For the first time ever, I'm overheating...

[NiTrOuSoXiDe]

Yeah...

Last night, on my way home, I noticed steam/smoke coming from under the hood. I looked at my temperature gauge and it was all the way past the H. The check engine light popped on too. I pulled over and popped the hood, and there was some serious heat coming out of there. I started the car back up and drove home like this, but mind you there were no problems at all. If there wasn't any smoke, and no check engine light, I never would've noticed a problem.

Now, in my accident my radiator got hit, but no visible damage. I did notice, though, that my coolant resevior was empty. It's possble that I had a leak somewhere. So today, I put water in the resevior, like my father told me I should do a while ago, and drove around for like five minutes. No heat problems. I decided to give it some gas and see what happens, so I did, and within about 6 seconds the temp gauge went wild. What was odd, though, is that when I let go of the gas, about 2 seconds later the gauge went back to in the middle. I gave it gas again and it jumped up again. Still no obvious driving problems, though.

Possible diagnosis/resolution??

Thanks.

[BigMike]

try replacing the thermostat...that's what happened to mine, but then again i have a 8G...how many miles you got?

[NiTrOuSoXiDe]

144.5K

All the water I just put into the coolant resevoir was GONE. I just filled it up again, drove around the block and watched the needle jump up to H again. I got home, opened the hood and shut the car off. There was steam coming from the area where the resevoir is. The water was all still there, but then after about a minute of the car being off, I heard a noise coming from the resevoir. The car started sucking all the water straight out like an alcoholic poundin' a beer after an AA meeting...

It was actually pretty cool to watch that happen, but now what do I do? Fill it up with water again, or should I try to find some coolant and put that in there? Also, I'm not noticing any obvious leaks. Could this just simply be because there was no coolant in the resevoir for about 2 weeks, or could it be that something has actually gone wrong?

Also, how much does a thermostat usually cost and how hard is it to install?

[NiTrOuSoXiDe]

I'm thinking that the coolant ran out, and the car was working on the coolant that was already in the radiator, and it just a matter of time until that all burned off. If that's the case, the simple solution would probably be to just fill 'er up with coolant again, yes? I don't think it's the thermostat because I didn't do anything that would cause it to stop working, unless those things just break without reason like many other things on Mistu's...

Also, if my thermostat was damaged in the accident, wouldn't I have been overheating since then? This is the first time this has ever happened, ever. I've been driving around in the car after the accident for about 2 weeks, without an issue.

I'm going to wait for someone to give me the green light on putting coolant in. I don't want to just assume and dump it in there and have something go wrong. Should I do it?

[bronxbombr]

Either your radiator has a leak or there is air in the system, also if you did refill with antifreeze the wrong mixture of coolant and water can make it bubble out of the reserve. Other than that the last thing i would check would be the therostat.

[NiTrOuSoXiDe]

Ok, how exactly do I drain the radiator?

[mattalicslvr8g02]

on the 8g's there is a plug underneath I don't know about the 7g's

[RedGalant2k1]

I'm thinking that the coolant ran out, and the car was working on the coolant that was already in the radiator, and it just a matter of time until that all burned off. If that's the case, the simple solution would probably be to just fill 'er up with coolant again, yes? I don't think it's the thermostat because I didn't do anything that would cause it to stop working, unless those things just break without reason like many other things on Mistu's...

Also, if my thermostat was damaged in the accident, wouldn't I have been overheating since then? This is the first time this has ever happened, ever. I've been driving around in the car after the accident for about 2 weeks, without an issue.

I'm going to wait for someone to give me the green light on putting coolant in. I don't want to just assume and dump it in there and have something go wrong. Should I do it?

Anything can be damaged in an accident. With your mileage I would not be surprised at the thermostat failing, especially if its original. It happens on every car make, not just Mitsubishi so don't hold it against them.

Start with replacing the Thermostat and get the car scanned to see exactly what that engine code is for, then fix that problem too. If it leaked coolant it leaked for a reason. Be careful driving it before you get things fixed you wouldn't want to do more damage.

And I would recommend getting it checked by a professional shop, not AutoZone or you local autoparts store.

[NiTrOuSoXiDe]

I'm definately not going to be driving it under this condition. The last thing I need is to warp something...

Like I asked before, should I at least try draining the radiator, and refilling it with some new coolant?

If so, how do I drain it and how much coolant should I put in the radiator itself?

[RedGalant2k1]

I'm definately not going to be driving it under this condition. The last thing I need is to warp something...

Like I asked before, should I at least try draining the radiator, and refilling it with some new coolant?

If so, how do I drain it and how much coolant should I put in the radiator itself?

There should be a drain plug on the bottom of the radiator, unplug that. It will take time to drain all the coolant out the car holds 1.5-2 gallons of coolant. Yes fill directly into the radiator. Obviously make sure the car has cooled or sat for at least 30min-1hr. That way it would be 1) not superhot and 2)easier to drain.

After its drained replace the drain plug, be careful not to overtighten it too much, then start filling. At this point after you have filled it to the top you have to start the car and let it heat up. Leave the radiator cap off so as the coolant bubbles down in the radiator you can add more coolant. Also you will have to wait for the thermostat to open fully (thats when the car is at standard operating temperature). As the engine is heating up you can softly squeeze the coolant hoses to help get the air out of the system.

The car will probably take between 1.5-2 gallons of coolant so make sure you have enough to cover this need of coolant. It will be obvious when the coolant has completely filled the radiator and the air bubbles are gone, you won't see anymore bubbling out of the radiator. When thats finished put the radiator cap on, then fill the overflow tank.

I should mention a local quick oil change or mechanic shop can do that for you for probably around $75-100. Not bad considering 1)They do it on a daily basis, 2)Its easier and quicker for you.

[NiTrOuSoXiDe]

Thank you.

[NiTrOuSoXiDe]

How would one go about changing the thermostat? Where is it located? Should I swap in the new one before or after I flush out and put new coolant in?

[ZigenScarface]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NiTrOuSoXiDe)</div><div class='quotemain'>How would one go about changing the thermostat? Â*Where is it located? Â*Should I swap in the new one before or after I flush out and put new coolant in?</div>

u can see the thermostat housing, righ tat the end of the upper radiator hose, just 2 bolts and it comes off i belive, havetn did a 7g thermostat in ages, but its really simple, get a thermostat n a new rubber seal, pop off the top, take old out, new in, new rubber gasket in, rebolt it, might want to get some liguid gasket n go around the rubber one to make sure it seals nice n tightly, its like a 15 min job.. if that... to drain the radiator, just remove the lover radiator hose and let it all pour out, try flusing it too with some clean water to get any rust or antything else out

[DOHCstunr]

first off let me say you are a fool for driving it at all while overheating. even jsut to get it home. nothing like warping a head and blowing your headgasket from too much pressure. or how about your radiator end tanks, or worse yet, your heater core end tanks exploding.
then you'd have leaks all inside of your cabin.

now that i have slapped your wrist.

i thinmk its going to be your t-stat homes.

seriousl impact to the frame can cause the tstat to fail.

just similar to shaking a lightbulbs untl the filament snaps.

a long time ago i was at the mitsu deal er haveing a recal done. they parked my car out front, and when i pulled forward out of my space(had no idea tht it was there) i drove over a parking block. and when i dropped off the other side of the block, my frame came down hard onto the block, making a very loud and harsh impact(this was on my old ES)
i bbacked it over the bump, got on the road and drove about a half mile before my car started to overheat.
it was my thermostat.
damn, they got me twice on this one.




moral of the story if you are overheating and you haven't replaced a tstat in a long time, replace it first thing. namely cause they are dirt cheap.
and if you are a good boy and do like you should, then you aren't overheating cause your coolant is low or your radiator is rusted through due to nasty coolant.



its literally 2 bolts.
drain, 2 bolts
new tstat.
2 bolts and some rtv.
refill

drive

i could do it in 60 seconds if it wasn't for the draining of the coolant

[NiTrOuSoXiDe]

Thanks guys. I'm grabbing the wratchet and going outside right now.

EDIT:

Well, my father, before he left, pointed out which two bolts it probably is that I have to take off. I just took those two bolts off and the thing won't budge. I wish I had my camera to take a picture, I dunno where it is.

[DOHCstunr]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NiTrOuSoXiDe)</div><div class='quotemain'>Thanks guys. Â*I'm grabbing the wratchet and going outside right now.

EDIT:

Well, my father, before he left, pointed out which two bolts it probably is that I have to take off. Â*I just took those two bolts off and the thing won't budge. Â*I wish I had my camera to take a picture, I dunno where it is.</div>

hit it with a hammer
its just sezed on, or the old gasket/material is holding it together.

[NiTrOuSoXiDe]

Ok yeah, I got it off, but now I'm looking inside and I see nothing that looks like this new thermostat that I have. There's nothing there, it's just a hole. Also, the gasket that they gave me looks like it's too big to go anywhere. It's significantly bigger than the thermostat.

Again, I wish I knew where the camera is.

[NiTrOuSoXiDe]

Here, you see nothing in the hole. Am I looking at the right hole??



Here, I have the new tstat in hand, then new gasket and the hole in the background. As you can see, the gasket is significantly larger than the tstat and hole. Is it the right size?

Also, when I do put the tstat in, which direction does the springed side point?


Sorry for so many questions, but I've never done this before and I don't want to screw this up.

[DOHCstunr]

i think you popped off the wrong neck. try the one for the lower radiator hose.
to the left in the pic.
you should install the new tstat the same way the old one came out.

you can just use a little RTV silicone for the gasket if you want. no need for anything fancy. if you use the rtv, just let it sit for 10 minutes after you make the gasket, then clamp it down very lightly until the gasket seals on both sides,
then let it sit
then after about 15 minutes, bolt it down the rest of the way.
then give it 4-6 hours to cure before you fill it with coolant and start her up.

thats only if you don't use a gasket though.

[NiTrOuSoXiDe]

Ugh....... I'm getting so frustrated here...

Ok, after going back and forth to the auto parts store about literally 10 times, trying to figure this out with the guy, we established that I'd use this silicone stuff and he showed me how it should sit in the hole. I go home, I put it in the hole and this damn little copper thingy on the tstat is ruining all of my hopes and dreams. WTF is it, why is it there and WHY does it make the tstat sit all fucked up in the hole? I can't put the cap back on with that god damn little thingy there. The guy said that supposed to be there, but WTF???