Overheating help

[timmay89]

Hey, so I recently bought a new festiva that was sitting for a bit over a year. The car has only 170,000km on it. The festiva overheats. It slowly creeps up and gets pretty high (over 3/4 up on the gauge), but it heats up pretty good. About a week ago it comfortably sat at just over half way. What could this be? Should I replace the thermostat, radiator, or water pump and how do I go about determining which of these it is so that I dont end up replacing more than I have to? Also where is the thermostat located? Thank you for any help!
Tim

[big_ty2003]

I would guess first at thermostat. Mine never even gets to half way to tell you the truth. I am guessing that you checked the coolant level in the radiator already, right? If it isn't leaking it probably doesn't need replaced, IMO.

[blue*93]

good idea i think would be to flush the cooling system and install a new dual-stage t-stat. i got a tstat from the local mazda dealership for bout $30 and it was worth it! and the flush is cheap, just gotta spend some time on it. if your tstat isnt functioning right your upper rad hose probly will stay only warm to cool not hot if your rads plugged the lower hose would stay warm-cool but the upper may be hot. the tstat is just frontside of the cap and rotor the upper rad hose is attatched to the housing. good luck and for Gods sake get a haynes manual!

[Papabug]

I would remove the radiator cap (when engine is cold) check coolant level, add if necessary. Start engine with radiator cap removed. Allow engine to warm to operating temp, look in radiator is the coolant circulating? If it is your water pump and thermostat are more than likely ok. Does the cooling fan cycle on? Unplug the fan at the connector does the fan run? It should run when disconnected. Are your belts tight and in good condition?
The thermostat is located on the drivers side of engine by the distributor.
Hope this helps.

[timmay89]

K thank you, I am going to attempt to fix this problem or at least figure out what it is today, I will let you know how it goes

[perucho]

I had the same problem not long ago. When I bought the car it was overheating. The PO had removed the thermostat in an attempt to fix the problem. I made sure that the water pump was circulating the coolant by removing the radiator cap and running the engine. That just left the radiator. Didn't look too bad but I replaced it with a dual-core radiator from an automatic Festy and now it doesn't get warm enough! Need to get a thermostat soon. Good luck!

[ShagFestiva]

could it be the radiator cap? My trucks cap was shot and it wasnt holding pressure in the coolant system. Got a new cap it it doesnt overheat.

[WmWatt]

To check it the thermostat is opening to let the hot water circulate you can also feel the bottom hose to see if it gets warm. It is the bottom hose you feel, right?

[timmay89]

Hey, so update, I watched the radiator and there was good flow in the coolant, so that means water pump is working. The fan kicked in, so that is working. So I replaced the thermostat, and sadly that didn't change much, the comfort level is still 5/8ths of the gauge. Is this the normal temperature running level for a festiva, because every other car I have had has been less than half way. I checked the hoses when after running for a while and the top rad hose is hot, and the bottom rad hose is warm. So after all of that information is the cooling system running properly or should I consider replacing/cleaning the radiator?

[hotfordcat]

The upper hose should be hotter than the lower. The cooled water enters the block from the lower hose. The hot water exits the block to the rad by way of the upper hose. I have the Mazda T-stat in my 93GL and the gauge runs in the area you discribed.

[big_ty2003]

still sounds too hot to me

[TominMO]

Hey, so update, I watched the radiator and there was good flow in the coolant, so that means water pump is working. The fan kicked in, so that is working. So I replaced the thermostat, and sadly that didn't change much, the comfort level is still 5/8ths of the gauge. Is this the normal temperature running level for a festiva, because every other car I have had has been less than half way. I checked the hoses when after running for a while and the top rad hose is hot, and the bottom rad hose is warm. So after all of that information is the cooling system running properly or should I consider replacing/cleaning the radiator?

Casper with the BP is at 5/8 of the gauge too. And when I installed a tach cluster in my blue 1.3L car, I noticed that the temp reading went up. There may be a difference in the way the temp gauges in the tach cluster read compared to the temp gauge in the non-tach cluster; or there just may be differences from one gauge to another. As long as it doesn't overheat, I doubt you have anything to worry about.

[eurotiva]

Put a 180 degree thermostat. My turboed 1.8 runs at 1/4 gage....in Florida with a/c

[FestYboy]

i wouldn't touch it.... if it goes to 5/8ths and stays there, then is in the gauge and not the system (this is consitered normal). drive it normaly and just keep an eye on it. if there's never a change then you're good.

[timmay89]

K thanks for the input