/rad connection, fill at the top and when the water starts coming out of the hole screw the plug..then put the cap back up and squeeze the upper rad hose a few times....u'll hear water moving around..open top and fill some more...repeat 2 times..