AKghandi Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 (edited) my 89 spfi wagon has started gettin hot while driving, when I slow down it cools down, never over heats but it gets up there. I suspect if I ran the highway and didnt run the heater it would over heat. I know my water pump is failing, it leaks occasionally from the weep hole. but it should still be circulating coolant coolant is full. no mixing of coolant and oil no bubbles in rad while idling. no steam from exhaust could it just be the water pump failing i doubt the rad clogged but i think i have a spare i can put in. when i swapped the motor i flushed the whole system and it was all flowing freely. this was about 3mo ago any ideas? Edited January 15, 2015 by AKghandi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubaroo84 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 A bad water pump can cause it to overheat. Try and flush the radiator again. Any kind of blockage in the radiator could cause it to overheat under load but not at idle due to more heat when the engine is under a load, ie driving around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKghandi Posted January 15, 2015 Author Share Posted January 15, 2015 thats kinda what I was thinking, but i dont know how the rad could have clogged, the cooling system has been cleaned and filled with fresh coolant. with my other wag, half the rad was clogged and it would run down the highway just fine. i will be replacing the water pump tomorrow hopefully that cures it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubaroo84 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 It probably is just the water pump. My mom's Taurus had the same problem, it weeped and would get hot when driving. Replaced it and it was fine. The other thing you can look for is a sticky thermostat. If it's only opening half way or partially that could be a problem too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKghandi Posted January 15, 2015 Author Share Posted January 15, 2015 i was thinking i would do the thermostat also... its only a few more dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l75eya Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 When my gl was doing this it was due to a clogged radiator. If you have a spare one you know is good I'd just throw it in there to be safe as well as a new wp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKghandi Posted January 15, 2015 Author Share Posted January 15, 2015 Fixed. Water pump was a reman with the stamped steel impeller. Replaced it with an import direct new unit with the cast impeller. Also did thermostat and rad cap Temp never goes above the 1/3 mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyeights Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Glad you got this resolved. Thank you for the update Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 you did all three things together so now don't know exactly what the cause was but, so many times it can just be a pooey old radiator cap - often the original just give up after 20 years or so.They are a service item and lucky for us the originals or genuine are of such good quality, most don't even think of replacing ! +1 for the update Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now