overheating KA need help!!!

[Nick 240]

Alright guys i have dual cam ka and it keeps overheating but not all the time. sometimes when it gets close to the Hot side if i turn off the car and coast for abt a 1/4 mile the temp will go down and it will run fine. Also when i'm on the freeway the temp will rise and then all of sudden the temp will just go back down again and it'll keep going back and forth.
i changed my thermostat, radiator cap, clutch fan. i bled the system for bubbles and i think i got all of them out and i don't think its my headgasket because i don't have any coolant in my oil.
if you guys could tell me what you think it could be that would be great.

thanks in advanced.

[ELF240]

Maybe is a cluster issue or your temp gauge?

[negrosx13]

sure that t-stat is opening???

[240sxxs]

you change the thermostat doesnt mean it working..or vice versa...but make sure leave your car on and put it on jackstand and tell another person to step on the gas for a while and check for hte thermostat and see if it open

[lilrusty]

possible air in cooling system?? jack up car and rev up car while pumping on radiator hoses. get all that air out.... remember if using oe thermostat they typically wont open up till about 190f. so it might be a while.

[ELF240]

possible air in cooling system?? jack up car and rev up car while pumping on radiator hoses. get all that air out.... remember if using oe thermostat they typically wont open up till about 190f. so it might be a while.

To add to that make sure to run the heater core

[brian3676]

try bleeding it out on a hill, so that your front of the car is facing up the hill, Also oil/coolant mixture does not mean your HG is fine, There is 5 ways it can techinacly blow
1.between cylinders
2. coolent to cylinder
3. oil to cylinder
3. oil to coolant
5. all the above

Do a compretion and leak down test to know for sure, sounds to me like it may be a HG......

[zenki.life]

try bleeding it out on a hill, so that your front of the car is facing up the hill, Also oil/coolant mixture does not mean your HG is fine, There is 5 ways it can techinacly blow
1.between cylinders
2. coolent to cylinder
3. oil to cylinder
3. oil to coolant
5. all the above

Do a compretion and leak down test to know for sure, sounds to me like it may be a HG......

bing bing.

same shit happened to me.

[Nick 240]

thanks for the help guys. but if it was the headgasket wouldn't it overheat all the time. it only heats up on certain days and today i noticed that when the coolant goes from the radiator into the resivoir tank that the coolant doesn't go back into the radiator. so do you think that maybe the radiator is clogged so the radiator is not sucking the coolant back?

[blackrms13]

if u have a slight crack in the HG, it will overheat at random times, and have bubbles in the radiator....

[projectRDM]

possible air in cooling system?? jack up car and rev up car while pumping on radiator hoses. get all that air out.... remember if using oe thermostat they typically wont open up till about 190f. so it might be a while.

OE opening temperature is 176 degrees.


thanks for the help guys. but if it was the headgasket wouldn't it overheat all the time. it only heats up on certain days and today i noticed that when the coolant goes from the radiator into the resivoir tank that the coolant doesn't go back into the radiator. so do you think that maybe the radiator is clogged so the radiator is not sucking the coolant back?

Is the lower hose warm to the touch? Start there to determine if the thermostat is even working since an air pocket will not allow it to open. Then move on to other issues as the air pocket is generally the culprit.

[Nick 240]

yeah the lower hose is warm. so today it happened again but the temp didn't go up to high. i was at a stop light and my revs were starting to rise to about 1000rpm and then my temp gauge rose to right above the third line on the gauge. when i took off it went back down and worked fine. the temp was normal and my revs went back down to normal too.
so you guys just think its my headgasket that's just done?

[rioredstang]

its a headgasket most likely. If the radiator is clogged up you can feel the cores of the radiator. If the are hot all the way across its probley ok. if its cool at the sides then its clogged.

[Nick 240]

its a headgasket most likely. If the radiator is clogged up you can feel the cores of the radiator. If the are hot all the way across its probley ok. if its cool at the sides then its clogged.
well i checked the radiator and the sides of it were cold and the middle was hot.ao i guess that means its clogged. also i checked my upper and lower radiator hoses and the lower hose was hot to where it hurts . it was just as hot as the upper hose. are they both supposed to be that hot?