My Festy is Oveheating & She Has trouble Starting Sometimes..

[BrannMuffinz]

two issues....

A few weeks ago i was on my way to work when my '89 Festiva's thermometer started redlining followed by a cloud of white smoke. upon further investigation i discovered a shredded alternator belt as well as a hole the size of Texas in the hose that runs from my Radiator to my engine. Replaced both of these, and added more coolant and 'ol Bessy was fine.

fast forward about a week and a half, and i notice that occasionally my Temp will slowly begin to rise, especially if i stop at red lights a lot. And finally last week it crossed over the "safe zone" and began to red line. This was followed by a tiny cloud of white smoke, but i couldnt see any immediate problem.

So after asking a few friends who know more about a cars innards than i do, i was told it could be any of the following:

- A non functioning Thermostat
- a non functioning waterpump
- or a leak in the radiator somewhere.

How can i go about isolating where the issue is coming from?

---------- Also ----------------------------------------------

My Festy is slow to start up sometimes. Had the Alternator, Battery, and Starter checked and they read fine. As i start it, it turns over for a bit, and finally will start up after some time. Ive replaced the spark plugs and spark plug wires. I was told it could either be the Distributer Cap or the Fuel filter/ Fuel Pump. Starts up like a normal car if it sits for a couple days, which is odd.

What say you?

[FestYboy]

Or it could be a bad fan, or when you cooked it the first time, the head gasket was damaged.

[ryanprins13]

You probably cooked it too much. However there is a possibility you did not get all the air out of the system when you added new coolant. What steps did you take to bleed the air out when you replace the hose and refilled it?


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[BrannMuffinz]

fan is working. Had a mechanic freind look at it and he said it wasnt the head gasket.

But it wouldnt hurt to get a second opinion.

[BrannMuffinz]

My dad added the coolant so im not sure.I admittedly was at the store buying the belt while he was doing that.

[firebush357]

Thermostats are only a couple of dollars and aren't that hard to change, wouldn't hurt to go ahead and change it. Water Pumps are about $30-$50 on Rockauto if I remember correctly but I'm not sure of the difficulty of changing them.

[ryanprins13]

My dad added the coolant so im not sure.I admittedly was at the store buying the belt while he was doing that.

Well ask him if he jacked the front drivers side up a ways and ran it until the thermostat opened. If not there is most likely air pockets in the head somewhere.

Thermostats are only a couple of dollars and aren't that hard to change, wouldn't hurt to go ahead and change it. Water Pumps are about $30-$50 on Rockauto if I remember correctly but I'm not sure of the difficulty of changing them.

Changing the pump requires timing belt removal. Not hard, but it depends on your skill level and if theres nothing wrong with it theres no reason to change out a good part. Thermostats are cheap, but again, if it still works why change it? I had a lot o trouble a few years back changing mine. First stant one was way too cold, second one wouldnt open, 3rd one (in 2days) ran pretty hot but at least it opened and i was sick of changing them and bleeding coolant so i left it in. Now only a couple years later its acting real weird. Hot one day and cold another... Going to replace it with a mazda one now.

You overheated because you somehow blew a hose and your belt which drives the water pump at the same time right? Did you inspect your other hoses? How are they? It would be good to change any ones that look weak.

[BrannMuffinz]

Well ask him if he jacked the front drivers side up a ways and ran it until the thermostat opened. If not there is most likely air pockets in the head somewhere.

Changing the pump requires timing belt removal. Not hard, but it depends on your skill level and if theres nothing wrong with it theres no reason to change out a good part. Thermostats are cheap, but again, if it still works why change it? I had a lot o trouble a few years back changing mine. First stant one was way too cold, second one wouldnt open, 3rd one (in 2days) ran pretty hot but at least it opened and i was sick of changing them and bleeding coolant so i left it in. Now only a couple years later its acting real weird. Hot one day and cold another... Going to replace it with a mazda one now.

You overheated because you somehow blew a hose and your belt which drives the water pump at the same time right? Did you inspect your other hoses? How are they? It would be good to change any ones that look weak.

I know he didnt do all of that. Im assuming he just poured in the new stuff.

We looked around and didnt see anything that was too sketchy. so we just left it. It was running fine for the week and a half after the belt and hose blew. So im not sure.

[tooldude]

Check the radiator, when cool, to see if it is actually full now. The coolant may not have been topped off or there could be coolant leaking.

[TominMO]

Not likely it's the water pump. I'd jack up the passenger side (or park with that side uphill) and with the engine cold, remove the rad cap. Turn on the motor, let the bubbles escape, put the cap back on as coolant rises to the point where it's gonna overflow. It can help if you squeeze the upper rad hose a few times while you have the cap off. Oh, also have the heater's temp selector switch turned to hot, to make sure coolant gets thru there too, to flush out any bubbles.

[BrannMuffinz]

Check the radiator, when cool, to see if it is actually full now. The coolant may not have been topped off or there could be coolant leaking.

just checked it. It looks like its empty.

[firebush357]

just checked it. It looks like its empty.

Have you checked the oil to see if there is any water in it?

[BrannMuffinz]

Have you checked the oil to see if there is any water in it?

yes oil looks like oil should.

it is admittedly a bit dark, but nothing too concerning. No "milky" or "frothy" variants

[Studebaker]

Top off the fluid and overflow bottle. Drive normally for a few days. Watching the fluid level in the over flow bottle. Then check for bubbles in the radiator. I'm betting warped head and bad head gasket.