Overheating! Help ASAP

[KIMS CRUZER]

I picked my car up this am. Took it out ran it for a hour with a/c on and off. Then I went to two drive thrus, sat in park with it running about 15 mins. It didn't overheat! The temp here is only 76 right now. Yeah.....Well I thought , lets see it I have heat. Guess what no heat. Now what? I heard the fan kick on when I turned a/c on. I'm going to check the thermostat part no.. They replaced the thermostat and radiator. I have the old parts. The radiator has alot of orange colored sludge coming out at the connection. Ok my PT friends, why no heat? It gets mighty cold in Cinti.

[scrisp2]

Hey Kim,

Your problem sounds remarkably like what I had happen a couple of years ago on a 92 Sunbird that I owned. I replaced the radiator, water pump, thermostat, fan and the replays, and nothing worked. I took it to a Pontiac dealership, they couldn't find any problem. Then, I took it to and old guy that owns a little grubby gas station on the corner and within 5 minutes he had replaced a fusible link that is in a harness bolted to my engine, and I never had a bit of problem again with it.

H told me to never go to a dealership with overheating problems, but to take it to a radiator shop, they can usually diagnose it quicker and cheaper.

I saw in your post where they wanted $530(?) to replace the radiator. That is outrageous!! I just had a 4 core heavy duty radiator replaced in a 70 Buick with a big block in it and it was only $175 and cools better than new.

I'm not sure about our PT radiators, I think they are aluminum right? Recoring may be harder to do with these, but I've seen aluminum racing radiators that don't cost $530. The radiator isn't that hard or time consuming to replace, so I would check another shop and go with your intuition about not trusting this shop. You gut feeling is usually right.

Scott

[sobreedlove]

I really need some help!! I am at my wits end with my pt cruiser. I have a problem with my cruiser overheating. I have just replaced the motor and thermostat a couple of weeks ago and drove my car to work only for it to start overheating again!! The fans are all working properly and thermostat has been rechecked as well as the engine and radiator has been flushed I dont know what else to do. I have two kids and im without a car!!!

[CREWZIN]

sobreedlove,

Was the whole engine/motor replaced as you say? If so, how about contacting whoever did the work and tell him your problem. It should have started overheating when you got it back from the shop. Was the new engine tested or just picked up from a salvage yard? How many miles were on it? There's a number of things that need to be checked out not the least is the head gasket and water pump and when the motor was installed was it bled properly?

[FrancoRios]

Is this a common problem on PT Cruisers?

We bought a 2002 used with 132,000 miles a couple of months ago. The body is good and interior is very good. We like the car a lot.

But this overheating thing is driving us nuts. We can drive anywhere we want as long as its less than 30 miles away. The temp gauge always read right in the middle and stays there until we hit about 30 miles then it goes up to overheat. AC or no AC doesn't seem to make much difference.

Even going down the freeway. It seems to bubble up the coolant to the reservoir and then we are overheating.

We've taken it to a couple of shops. Pep Boys did a diagnositic and said no head gasket leakage. They said the fans were not working and sent us to an electrical guy. Electric guy found a burnt connector and replaced it, so the fans work. But still overheating.

Back to Pep Boys. They can't tell what is wrong with it. The other guys just shrug the shoulders.

We've changed the radiator cap. We had the thermostat changed on a suggestion from a guy at the PT Cruiser club and on websites. Still overheating.

Of course we bought it used so no warranty. We like it and we would like to drive more than 30 miles at a time. I am topping off the radiator with coolant every day.

There are no coolant leaks in the hoses or radiator. It all seems to bubble out of the coolant reservoir on the firewall.

I have not gone to Chrysler dealer yet because I did not want to pay top dollar for work.

What do you think my next move should be?

Go to the Chrysler dealer?

Have a good day!
Franco Rios
Sacramento, Calif.

[blzcruz]

I just went through all of this with my '01 Limited....I replaced the fan and it started to overheat again a few weeks later. I ended up buying a low mileage used 04 Turbo model out of desperation. A week later I crawled under the older Cruiser and noticed that the wiring at the connector for the fan came loose. After snapping it back together I've been driving it ever since (about 2 weeks) in post 90 deg temps in stop and go traffic without one overheating spell.

[CREWZIN]

Glad to see somebody on the thread not having a problem.

FrancoRios,

If your topping off the radiator everyday, are you bleeding the air out of the system? Are you using the correct HOAT coolant? Has the radiator been flushed. Sounds like after about 30 miles and the coolant not making it around the engine to cool things off, it's overheating. A blockage in the radiator will keep the running coolant at a snails pace and coupled with any trapped air, your going to overheat.

[FrancoRios]

I would love to be a "no problem" but I expect that will be soon.

As for air bleed, I tried to bleed the air from that valve (looks like a zerk fitting) near the thermostat, but I pushed a probe in there about 3/4 inch and no resistance so I can't tell if there is any air released.

I've been using Prestone coolant since it's easy to get and the guys in the club say they have no problem with it.

If I should use the HOAT I will have to make a trip to the Chrysler dealer, who is only 16 miles away, since none of the auto parts guys around here carry it.

Pep Boys said they did a flush when they changed the thermostat.

Maybe I should have Chrysler do a flush and coolant change?

Have a good day!
Franco Rios
Sacramento CA

[CREWZIN]

Originally Posted by FrancoRios

As for air bleed, I tried to bleed the air from that valve (looks like a zerk fitting) near the thermostat, but I pushed a probe in there about 3/4 inch and no resistance so I can't tell if there is any air released.

If you pushed in the zerk fitting, you should either get excess air or coolant. One or the other. If nothing than the fitting is bad or it's clogged up.

Back to your other post, if you have to top off the radiator, the coolant has to be going somewhere. Either leaking someplace or getting burned up in the combustion chamber. I know you Pep Boys guys said there's no head gasket leak but I'd double check. On the fan, do you see or hear the fan coming on? When it gets hot, do you hear the unmistakable sound of the high speed fan running. It's very loud, you can't miss it.

[FrancoRios]

Thanks for your reply.

On the airbleed valve, like I said, 3/4 inch probe and I touch nothing there.

I can't say that I've ever heard the highspeed fan. I'll have mechanic check for it. Maybe the electrical connection is still bad. Now if I'm driving 65-70 mph shouldn't that be enough to cool the radiator? Because it has overheated on me while I was on the freeway.

When I drive 5 or 10 miles to the store, when I park the coolant bubbles out of the radiator and overflows out the plastic coolant reservoir attached to the firewall. There is a puddle on the ground. Sometimes as I roll into a parking lot I find a trail of coolant that was coming from the car as I drive, so I think the coolant is coming out the plastic reservoir.

No cracks in the plastic either, no cracks in the hose, the reservoir is always full and I never fill the coolant reservoir.

One guy from the PT club replied to my plea for help. He says he has a 2002 and paid the Chrysler guys $1600 to replace a water pump to correct his problem with bubbling coolant.

Have a good day!