3fe Overheating (1 Viewer)

[halibutmoney]

Hi Mud,

I just inherited a 92 from my brother. It was over heating, and the "coolant" in the system looked like mud. I think it had a lot of tap water + deposits. The fan clutch seemed to be bad, so I slapped a new one on, drained the mud coolant and flushed, with a refill of green antifreeze+ Distilled water. Still overheating.

Now, it overheats only once the car has been running for about 30-45 minutes or so. From a cold start, it warms up to operating temperature efficiently, then stays there for a bit, but at around the half hour mark I'll see the temp. gauge start to climb up and I've got to pull over to cool her down. Is this a bad thermostat? My brother says he put an OEM one in a few years ago with a new water pump, so is it possible that there is some gunk or something stuck in the T.Stat that's not letting it open or is it just failed?

 

[Alleycats]

Sounds like your due for a new radiator.

 

[jdayment]

What does the coolant smell like any smell of exhaust

 

[Otter]

Swap out the thermostat. A lot cheaper than a new radiator. Also swap in a new OEM radiator cap.

 

[halibutmoney]

Coolant smells normal. I just tried squeezing the upper radiator hose as it warmed up and it got more and more pressure, but never loosened, making me think it is the thermostat.

Also, the coolant seems to have dirtied itself rather quickly. Lots of brown dusty crap in it. Would it be worth running some kind of detergent while flushing again to get rid of it or just a good hose flush?

 

[jdayment]

Id flush with a detergent no telling what someone else mixed in there