I was out tonight in my car. (Stock 1992 S13 KA24DE) I noticed my temp. gauge in the car had risen to the almost the H at the top of the gauge. At this point I was probably 5 mins away from my house so I continued on. Moments later it rose well above the H and hit the top of the gauge. I stopped the car and looked under the hood, I noticed the coolant was WAY above the MAX level in the reservoir. I shut the car off and gave it 5 mins then turned it back on. The gauge decreased just below the H so I continued on and got to my garage. I checked the ECU for engine codes and came up with nothing. I let the car cool down for 15 mins. and went back outside to check the gauge. It was reading normally again. I popped the hood and the coolant was back below the MAX level. What did notice at this point (UNLESS it was the lighting) was the fan was spinning abnormally slow. Also when I closed the hood and go back in the car the check engine light was flashing inside the car. I have yet to check for engine codes again. But I will do this in the morning when I have better lighting. Hopefully it’s warmed up but then.
So any ideas? Could the -19 weather have had anything to do with this?
If its a stock fan the “clutch” in the fan where it bolts to the water pump is causing the problem. A quick way to check is to see if you can turn the fan by hand really easily. If you can there is your problem.
Im goign to have to say the water pump isnt working. the fan not working in this weather wouldn’t make it get so hot. Unless ur just reving ur engine while not moving.
ok if its an electric fan make sure that it is running properly, if it seems to be running really slow, then you have exess resistance somewhere (corrosion) or a loose connection. If its a belt driven water pump, easiest way to check it is to try turn it, if you hear a scrapeing noise or if you can grab the fan first turn it clockwise see if its hard to move, then pull the fan blades toward you and make sure there isnt a lot of play in the shaft and make sure you check under it and make sure that it isnt leaking coolant ( it will be coming out of the weep hole or from around the shaft). Now is a good time to check the coolant level and make sure it hasnt gone down at all, top it up if it has, and to check that the belt is tight and the tensioner is properly working.
Next, fire it up. Make sure the fan is actually spinning… Then take a long screw driver and listen near the pump. If you hear loud scrapeing noises its time to replace it. If everything looks good continue running the car make sure that there isnt white smoke coming out of the tail pipe under load or for prelonged amounts of time (head gasket). once the car is in the normal operating range, turn the heat on full blast and see if there is good heat coming out if there isnt replace the thermostat.
The only other thing i can suggest is to take a good look and make sure that there is no external coolant leaks and that there is no colapsed coolant hoses. If all checks good just replace the thermostat anyways its very inexpensive to change and should be changed every time you flush your coolant or change or waterpump.
If problem persists after that or if coolant keeps on going down or if there is excessive pressure in the rad or overflow bottle then you might have an internal headgasket leak.