2003 Eclipse overheating

[tom4bren]

the shop did this:

Replaced the thermostat

Replaced the temp sensor (I think it's the one for the guage, not the one to turn on/off the fan)

I've done this:

Replaced the water pump (& timing belt)

Replaced the thermostat

Tried bleeding (burping) the system (2x, I'm gonna try again tonight since I didn't have the heater on the first 2 times).


It's still overheating and the fans are not coming on (except with AC). I've never had a car that the coolant system needed to be 'burped' before - blew my mind.

Ideas???

[ZEUS]

Your electric fan needs a turbo for .1% improvement in cooling which is all you need.

[tom4bren]

Hot wiring the fan to be on alla time has certainly crossed my mind. If I'm gonna go that route, might as well throw in a DC-DC converter to bump it up to 16VDC. That'll fix'r right up!!!

Any CONSTRUCTIVE ideas???

[ZEUS]

HAHA! Fine... blockage in the radiator or cooling system? A friend of mine pulled the hoses from the radiator on his... er... Jeep... and he ran water from the lawn hose and watched the broken bits of water pump vanes come pouring out. There may be corrosion plugging things up perhaps...

[etlsport]

ive heard of this before... it happens when you drive a Mitsubishi







heh im with Zeus... sounds like youve got a blockage somewhere in the system probably near the temp sensor for the fans.. so my best guess is either the top or bottom radiator tube

my buddys jeep did something similar and we just clipped the wiring going to the fan and put it on a manual switch, anytime he wasnt going fast enough to cool the radiator he'd just hit the switch and all was well... just make sure the polarity is right or you could be keeping fresh air away from the radiator

[JAMAS]

ive heard of this before... it happens when you drive a Mitsubishi

Easy now....

T4B has backup on this one.....

[etlsport]

Easy now....

T4B has backup on this one.....

heh i dont mind them.. actually almost bought a 99 Eclipse GSX before my VX but there were too many little body imperfections for my tastes... then looked at a 3000GT VR4 but the guy was just such a that I just walked

sorry Tom, try gettin some fonzie for it, that'll keep it cool

[atilla_the_fun]

I actually had a '97 eagle talon before my VX. I lost it an accident in february. I loved that car...but you always love your first right?

If the shop has done all these repairs, don't you think they would have done a pressure test that could determine if there is a blockage? Is this the 2.4L 4 cylinder or the V6/GT? You could always use Red Line's Water Wetter fluid mix. It increases the heat capacity of the water.

[tom4bren]

I never had the issue with burping the system on my '93.

I tried it again tonight - still no luck.

The mech said that he pressure tested the radiator & it was fine.

The top hose gets hot but the lower hose doesn't so it definitely sounds like a blockage ... but what/where?

I'll keep playing wit it & let you know.

BTW, it's a fun car to drive & makes a great DD when you put 100 miles/day on it. I miss my '93 though - it was a stick.

[Mile High VX]

Did you test the thermostat before you put it in? I've had a few over the years that were bad right outta da box!

Just a thought...

[WormGod]

ive heard of this before... it happens when you drive a Mitsubishi

+1



I had a friend who replaced his water pump recently on his Jeep and it continued to overheat. Same thing.... one hot hose, one cold. You know what it ended up being.... he left one of the plastic caps inside the plumbing of the waterpump. Yep, the pump came with white plastic caps on the ends of the plumbing so nothing could get inside during shipping. *shrug* Imagine that.

[tom4bren]

I didn't see any plugs in the water pump ... but I didn't look for any either. DANG, I hope that's not it.

The Mitsu parts guy indicated that it has a problem with trapping an air pocket behind the thermostat which keeps it from opening (which is why the fans don't kick on either).

I tested the 1st replacement thermostat last night & it worked fine. I was going to drill a small hole in it to allow any trapped air behind it to bleed past. But there's already a hole in it with a brass plug. I pulled out the plug & will try installing it tonight & burp the system again.

FINGERS CROSSED EVERYONE (this is getting irritating - too simple of a job to be causing all this trouble)!!!!

[tom4bren]

Modified thermostat tested again & installed. Burped the system AGAIN!!!

*&^&(*%^^

Still overheating. (BTW, checked the 2nd thermostat too - it's working but it musta been a much higher rating - water had to be boiling).

Next step will be to remove hoses & flush system to see what comes out.

I'd just hotwire the fans but it's bothering me that the lower hose still isn't getting hot.

[WormGod]

That's crazy man. It's that kind of crap that makes you want to pull your hair out. I feel your pain.

I wouldn't go hot wiring anything if it was never intended to work that way in the first place. Just seems like a hack fix to me. There has got to be some idiotic underlying issue that just has not been found yet.

GL man.

[tom4bren]

I flushed the radiator - cloudy water came out but no chunks

I flushed the block - again, cloudy water but no chunks (this process ran water backward through the thermostat - block - waterpump ... no blockage).

I'm almost ready to give up & take it to the stealership.

I still want to check the rest of the fuses to see if that's why the fan isn't kicking on (just a shot in the dark tho since they kick on with the AC).

Cooling system is supposed to be SIMPLE!!!