Hey all on my daughters 97 fire I am getting strange things going on. She came home one day saying the temp gauge was just shy of red or at the max of the norm. I just put it down to a thermostat, so I installed a failsafe and new coolant. Now on the highway the gauge sits at the very beginning of normal (coldest) and in town it sits at 3/4 and creeps ever hotter. The upper hose felt pressurized so I loosened the clamp a fraction and steam like air shot out for like 30 seconds (air in system I assume) so I did this several times. At the same time I topped up the filler bottle as it filled the rad. It has been hinted to me the head gasket but I don't see white smoke or a mess in the oil and it still runs so darn good (with the exception of the low end knocking which has always been there). I have read other posts on this issue but still don't get it!! Can the filler bottle cap be at fault? How do I tell if the waterpump is working and could it be the reason? I am going to try and flush the system and do a homemade pressure test of system on weekend and see if it is leaking. Also will it hurt it if I drive it and it don't go hot, my drive is highway and short? Thanks for any input.

Sounds like everything is working, but there is still air in the system.

Its normal to have higher temps when in-town driving. (less airflow)

The radiator fan should come on when the temp gets over 195*, does it come on?




"A car just isn't a car without a little blood, sweat, and beers." -- Shadowfire

Sounds like this :

Quote:

What u need to do allow the engine to cool down, Take youre resivor cap off, Then start up youre car all the motor to idle for 2 mins, Then apply little bit of on the gas peddle, Around 1,000 rpms, Do this for 1 min on 1 min off, Have a some one watch see if the coolant is starting to flow out the resivor, For about 15 mins youre system should be completely free from air in the system. Also U can see if youre temp gauge is dropping as well. Also another question, Has the thermostat and coolant system been flushed?. If that doesnt help youre over heating issues, Might need to replace hoses, Rad


Good Luck.

Thank you and yes I do hear the fan turning on. And for the second reply I did do the cap off and engine running thing but maybe not for as long. It seemed to me that quit a bit of coolant was flowing out of the res!! If I recall as I rev it coolant came out and as I let off the gas it sucked back in. Was this what it was supposed to do? I was concerned that all the coolant was being pushed out. I have noticed the res cap has some crud jammed around the spring could this be doing it also? Really thanks for the replies and advice I am very gratefull.

just an update, car seems to be normal now after replacing the rad/overflow cap!! (as I knock on my head)