Thursday, October 6, 2011

My car is overheating while driving high speed, thermostat gets empty quick!?

Its a hyundai elantra 05 and I noticed that the a/c was blowing hot, I looked at the heat needle and was totaly in the red mark! I turned the a/c off, opened the windows and drove slower (I was 60m/h and I slowed down to 45) til the next gas station. Wasn't smoking, but water level was very low, so was thermostat. I think thermostat was empty, not sure. The oil level is very low and looks almost black (I know I need to change it now!). There is no bubbles in radiator when the car is on, no smoke from pipe, but I had to stop every mile or so because the car overheats all over again! Had to refil the water supplie every 1-2 miles... Thermostat gets empty and I had to refil that s*it til I got home! Took me 2 h to get home when would take me 15 min! Please help! I have no money to take to mechanic right now :(
My car is overheating while driving high speed, thermostat gets empty quick!?
Oil gets black after a little while, that's normal, since the oil was black and not a milky brown, your head gasket should be ok. If you have to keep refilling the radiator, you might have a crack in your cylinder wall causing coolant to enter the combustion chamber and get vaporized and blown out the exhaust. You didn't mention if the radiator was leaking, there would be a puddle underneath the car when it has been sitting for a while.



I'm not sure you know what a thermostat is. You can't really check the 'level' since it is in a housing in line with your coolant hoses.
My car is overheating while driving high speed, thermostat gets empty quick!?
A thermostat is only what tells you the temps inside of the engine and opens up when temps and pressure have reached a level where coolant is needed. A thermostat--if it's your real problem--is only about $5. I don't know how labor intensive it is, but if it's a thermostat, it should be a cheap repair.
you mean radiator i assUme...i also assUme you filled the oil...oil helps cool the engine...while ur at it check tranny fluid..the radiator cools that too...i assume because u never check fluids you also never tune it..a bad running car throw off more heat...dare i assUme the check engine lite is on? It actually means something...like tempature sensor bad..[turns on fan] or O2 sensor [helps regulate fuel mix,,wrong mix can cause more heat]
You have a leak in your cooling system, you need to get it fixed. That why you have to keep refilling it with water.

Don't drive the car until you get it fixed. If you do, you will do even more damage to the engine than you've already done to it.
If you have no money for a mechanic, you surely have no money for a new car but if you keep trying to drive this car while it's overheating AND almost out of oil, you will be walking soon.

You don't take care of your car, because these things didn't happen overnight, it's been this way for a while.

Enjoy walking, there is no %26quot;quick fix%26quot;.
if it,s dry where the thermostat goes in then i would say the radiator is clogged or the water pump quit working. as for the motor oil black all cars gets that way if you don,t change the oil. better check the transmission fluid to see if it,s burnt, because if the anti-freeze is,nt circulating then it can burn the fluid.
Losing coolant is the first category failure. Especially combined with overheating. It is not likely that water evaporates into the ambient air through some minor pores because the level drops down rapidly according to your words here.

Have you checked if there is any sign of leakage from underneath? Have you opened the bonnet to inspect if there's some leakage from above? Have you found a small puddle on the ground under the car if you stayed at one place for a while? Have you checked coolant expansion tank cap, sometimes coolant escapes passing by bad cap valve?

If there is some visible leakage, it shouldn't be a big deal anyway, except water pump seals. But, if there's no leakage then you are most likely in a trouble: cracked gasket/cracked cylinder wall. You say there's no white smoke out of the tail pipe, so it shouldn't be the case, but sometimes it is not easy to detect water evaporation.



Yes, it might be, but usually you can detect bad water pump seals because leakage is obvious. Other possibility is bad head gasket or even cracked cylinder head or block, though it is not likely if you have no other indications such as white smoke (water evaporation) at the tail pipe.