car gurus help!

[chrisoh]

hey all, I have an overheating problem with my car and I don't know what the heck is wrong and all of the car shops are closed tomorrow. Ok, here's my problem, maybe one of you car gurus can help me.

Problem:
When the car engine is on and the car is in park and not moving, the engine temperature skyrockets to almost the red level. But when the car is moving, I guess the air is coming into the engine and the temperature goes back to a little higher than normal after i get the RPM's to around 1500. i checked the coolant and I have plenty of it and I don't know what else to do. Any ideas? It's a 1995 Toyota Avalon. Thanks guys.

 

[68GT350]

It could be a few things. I would start out by replacing the thermostat. It's simply a spring loaded valve which opens and closes acccording to how hot the engine gets and lets in or blocks coolant. Get a "Chilton" repair guide to find where your thermostat is and you can fix it yourself. It's a very easy fix. The part is about $20.

Also, this is unlikely, but it may be a clogged hose. Look for a tube from teh radiator or connected to the engine that looks swollen or worn. Replace as necessary.

I'm not sure about this one, but you may, and this is a big MAY, have a problem with the computer.



Most likely, you've got a thermostat problem. Good luck.

 

[68GT350]

If you've done the first two things, and they don't work it probably won't be the car's computer...

It's most likely then, the water pump. Make sure all your pulleys have belts around them. If it's not the thermostat and it's not a blocked hose, and it's not a busted belt, your water pump is likely dead and you'll have to rreplace it. This is a fairly expensive fix and shouldn't be done by an amateur. If you need to get yourself somewhere, call a cab cuz you be screwed.

 

[naturally anabolic]

has your radiator been leaking recently? when was the last time your thermostat was changed? Check your oil.

it could be the oilpump as well, it could be the car running extremely lean and detonating *it would have a rough ass idle if this was true*

my bet is the same as boach, failing thermostat, though i would not rule out a few other things

*please note my own knowledge is cars which are forced induced so normal naturally aspirated cars are not my area*

 

[naturally anabolic]

boach, a water pump isn't really a big deal....i can even do it on my boxster

 

[68GT350]

has your radiator been leaking recently? when was the last time your thermostat was changed? Check your oil.

it could be the oilpump as well, it could be the car running extremely lean and detonating *it would have a rough ass idle if this was true*

my bet is the same as boach, failing thermostat, though i would not rule out a few other things

*please note my own knowledge is cars which are forced induced so normal naturally aspirated cars are not my area*

By the sound of the symptoms, I highly doubt if it's the oil pump. Keep in mind that the car cools as the RPM's go up. Just the opposite would occur, I believe, if it where the oil pump.

ChrisOh, how is the idle?

 

[68GT350]

boach, a water pump isn't really a big deal....i can even do it on my boxster

For a newbie, it's a BIG pain in the ass. It requires removing belts and working on a transversely mounted engine. In a toyota, that's quite a feat. I have a Probe and it took me 8 hours to remove the damn alternator cuz i had to remove the exhaust system to get to it. FYI: the probe has Mitsubishi innards, thus the crampt fit.

 

[chrisoh]

the idle sounds normal, nothing rough, nothing noisy. As I accelerate from a standstill, the temp goes up even higher than when idle because the RPM's are getting higher and engine hotter I think and when I get to around 30+ MPH, the RPM's level out to the low 1500's and then the car starts to cool down.

 

[naturally anabolic]

DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR ATTENTION DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR....

don't drive the car anymore until it can be looked at or untill you look at it, if the engine is indeed overheating for one or any reason it can be extremely bad for the engine!

 

[chrisoh]

I read that on Toyotas you have to replace the radiator hose and fan belt every 2 years, how much would that cost?

 

[naturally anabolic]

depends on the mechanic somewhere around 100-120$ here in NY

 

[chrisoh]

and how long would a normal mechanic take to fix those two?

 

[naturally anabolic]

probably looking at an hour, of course there will be a coffee break, 2 smoke breaks and some sitting around

 

[chrisoh]

yeah, tell me about it, I'm not ever going to a Toyota dealership again to get stuff like this fixed, last time they changed a brake pad and charged me $75 an hour for 3-4 hours in labor fees.

 

[chrisoh]

does any auto shop at all work on sundays and fix problems like this such as midas?

 

[68GT350]

does any auto shop at all work on sundays and fix problems like this such as midas?

Just change your own fucking thermostat. Be a man! Jesus, do you even know how to fix a flat?

 

[68GT350]

and how about a thanx for all the free advice...

 

[chrisoh]

sorry gt, thanks for all the advice, but im not even sure if it's the thermostat, like you said it could be a lot of things so Im just getting it all checked out.

 

[rnch]

does this happen only with the a/c turned on?

check and see if the electric cooling fan(s), mounted on the radiator, are running.

i'm not sure of the set up on avalons, some front wheel drive cars have one on each side of the radiator, some have one big one or two smaller ones behind the radiator.

with the a/c not on, the radiator cooling fan should turn on automatically at a certain pre-set temperature.

with the a/c on, the fan(s) should run ALL the time.

there should be a fuse for the fan(s) that might be blown if they are not running.

without these cooling fans sucking air thru the radiator, the water temperature would skyrocket like you are describing, then cool off somewhat as the car gets moving and air is rammed thru the radiator.

 

[VicTusDeuS]

It could be the water pump, thermostat or cooling fan.

Most computerized cars have cooling fans hooked up to the thermostat via computer that has it turn on at a certain temperature. The reason that the car cools down when its moving is because air is passing through it. That isnt enough though which is why the car cools down when its moving but still isnt totally normal.

While the car is in idle keep an eye on the cooling fan(s) and see if they turn on or not. If they dont and you need the car you can jump the wires directly to the motor to get them spinning.

I had the cooling fan problem with one of my TA's and damn car would over heat in traffic and when idling. I had to jigga rig a switch into the car to keep the fans on whenever the car was on and by passed all the computer shit.

It could be something simple like a $20.00 thermostat though. Start the car and check out the fans first.

 

[68GT350]

sorry gt, thanks for all the advice, but im not even sure if it's the thermostat, like you said it could be a lot of things so Im just getting it all checked out.

I was just fuckin with you, but in all honesty, it's a 70% chance that it's just a simple busted thermostat. You'd probably ahve to change it out, anyways so even if it isn't you really didn't lose much. The fan advice is good too. I almost forgot about that and I had the same damn problem once.

Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. It's really hard to fuck up something as simple as a thermostat. You simply disconnect a metal joint where a tube connects to against the engine block. Then, between the metal joing and the block is a hat shaped object with a spring in the middle. That's the thermostat. Take it to your local auto store, buy a new one and swap it. It requires removing four bolts in total which is a snap. Should take you 20 minutes, max. If you can change a diaper, you can change a thermostat.

 

[chrisoh]

Thanks for the all the help, well I followed GT's advice and started poking around the engine to see if theres anything I can see visually thats wrong. I would've gotten a thermostat today but I noticed something very wierd. Yesterday night when the car started having these problems, I checked the coolant and it was FULL. Tonight (I haven't driven the car since last night) I just checked the coolant again and it was almost EMPTY. A full tank of coolant was gone... could this mean a leak in the hose or the radiator?

 

[chrisoh]

also, I just turned on the car and there are 2 fans behind the radiator, none turn on when the car is on, but when I turn the AC on, the left one spins, but the right one doesn't. I'm guessing the right one is the one that always should be spinning. Does the fan spin up only when the engine is hot or is it on whenever the car is on?

 

[RADAR]

those fans turn on when the load increases. As far a checking the thermostat ,remove it and drive the car and see if the problem still persists. if it does replace the thermostat, the thermostat's purpose is to allow the engine to heat up faster in the winter to get the heater running and such. RADAR