3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
i already replaced the radiator, cap, and thermostat. i turned the fans to manual and the car STILL overheats. the needle seems to settle down a little when i start moving the car or rev the engine a little. another interesting thing is that i turned on the heat and it didnt get hot until i revved the engine up to about 4k rpm.
Did you check/replace the radiator hoses? They might be collapsing...
When you replaced the thermostat...did you replace it with an aftermarket or OEM one?
Does it overheat while idling? What work was done to the vehicle before this overheat problem? Did someone put some head gasket repair in the cooling system? Have you flushed the cooling system? Have you flushed the heater core?
How many miles on the vehicle? When was the last time the timing belt/water pump was replaced?
With the radiator cap off, bring the vehicle up to temp. After the thermostat opens, is the coolant moving through the top tank?
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1998 T-100 SR5 2WD auto, Roadmaster Active Suspension, 6½" dropped front air dam, 4½" drop full belly pan, 4° rear diffuser, 11" side skirts, oil catch jar, AC mod, aero cap, 67% grill block = 26mpg highway!
Quote:
Originally Posted by n c t t o r a
You have used a censored word. Please remove this word.
Did you check/replace the radiator hoses? They might be collapsing...
When you replaced the thermostat...did you replace it with an aftermarket or OEM one?
Does it overheat while idling? What work was done to the vehicle before this overheat problem? Did someone put some head gasket repair in the cooling system? Have you flushed the cooling system? Have you flushed the heater core?
How many miles on the vehicle? When was the last time the timing belt/water pump was replaced?
With the radiator cap off, bring the vehicle up to temp. After the thermostat opens, is the coolant moving through the top tank?
i replaced with an aftermarket one thermostat
it overheats after i drive it a couple of miles and then come to a stop and idle. im not sure about the head gasket or other work done, it's not my car. i'm just working on it for a friend..and he's only had it for about 6 months.
i haven't flushed anything on the car. but it sure sounds like it's not flowing right.
Disconnect the radiator from the system. Pull the thermostat. Do a complete and thorough flush of the cooling system and see what comes out. Cycle the heater core to make sure anything stuck in there can git flushed out. You might even want reverse flush the heater core.
Even though it's new, I would test the thermostat in some boiling water and make sure it opens up completely.
Check the radiator to make sure there isn't any debris hanging around inside of it.
What's the condition of the radiator hoses?
__________________
1998 T-100 SR5 2WD auto, Roadmaster Active Suspension, 6½" dropped front air dam, 4½" drop full belly pan, 4° rear diffuser, 11" side skirts, oil catch jar, AC mod, aero cap, 67% grill block = 26mpg highway!
Quote:
Originally Posted by n c t t o r a
You have used a censored word. Please remove this word.
Disconnect the radiator from the system. Pull the thermostat. Do a complete and thorough flush of the cooling system and see what comes out. Cycle the heater core to make sure anything stuck in there can git flushed out. You might even want reverse flush the heater core.
Even though it's new, I would test the thermostat in some boiling water and make sure it opens up completely.
Check the radiator to make sure there isn't any debris hanging around inside of it.
What's the condition of the radiator hoses?
how do i flush the system? do i need some kindof adapter or do i just shove the hose inside?
the radiator hoses look good..they aren't old and dry rotted or anything.
how do i flush the system? do i need some kindof adapter or do i just shove the hose inside?
the radiator hoses look good..they aren't old and dry rotted or anything.
I just want to make sure you inspect the radiator hoses...they could be collapsing when the engine is at revs.
You can just use a nozzle and spray as much water through the system. Make sure you properly capture the antifreeze before you start flushing the system. I'd be curious what comes out of that engine...
__________________
1998 T-100 SR5 2WD auto, Roadmaster Active Suspension, 6½" dropped front air dam, 4½" drop full belly pan, 4° rear diffuser, 11" side skirts, oil catch jar, AC mod, aero cap, 67% grill block = 26mpg highway!
Quote:
Originally Posted by n c t t o r a
You have used a censored word. Please remove this word.
I just want to make sure you inspect the radiator hoses...they could be collapsing when the engine is at revs.
You can just use a nozzle and spray as much water through the system. Make sure you properly capture the antifreeze before you start flushing the system. I'd be curious what comes out of that engine...
well...i doubt the hoses are collapsing because the cooling system seems to actually work better when i rev the engine. i think it's not flowing much at idle. i'll go drain the coolant and try flushing the system and see what happens.
I just want to make sure you inspect the radiator hoses...they could be collapsing when the engine is at revs.
You can just use a nozzle and spray as much water through the system. Make sure you properly capture the antifreeze before you start flushing the system. I'd be curious what comes out of that engine...
-ok so i flushed the system and nothing weird came out of it. (i took off the inlet radiator hose and shoved a garden hose into the engine where the thermostat would normally go. i turned on the hose and water came out of the upper radiator hose..it looked pretty clean.)
-then i boiled the thermostat and it worked fine.
-i put everything back together without the thermostat and the car STILL overheats...i have no idea what's going on.
-the heat doesn't seem to get hot..how do i go about flushing the heater core?? also..would a clogged heater core even cause the car to overheat?
Okay...what is the indicator that yer using to show that the engine is overheating? Are you using the standard H/C temp gauge on the dash? Maybe the indication is off? Have you tried an infrared temp scanner to double check temps?
Are you using the ODBII port to scan the coolant temp sensor? Is coolant boiling over into the overflow bottle?
__________________
1998 T-100 SR5 2WD auto, Roadmaster Active Suspension, 6½" dropped front air dam, 4½" drop full belly pan, 4° rear diffuser, 11" side skirts, oil catch jar, AC mod, aero cap, 67% grill block = 26mpg highway!
Quote:
Originally Posted by n c t t o r a
You have used a censored word. Please remove this word.
I was kind of wondering how this was going to turn out.
You didn't say what engine you have. I'll assume the 5S-FE 4-cylinder. Below is a flow diagram for the cooling system in that engine:
You said you put a garden hose in the engine where the thermostat would be, and you got good flow w/o debris from the radiator inlet hose. Look at the diagram. You simply pushed water (against the arrow direction) from the thermostat housing to the water outlet pipe, which then goes straight to the radiator inlet hose (engine water outlet = radiator water inlet). You likely never pushed water through the block and cylinder head.
If your thermostat is removed right now, run the engine with the heater temperature set to maximum heat (low or no fan). As the coolant temperature rises, feel with your hands the heater hoses, but the inlet and outlet, as well as the radiator hoses (both inlet and outlet). It might be best to have someone in the car watching your temperture gauge, so you don't run the temperature into the red. Keep doing this in a pattern of all 4 hoses over many passes. As the engine temperature reaches normal (or even a little above normal), are both heater hoses very hot? Is the upper radiator hose starting to get hot, with the lower radiator hose cold? As you run it longer, does the upper radiator hose remain hot, and the lower radiator hose getting very warm, until the radiator cooling fans kick on?
If both heater hoses and the upper radiator hose are not hot, and the lower radiator hose the last to get warm and approaching hot, until the radiator fans kick on, I would say you have a significant flow issue.
You said you previously replaced the radiator. Assuming you didn't use any stop-leak product, the radiator should not be clogged. The heater core may be, but we don't know that. It is very, very unlikely that your engine block and cylnder head is blocked. So if you can't get hot coolant flow into the radiator, especially with no thermostat, then what else is there left except the part the causes flow in the first place, your water pump.
Since the engine runs, the timing belt must be OK. Your water pump runs off of your timing belt. Assuming the timing belt is on the correct side of the water pump pulley (I can't imagine that it is not), I don't know what else to suggest except replace your water pump.
The Following User Says Thank You to 93celicaconv For This Useful Post:
Okay...what is the indicator that yer using to show that the engine is overheating? Are you using the standard H/C temp gauge on the dash? Maybe the indication is off? Have you tried an infrared temp scanner to double check temps?
Are you using the ODBII port to scan the coolant temp sensor? Is coolant boiling over into the overflow bottle?
i'm using the standard temp gauge in the dash...but the coolant starts to overflow before it gets in the red...so i know the engine is overheating.
it seems like everyone here is really trying to cover all the bases on this problem but still it overheats??? Since almost everything else has been covered im thinking two more things
1-water pump has some cracked blades on the impeller and is not pumping (not likely because you'd probably hear it) or
2-you have a blown head gasket and i suggest you look for evidence of that (water in the oil, oil in the coolant, coolant coming out the tailpipe, one or more spark plugs wet with water or steamed clean, evidence of exhaust gas coming out the radiator cap hole.)
AlmightyCamry77, I suggested the water pump replacement in post #10 yesterday (bottom sentence). The headgasket is a possibility, especially if the result is combustion gases being pumped into the cooling chambers, causing air entrapment, which can limit the ability for the water pump to correctly pump coolant. Usually, though, if combustion gases can get into the cooling chambers, coolant can also get into the combustion chambers, and there would be a lose of coolant in the system. I haven't heard that the system looses coolant, from turbodude69.
However, he also just now said that coolant starts to overflow before the temperature gauge reaches the red. Well, the coolant does expand in the cooling chambers, heater core, etc., so coolant will pressurize the sysetm and will go into the overflow bottle normally, on all engines, including all those that don't overheat. So that observation, on its own, I don't think means anything, unless the coolant is getting displaced under pressure by combustion gases. But again, I don't understand why coolant wouldn't backflow into the combustion chambers if combustion gases can get into the coolant. Usuually it goes both ways.
He can test the coolant for the presense of combustion gases, either at the dealer or at most automotive parts stores. This, along with looking for brownish-grey sludge in the coolant, and coolant in the oil, would tell him a lot if there is a headgasket problem.
AlmightyCamry77, I suggested the water pump replacement in post #10 yesterday (bottom sentence). The headgasket is a possibility, especially if the result is combustion gases being pumped into the cooling chambers, causing air entrapment, which can limit the ability for the water pump to correctly pump coolant. Usually, though, if combustion gases can get into the cooling chambers, coolant can also get into the combustion chambers, and there would be a lose of coolant in the system. I haven't heard that the system looses coolant, from turbodude69.
However, he also just now said that coolant starts to overflow before the temperature gauge reaches the red. Well, the coolant does expand in the cooling chambers, heater core, etc., so coolant will pressurize the sysetm and will go into the overflow bottle normally, on all engines, including all those that don't overheat. So that observation, on its own, I don't think means anything, unless the coolant is getting displaced under pressure by combustion gases. But again, I don't understand why coolant wouldn't backflow into the combustion chambers if combustion gases can get into the coolant. Usuually it goes both ways.
He can test the coolant for the presense of combustion gases, either at the dealer or at most automotive parts stores. This, along with looking for brownish-grey sludge in the coolant, and coolant in the oil, would tell him a lot if there is a headgasket problem.
-i checked the oil yesterday..doesn't look like there is any coolant in it..it's pretty dark brown.
-i checked the radiator hoses and the upper hose gets really hot..the lower is warm.
-the heater core doesn't seem to get hot unless i drive the car or rev the engine to 4-5k rpm. but...would a clogged heater core cause the car to overheat?
if it ends up that the coolant passages are clogged..is there any way to clean them out besides taking the whole engine apart?
Remove rad cap and run it for a while. If you see any bubles that means your HG is blown.
If I were you I would remove the thermostat and see if the problem persists. Then run a cooling system pressure test, if that passes, replace water pump.
You can bypass heater core by connecting inlet and outlet hoses together and seeing what happens. It shouldent be causing it to overheat though.
You might as well replace upper and lower rad hoses when your gutting the thermostat.
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