YACT: Car overheats sometimes

[duragezic]

A bunch of times in the last few weeks or more I would be driving along and the temperate gauge starts getting kinda high. For as long as I owned the car the temp light, once heated up, would NEVER go past half. But now it would rise up close to the H (although not quite to the red) and maybe go back down, then sometimes back up. No warning lights ever came on but the air did feel pretty hot when I turned the vents on. It isn't really that hot here yet, and sometimes it would be 40° and get hot and other times itd be 70° and be fine. At times I hear a fan coming on, usually when the temp does get on the high side, but the thing is, since I've had the car I would hear the fan come on occasionally even with the temp staying the same.

But it's weird cause it started to get bad a few days ago but since then it hasn't done it again.

When I got my oil changed yesterday I got an estimate for replacing a valve cover gasket and an oil pan gasket. Appearantly they are leaking. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with overheating or not.

edit: I forgot to mention, but a few days ago when it was really bad (or seemed so), my car sounded even worse. And like now it seems there is this rapid 'clicking' of the engine. It's hard to describe, and it seems like a sound an engine might make, but it never did it before, or was very quiet. But the whole time, the engine has always run smoothly, revs nicely, etc...

 

[morkinva]

maybe the thermostat stuck/not opening at times?

 

[Thegonagle]

How old is it, and what's the history of coolant changes look like?

 

[GroundZero]

Originally posted by: morkinva
maybe the thermostat stuck/not opening at times?

sticky thermostat would be my bet, or if you have a clutch fan, the clutch could be going out.
for that matter it could even just be time to change/tighten your fan belt.

 

[0roo0roo]

fluid levels, thermostat, worst would be pretty clogged radiator

 

[DurocShark]

And clicky noises=low oil or overheating issues (like the overheating changing the size/shape of various components).

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
fluid levels, thermostat, worst would be pretty clogged radiator

Well, we assume he's checked the fluid level, and that there are no leaks, right?

 

[UDT89]

Originally posted by: GroundZero

Originally posted by: morkinva
maybe the thermostat stuck/not opening at times?

sticky thermostat would be my bet, or if you have a clutch fan, the clutch could be going out.
for that matter it could even just be time to change/tighten your fan belt.

i'll put my money on this too. sounds very similar to what i had. it was a combination of a bad thermostat and loose connection on the pipes

 

[Pepsi90919]

sounds like the thermostat is opening way too late. change it, flush the entire cooling system, replace hoses.

the ticking is the valves most likely, the oil has probably gotten so thin by all the heat that the valves start ticking loudly. you may want to change the oil too.

 

[Quixfire]

Eagle, please post the make, model, and year.

 

[shekondar]

If the clicking is worse when you accelerate/go up hills, it could be knocking. Overheating will tend to make knocking worse.

 

[duragezic]

Yeah maybe knowing the car would help a bit huh? It's a 1993 Mazda 626. I have no idea the cooling history, prolly little to none as far as work goes.

Thank you for all the replies already. It actually doesn't sound that serious. Now that people mention low oil, it may have been since it was getting the worst as it neared the 3,000 since last change. ANd like I said, when I got my oil changed yesterday, they gave me an estimate to replace valve cover gasket and oil pan gasket cause they were leaking, which all in all would explain the clicking probably huh! The estimate was $300 though.

I would think I could get the gaskets for what like $30 a piece though I mean obviously not gonna pay on that estimate. And wouldn't the oil pan gasket be fairly easy to replace? I can't do absolutely no work on cars, but I enjoy reading on them and how stuff works.

I will have my dad check the thermostat, cooling hoses and fluid level because he would be able to see if it's closing or not, and about leaks.

 

[Evadman]

Pull out the thermostat and check it.

Take it out and put it in a pan of water in the stove. stick a thermometer in the water. you should see the thermostat open at the tempeature it is made to turn on at. I am unsure what that temp is on a 626 though, but any dealer can look that up for ya.

I would just replace the dang thing anyway tho. They are pretty cheap.

AS was also mentioned, it can be a belt wearing if it is a mechanical fan, or a burned out relay or fuse if it is an electric fan.

I do know the 626's were notroious for overheating the trans. While you are doing this, you may want to look into adding an auxilary cooler for the trans. they are only $30-50 and can save ya a $3000 rebuild.

 

[Quixfire]

Make sure your coolant isn't low in the radiator, but quick lube places won't remove a radiator cap they only check the coolant reservoir.

You could have a small leak and that can lead to a intermittent overheating condition.

 

[Eli]

Letting your engine get that hot is not good. I would have shut 'er down the moment I saw anything awry and not driven it again until it was fixed.

Unless it's a 50$ car and you don't care about it.

 

[shekondar]

Originally posted by: eagle
I would think I could get the gaskets for what like $30 a piece though I mean obviously not gonna pay on that estimate. And wouldn't the oil pan gasket be fairly easy to replace?

Valve cover gaskets are usually really easy to replace. You could definitely do these yourself. The oil pan is another story - depending on the car, you may have to pull the engine to get the oil pan off...