8Mustang8

so the passed couple of days my car has been running hotter then it normally does then yesterday it started overheating and smoking a bit (which is wierd cause its been way colder the last couple days) i can't figure out why though, i have an electric fan that is always running (but i'm pretty sure its running a bit louder then it used to) and i know it has anti freeze in it cause when i went to put some in it today it only needed like a pint. at first i thought it was a radiator leak or something cause you can see anti freeze on top of the radiator and on the ac compressor pulley. you can also smell anti freeze inside the car when it heats up. also i have my heater core bypassed. it went out last week and i don't have time to replace it right now so i just bypassed it, it was bypassed when i bought the car too 6 months ago. the car will also die sometimes when i'm pulling up to a stop light or something about to stop. and my idle is a little bit jumpy. anyone have any ideas. could it be a thermostat or could it still be the radiator leaking, this is my daily driver so i can't really afford to not have it running. any thoughts?

WhiteFoxGT

Check the thermostat first of all, and did you pull a coolant hose off anywhere recently? Might have an air pocket

8Mustang8

ya i took the hoses off the heater core and connected them together.

8Mustang8

ya i took the hoses off the heater core and connected them together, how do you get to the theromstat in these cars i've only changed one in an eclipse

shaners90lxhatch

It will take a visual inspection to tell if it's leaking. Otherwise if it tends to overheat when sitting still, likely you have poor flow or a restrictive radiator. A leak shouldn't cause an overheat unless the coolant level drops too much. Otherwise you just end up with a nasty, steaming leak or a little tiny leak that was insignificant. If the thermostat is new and not the most generic thing on the planet, it is probably good. The thermostat regulates minimum temperature. If it reaches temp, can stabilize and heats up from there - rad, cap, pump, headgasket even - have it checked out if you can't see anything obvious and this is unfamiliar.

WhiteFoxGT

And it started the overheating after this? Start your car up with the radiator cap off, and wait for the thermo to open, then squeeze the upper rad. hose a couple times and try to purge some air out.

decipha

sounds like the water pump is going bad.. you said coolant on the a/c compressor rite... i'd check that out. Probably just the pump goingbad... simple fix

8Mustang8

how do i know for sure if its the water pump?

WhiteFoxGT

Theres a little hole in the front of the pump behind the pulley. If there is coolant coming out of there, the pump is bad.

decipha

precise!