Overheating

[madder]

My brother was using my car recently and tonight on his way home he said the temperature gauge went up to the red peak and there was steam/smoke coming from under the bonnet. He said he stopped the car and got out. There was water pouring heavily under the car*towards the front) and a little bit through the front grill of the car. He figured that the car has a radiator leak. In his 'wisdom', and because there was no auto store open or nearby, instead of buying a rad fix type product which might temporarily fix the problem he waited for the car to cool down and then cracked an egg into the radiator. He then topped it up with my antifreeze and some water. First thing I'd like to know is this? What was the thinking behind the egg and is it going to damage the radiator? SOunds like one of those terrible wives tale solutions. Also I'm gonna look a right idiot when I do get a mechanic to check it out this week and he finds a poached egg in the radiator. Anyway, my brother got the car back to me, and when he did it was steaming a little from the radiator around where the cap sits on(probably cooking the egg!!!). But the temperature gauge was in the middle which looks normal enough to me. No real suggestion of over heating anymore.

What I'd also like to know is this? Does this look like an easy enough fix such as a rad leak or a worn house or something, or might it be the head gasket?

I haven't really noticed any strange engine noise and the car has been running fairly well for a 97 Carine E. It's a 1.6 litre petrol.

Only strange things I've noticed in the past 6 to 12 months were the car losing power last year shortly after startup, which seemed to be solved after spraying the Idle Air Control Valve with Carburetor Cleaner. And then about 3 months ago, the leanburn sensor warning light finally turned off after being on for years. I never replaced the Leanburn Sensor since it failed as it was a known fail in the car and it had no impact on the car test so I just left it. But the warning light for the failed sensor has been off now for at least 3 months! Doubt if that's relevant? So who can offer me advice or probables? And let me know if the egg was a good, bad or terrible idea! :-(

Cheers!

[petroleum]

Well --- ? first the light on the dash was probably so tired of staying on all those yrs with not being attended too, it has fizzled out on its own

Second although I have never tried it myself, thought it was the white of an egg that one put in the rad Also how come your friend had an egg at hand to poach anyway?!

If the car now is running ok? it cant be the cyl head i e ( would be a constant fault from then on ) although wouldnt blame it if it was, after that ordeal? We will just have to see how this story pans out!

[Golden bay NZ]

Hi

I would first find out if it overheated because it was low on water?

Check your coolant levels in the morning when the car is cold. Makes sure the radiator is full and your reservoir or overflow container is up to the line (about a third full normally). Its important to only fill this when the motor is cold as it will be almost empty when the motor is hot. Thats normal

You may have something simple like a lightly cracked radiator hose. This is likely as your problem happened suddenly.

Its probably worth taking your car to a garage when its fully warmed up and they can put it on a hoist to check your hoses

DONT put any stop leak chemicals in it yet. This is a desperate resort for a leaky radiator and it can cause other problems. New alloy radiators are very cheap now and available for almost all Toyotas

Also get the garage to check your radiator cap. If its old it may not hold pressure and they can let water out

This is a basic start and there are other things it may be which other members might tell you.

You can unscrew the oil filler cap and look inside it. A good motor has a clean cap or a small amount of black gunge. A large amount of gunge means your engine is old and tired. A yellowy or white coloured gunge means it has a cracked head from overheating. This can be fixed at a cost. But if this has happened your car is so old it may be worth upgrading rather than pouring money into it

A worse problem is if your car is losing water and you cant find out where. This is usually caused by electrolysis in the head and your water goes through tiny holes straight into your combustion chamber. This is caused by the japanese owners never changing the coolant fluid. If this is the case you're looking at around 600 pounds and may be better off getting a new car. I hope not though

If your head is cracked and you dont want to fix it ..and if th ecrack is a small one, you may be able to keep driving it for quite a while. If it keeps losing water and overheats you can buy products that may fix it for a while. I had a van that was too expensive to fix and i used 3 cans of 'chem-i-weld' over a year. It ran fine until it stopped. This product will permanently ruin your engine and is a last resort

If all else fails, take some bread and bacon with your eggs and then you wont go hungry while you wait for a tow.

[madder]

Well --- ? first the light on the dash was probably so tired of staying on all those yrs with not being attended too, it has fizzled out on its own

Second although I have never tried it myself, thought it was the white of an egg that one put in the rad Also how come your friend had an egg at hand to poach anyway?!

If the car now is running ok? it cant be the cyl head i e ( would be a constant fault from then on ) although wouldn’t blame it if it was, after that ordeal? We will just have to see how this story pans out!

:-) Same question I asked! Apparently he had been shopping on the way! I haven't checked the car yet. I intend on checking it now in a few minutes. I'm going to check out the radiator resevoir and see if it's low or empty. I presume that if it is, then it must be a leak. If not then I'll check the 2 hoses and see if they're ok. I'll also take a look into the top of the radiator. I will also check the oil cap for residue. Think that's the lot?

[madder]

Ok. So far so good. I checked the oil cap and there was no residue at all. Just blackness from the oil.

The radiator resevoir, however, was very low. Beneath the lower line. The hoses between the radiator and the engine, while old, seem to be in tact. Is there a simple test I can do here?

SO what should I do next?

I'm thinking that I should fill up the resevoir and the radiator itself and start the car, let it run a while and see what happens next? Anyone agree?

[madder]

Ok, I think I may have been a little more foolish then I already seem. I just checked the oil level and it's sitting below the lower line also. SO could it be the the engine is boiling off the water/coolant as the oil is so low?

And if so, considering it's just below the lower line, how much should I put in to bring it back up to the correct level and drive to the nearest mechanic?!!

[Golden bay NZ]

Yes, fill the oil and water and take it for a drive.

The reservoir was low because it had already overheated and thrown out water.

Re: the pipes..cracks are sometimes obvious but sometimes not, thats why I recommended putting it on a hoist.

But it sounds like it overheated because it was very low on oil and was very close to seizing if it hasnt already.

It will need a litre of oil at least, probably more.

It should run fine hopefully, but it may have shortened its life a little.

And if it seized you may get increased oil consumption

[madder]

I have topped the oil up and it took almost a litre to get it to the correct level between full and empty. The next problem is the fact that I am sure the radiator was recently topped up with part antifreeze and part water. Currently I'd say the wayer is as much as 65% or maybe even 70% of what is in there. I assume the egg won't do any damage.

So should I just topp the reservoir up with premixed coolant and allow the radiator to take it after the water boils away? Or do I pour the premixed coolant into the reservoir and then later add some antifreeze directly to the radiator and try to balance it up that way? It's tricky!

[Golden bay NZ]

I dont know if Id buy any coolant until you know your car is ok

It will run fine unless you have frost there?

If you do just throw in another litre of antifreeze, too much wont hurt it. 50% water/coolant is what you want

But just buy the cheapest, your car doesnt need anything special or premixed

You can take it to a garage and they have a coolant ratio tester

Its a little suction syringe thing that takes water out of the radiator and you look to see how many 'balls' are floating..

[madder]

Thanks a lot for that. Will it matter if a premixed coolant is mixed with antifreeze and water? Probably not enough to worry about at the moment eh? :-)

[Golden bay NZ]

No - its the overall ratio thats important.

But its really only important in winter so you dont freeze your water

[madder]

As close to 50/50 as possible. Ok, well I'll fill the reservoir with the premix I have here. 1 Litre. I will go and get the mix tested then tomorrow and try to match it up appropriately from there. Thanks a lot. Appreciate it.

[madder]

Ok, just did all this and started the car. All was fine. It didn't overheat and the fan behind the radiator came on, but then I noticed a drip coming from the front grill of the car and a small puddle appearing under the front of the car just below the left side of the registration plate. I crouched down to have a look and saw, through the grill, a small hole in the radiator and water was spraying out of it and out the front grill of the car. What do I do? Replace the radiator? Get something in the car shop that will seal it but may hurt the engine or get a mechanic to weld it or what?

[Golden bay NZ]

Thats good news..it means your motor didnt overheat because it was low on oil.

Im not sure how easy they are to fix. Your radiator may need a new core. Id guess about 90 to 100 pounds. For about 140 pounds (Im converting NZ$) you can get a new alloy radiator off e -bay or somewhere. These are made in china. Original Toyota ones can be expensive.

Whether you want to do this depends on how good your car is and how long you intend to keep it.

A can of 'radiator weld' or 'stop leak' will probably fix it, but a lot of people dont recommend this product. Only use this if your car is getting old and not worth spending much money on. If you do use it, pour it in slowly or in small amounts at a time..otherwise it can form blockages.

[Jack Taylor]

Me and my dad did a radiator change on our older toyota carina II 1.6 and that was a very easy job to be honest. Cost us about £60 for a new Rad and we unbolted 2 bolts and took the 2 hoses off and slid the radiator up and out in about 10 mins. We had the new one and water back in in about 30 minutes.

I think this is the correct one for your car

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOYOTA-CARINA-E-1-6-1-8-1992-1997-CAR-RADIATOR-NEW-/280609419386?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item41559ff07a

[madder]

Thanks guys. I'm considering bringing it to my local breakers yard and getting them to fit one from a scrapped car. I'd be willing to fit a new one myself such as theone on eBay there, but I'd be worried about bleeding the system after inserting new coolant etc?

[Jack Taylor]

To refill ours what we did was fit it all back together sealed the hoses to the radiator. Once we had it all back together we just poured loads of water into the top of the radiator through the cap (Not sure if the newer carinas have caps on the rads) and then when the rad was full we started the car which drew the water from the rad and into the engine and we just kept filling until the water didnt drop any more. Then we filled the header tank up to half way and it was sorted.

[Jack Taylor]

Oh yeah and we ran the engine with the heater set to warm so that the water flowed up that pipe and filled all the heater radiator as well.

[madder]

What about Rad-Weld? Or Bars Leak? Is this a genuine option. I took another look at the leak. The general wet area seems to be about the size of the hole in the middle of a CD. But it's spraying more like a shower head, so I reckon there is a collection of tiny holes. Perhaps Rad weld would fix it?

[madder]

Just checked the Halfords website and they sell a 'radweld plus' which claims to fix larger leaks. Well worth a try I reckon. So I'm definitely gonna try that! :-) I'll report back later or tomorrow with the verdict! :-) Thanks for all the help guys.

[madder]

So here's the latest. I bought 250ml of RadWeld PLUS. Poured around half of it into the radiator and topped up with 1 litre of water and 1 litre of antifreeze/coolant. AT that point the radiator was seemingly full. Topped up the reservoir with the 50/50 premix and about 50ml of radweld plus. Turned the engine on with the heater on full. Let the car run for 20 minutes and voila, seemingly no leak. Miracle! I have to check the coolant level again now once the radiator cools down in an hour or 2 and hopefully I'll be back in business! :-) Stay tuned!

[Golden bay NZ]

Bleeding it is usually easy.

You just fill the radiator up, leave the cap off and run your engine until all the bubbles dissappear. Keep topping it up during this time

It will often throw out water, but just keep topping it up. This can take up to 15 or even 25 mins. You need to turn your heater on as well

Check your levels the next mrning when the car is cold

[madder]

Ok. SO i just too the car out for a 1 hour spin around North Dublin. No overheating, no leaking. All, seemingly, good. I checked the reservoir and filled it to the top line. I will check it again in the morning! :-)

[Golden bay NZ]

Sounds good. Just watch your temp. come summer.

Help you car by only running it with a 1/4 tank of fuel, get a can of tyre foam and chuck out that spare wheel and jack and wheel cover!

Your car will be lighter and you will have more room in the boot..

Thats my tuppence worth..

[Jack Taylor]

If you want to be really picky about this you could also do a good oil and filter change and put some nice fresh oil in. This will help keep the car running smoother as well as debris that has built up in the oil will be causing more friction so this will help stop it.

jack