over heating engine and my heater will only blow out cold air.

125

Asked by jaceren69 Feb 18, 2013 at 07:54 PM about the 2003 Toyota Celica GT

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a 2003 GT Toyota celica and recently i was driving on the freeway and my heater stopped working correctly. my heater started to blow only cold air out of my register vents. I tried to turn the heat off and on and change the settings but still the same thing. I would only get cold air out of my vents, but then my cars engine started to over heat. I stopped the car and let it cool and then I drove it for a short distance and it overheated again, so i stopped and let it cool and then drove it slow on the side roads but my engine still would overheat. Then after ten miles of stop and go my heater started working again and my engine stopped overheating. This has me really confused as to what could be going wrong with my car's engine or my heater core. Please help !

16 Answers

177,695

Sounds like it had a air bubble. Is the coolant bottle full?

9 people found this helpful.

Sounds like a stuck thermostat will not allow whatever remaining coolant to flow. Your heater core is probably air-bound for lack of available coolant flow and needs to be 'belched'...a guess, as the coolant goes down so does the coolant available for heat exchange, not to mention the faulty thermostat and say may be time to change that waterpump. there should be practically none play in the shaft, and the veins can unwittingly corrode away too- I'd start by changing the thermotstat, they are around 10-15 dollars.

8 people found this helpful.
Best Answer Mark helpful

I cooked a 74 celica on my way back from LA, just was so rusty in the water jacket, got cooked, and had no recourse other than to wait wait wait until it drove us back to the Bay Area. It was yellow. I should know better than to get a yellow car.

3 people found this helpful.

tell us. is the overflow (plastic bottle) 'bout half full, Is there a pickup tube/overflow return line? Is it like.....completely dry there?

7 people found this helpful.
125

Thank you bod_nueske. I finally got a chance to look at my cars coolant level and it looks like it is very low.. Your amazing !.. THANK YOU !.. If I may ask you another question.. I was told to only use the correct special coolant for this type of car because this car is sensitive about what kind of coolant is used because of corrosion, is this true? or can i just use regulate coolant on this car ?. I'm changing the thermostat on my own because I have to (can't afford a mechanic right now ) is there a special procedure that i need to do to eliminate air pocket or bubble in the cooling system. Thank you again for your help,you have been very helpful to my car and my stress levels. I'm truly grateful ..

9 people found this helpful.

If it doesn't look like it's been down to the grand canyon when you open the cap which means you must find an environmentally friendly place to do your coolant flush with a hose and shots of compressed air to blast out the baddies. Grandma's driveway will work, but there is nothing special about Ethylene Glycol, it's a darn sight better than alchohol which can be explosive. Proylene glycol aka RV coolant is one more, but it breaks down and doesn't have the lasting power of this green stuff that will kill birds if allowed to pool on the ground. You gotta find out now WHERE's the coolant gone to? a pressure tester would spray out the leakage unless it's a bad headgasket or cracked block...in any case top 'er up and take a look in the engine compartment periodically to see what's sprayin' out. We can work this out for little or no money!

3 people found this helpful.

Good green stuff has corrosion inhibiters as part of it's recipe, if you were wondering...also ready diluted is a better deal because of the contamination of your local tap water which in Clearlake can be cut with a knife.

3 people found this helpful.

Hey, you didn't fill this reservoir to the cap? damn, I should have told you, this is an expansion tank and needs to be 'bout half full. there are markings on the outside of this guy!

6 people found this helpful.
125

Thank you for your knowledgeable information. I was feeling like driving my car off the grand canyon when it started to give me this crazy problem. I really hope it's not a bad gasket or a cracked block because i will have a blown head gasket of my own. I really love my car and enjoy driving it but when crazy problems like this happen i feel like my car has been unfaithful in our relationship and would hate to part ways with my sexy babe Celica.. I have not done anything to my car because i was waiting for your helpful reply. I haven't overfilled my coolant reservoir as I like to somtimes overfill my stomach tank to where I'm blowing gas out my tail pipe.. Anyway thank you my good friend, I will start this project tomorrow and see if everything goes well and i can get my babe back on the road again and we can have a beautiful long reliable relationship so we can ride into the sunset together again.. Thanks !

3 people found this helpful.

Thank you jaceren69. I too have had the love affair with my 73 Celica, the dragon in the center of the wheel, that whole 'space rocket' vibe even in 73. sadly, the 72 looked a lot sexier 'cause it did not have these ralph nader regulation bumpers...I took mine off..phooey, And the 74 yellow one that I traded my honda 360 twin for (would have killed myself on that thing anyways)...but yes, there is a thrill with driving one of these...almost feel like a superhero on the roads- once again most eloquent. please put a picture of your car as you avatar if not fishout your drivers license, there will be a picture there.

50

Hey Judge_roy or anyone whom has knowledge about this same situation of blowing out cold air and no heat. I have the exact same problem as the person whom posted this problem. Also I have one added problem. When I turn the knob for the heat to blow out , no matter what setting I put it on it only blows out air in the defrost mode or at your feet or the combanation. Is there a switch I need to replace? I took it in 2 times and both shops didn't fix the problem. The 2 parts put in were: regulator actuator

5 people found this helpful.
20

My 2000 Pontiac Grand Am is doing the same thing, only when I put my coolant in it cause my heat is cold, it overheats for 2 weeks. Almost like it's the wrong kind or my car just does not like it. Any tips, or ideas?

2 people found this helpful.
170

My 2000 Pontiac grand am is doing the same thing. It was overheating and only blowing warm air when I drove, at stop lights it would blow cold. Sino checked the coolant and it was low, so I filled it to the line, and now it only blows cold air; no matter what; and is overhearing every 10 min. There is also a "boiling water" and chugging sound when I turn off the engine? Any help??? I'm at my witts end and about to cry and give up!!!

11 people found this helpful.
30

Hi, did you resolve your car problem? What did u finally do to resolve it? I am facing the similar problem with my celica. Any help would be much appreciated.

3 people found this helpful.

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