Mechanics: Help! I'm not stupid. Just ignorant. (car maintenance # 2)

[Bertha Venation]

See this thread for background; in short: '95 Tercel, getting close to overheating in rush hour traffic. Never done it before.

I read the owner's manual and accordingly bought ethelyne-glycol. The owner's manual said to check the coolant reservoir. It was empty. I filled 'er up (50/50 prestone & water).

Same thing happened again this morning: engine ran too hot.

Now, keeping in mind that I am not stupid, but merely ignorant (there's a difference), I didn't put anything in the radiator itself because the manual said nothing about that.

Should I put some in the radiator, too?

[GOPisEvil]

1. I'm thinking coolant might not be your problem now.

Might be the ol' thermostat or one of the myriad other causes on your original thread. Got a good mechanic? :-)

[Misinformed01]

3. Also, if there are no coolant leaks

visible, check your oil dipstick...if it looks like chocolate milk or pudding, you could have a blown head gasket.

[GOPisEvil]

9. Now, now...don't be scaring her!

Bertha, dear, find yourself an honest mechanic (if you don't already have one). :-)

[Misinformed01]

12. Sorry!

Best place to find a good mechanic on the internet...Cartalk! Go to their website and look for the X-files-

Stephanie

[Bertha Venation]

4. shitfuck'n'damn

No, I don't have a good mechanic. Well, I do, but he's in California.

I should probably take it to a dealer. When we were on vacation last month, the check engine light came on. But it went off after a few days. I was thinking I should get it checked out anyway.

Hmmm. . . . pay mortgage, or get car fixed . . . .

[GOPisEvil]

11. Are you a AAA member?

Even if you're not, try finding a shop that is AAA recommended. AAA will stand behind the work any of their recommended shops do (if you're a member). Also, if you're a member, you get a discount. :-)

[dweller]

14. ask around, perhaps a friend could

recommend a good shop.
thermostat is least expensive, water pump more, and while they are there have them check timing belt, which will be much more but could save you a huge expense further down the road.

engine light on for a few days, not a good sign...best to have that checked yesterday.
dp

[ewagner]

5. Good call

Also, if you put coolant in the expansion tank, run the engine after filling it so see if the level goes down.

The coolant loss may be related to the thermostat problem, or there may be a leak in the system somewhere (hose, or god forbid, the radiator itself.)

[bearfan454]

8. Do you have green fluid under your car in the morning ?

If you do cats love the way radiator fluid tastes. It is deadly to them.

[Bertha Venation]

13. thanks, bearfan

It's not leaking coolant -- least not that I know of yet -- but I was aware that it's deadly and won't let them near it. Thanks.

[bearfan454]

6. That is right too.

It could very well be the thermostat only.

[bearfan454]

2. Yes Bertha - a 50 /50 mix in the radiator also until it is full.

If it still overheats it is probably the water pump. About $175.00 plus installation. Usually they are very hard to get to(of course) so they want people to take it to the dealer. The dealer charges more.

[dweller]

7. know a good mechanic?

if you've added coolant to the res, can you notice if any is gone/level changed?
could be low in the radiator itself.

you can only add it while the car is cool and topping it up can take awhile for air bubbles to rise up and escape.

but i would bet you have a stuck thermostat, therefore a mechanic is your best bet. Unless you are adept at this type of work...

good luck
dp

[Frodo]

10. If the reservoir is still full

there whould be water in the radiator. But you do need to see if there's anything in there. Don't do this while the engine is hot... and if you open it anyway (say with a towel), don't add water to a dry hot radiator - you're asking for a facial steam peel.

Could be a bad thermostat, or a coolant leak. Neither is all that expensive to repair.

Could also be a water pump. A little more, but not an option.

[ArkDem]

15. Sounds like you need to replace the thermostat.

[Don_G]

16. Does It Have An Electric Fan?

Having a blown fuse or a bad motor on the fan would prevent it from moving air through the radiator too.

You can pop the hood when the motor is running and starting to heat up to check if it's running or not.

[Career Prole]

17. Did you check the fan like I suggested yesterday yet?

When the engine temp's up higher than you're used to seeing it, pop the hood and see if the radiator fan is running. Won't take but a sec and you can eliminate that as a problem. That'll cause the problem as you've described it in the other thread. When you're in traffic the engine will heat up since there's no airflow through the radiator unless the fan's running. The fan used to be belt-driven from the engine, but nowadays they're usually electric motors controlled by a thermostatic switch (but we still call v-belts "fan belts" :)).

[northzax]

18. yup, only one solution I can think of

junk it and buy a new one. Mechanics are too expensive. Frankly, I usually do this when they get dirty, but some folks are different.

[midnight armadillo]

19. Coolant reservoir is meaningless

The only measure of the radiator level is what's in the radiator. When the engine's cold, pop the top on it and take a look.

As others have suggested, if it's full you can suspect the thermostat or the fan. If the fan doesn't turn on after a few minutes of idling in warm weather, bingo.

The water pumps in Toyotas are pretty solid and unless you're at some multiple of 75k miles or so it's unlikely to have gone tits up. Thermostates are pretty easy to change out. It's also possible that the radiator has simply corroded too much internally and won't flow enough fluid. If you pull it, you can easily check for this since it'll crumble when you run your fingers over it (this happened to my old 90 Camry once).

The green antifreeze is corrosive - the orange stuff sold by Mercedes is more expensive and much gentler on the cooling system. You can also get your engine oil analyzed for radiator coolant to see if you have a head gasket leak.

[Career Prole]

20. Hey BV!

I just PM'ed you some links which should help. Check your Inbox! :)