Plz help me get the festiva back and running(large amp draw and overheats)

[Nickb1907]

I have been trying to find an ATX radiator, does anyone sell them new? And I checked all the autoparts stores and they seem to very in size between brands?

[eurotiva]

^ advane has them....they are expensive tho. All the new radiators are a "universal" and have to inlets for an auto trans. This is the one you need. You can buy one online for less than $100. My car runs up there with the a/c on, in traffic.

[Flyin4stroke]

Is it possible that you installed the thermostat backwards??

[eurotiva]

^ I know someones car (not yours) was overheating because the fan was hooked up backwards

[TominMO]

I think the gauge works, when it overheated the first time it was on the red, and the coolant was boiling in the overflow resevoir. And you can watch it go from 0 to normal temps like it always has.

Whats funny is I bought and it barely got to 10-20% never went over that(in October). Few weeks later i popped the cap on the radiator and saw all the sludge, so I flushed it. Temps stayed normal and I would say 3 months ago the temps started topping out at 50% on the gauge.

Maybe it was the heat outside combined with me using AC more that is making it run so hot now.

I think that probably you accomplished only a partial flush, which was good enough until the summer heat showed up. The boiling in the overflow tank makes me think that. Continue flushing or buy a new radiator. With a new auto-trans radiator, you possibly can keep the 195 thermostat; but that would be the next thing I would change, if the rad alone doesn't solve the overheating.

[Nickb1907]

^ I know someones car (not yours) was overheating because the fan was hooked up backwards

It is a sucker, blows toward the engine.

[Nickb1907]

Is it possible that you installed the thermostat backwards??

Im pretty sure I put it in right, the spring part (bottom half of pic) goes inside the engine right.

[Nickb1907]

^ advane has them....they are expensive tho. All the new radiators are a "universal" and have to inlets for an auto trans. This is the one you need. You can buy one online for less than $100. My car runs up there with the a/c on, in traffic.

Ya thats the way it seemed is universal now. If I do get a new radiator I think im going to order the cheap one from rockauto and choose the substitute option. Comes out to be less the $100 shipped.

If I decide to flush it is there a good one out there that would clean it out really well?