Car is overheating

Are the radiator fans coming on as they should? If not that's where I would look next. But if they are might want to check it for a blown head gasket.

Also have you tested/replaced your radiator cap? A faulty cap can also cause similar issues.

radiator fans do come on when temp gauge goes above 50%. i do not have white or blue smoke and no water in the oil and no oil in the water.

i pulled a thermostat out of the car initially and it looks to be for a DOHC engine. and the one i got from oreilly is a SOHC but both times i put in the thermostat for the SOHC, the car overheats. what if i try the DOHC thermostat? would that hurt/help anything? only reason i ask is because the SOHC is twice as long as the original thermostat that was in it. hope this makes sense.

and yes radiator cap has been replaced.

Not always does a head gasket issue have those signs. Sometimes it's the compression from one of your cylinders blowing by gasket into your cooling system. This causes the fluid to blow out of system thru overflow. Which in turn causes low fluid which then you over heat. Some auto parts stores have a simple test kit you can buy to check your antifreeze for these gasses.

Should not really matter which one as long as they are proper temp and also fit and seal properly.

I'm going to try the DOHC thermostat and see if that fixes it. i have no leaks coming from underneath or the thermostat housing. i will get that test tomorrow morning and do that also so i know for sure if its the head gasket. If it is the headgasket why would the car run and idle just fine without the thermostat in it?

Not sure other than with it out the air has more area in cooling system to expand in than with it in. Problem might still be there just a lot less noticeable.

but if there was more air coming in wouldn't that make it run rougher?

Thermostat holds back coolant in engine till it gets to operating temp then it opens. With therm in it will hold back coolant so when or if gasses escape into coolant they have a very limited place to go. So fluid blows out overflow. With therm out they have the whole cooling system to expand into so it's less noticeable. Hope that makes since. Also hope you don't have a head gasket issue.

yes it does. it has more space to play in so less noticeable. yea the head gasket is in the back of my head as the culprit. i just thought their would be more obvious sounds or leaks or something that i could go off. i will get the head gasket test tomorrow morning and find out.

Had basically same issue with my 03 eclipse. It was head gasket. And we have same engine if a not badly mistaken.

Does your vehicle have a cap on the overflow tank to add antifreeze ? If so is that how you bled the air from the system ?

yes the overflow tank has its own cap. but the way i was told to bleed the system is to top it off in the radiator, then start it and once it starts sucking in the coolant then i need to keep steadily pouring it in till its full. is that the correct way?

Dandyoun what were the other issues if any you were having when you replaced your head gasket?

Ok but try bleeding system this way it may or may not help leave radiator on remove cap from overflow tank fill with antifreeze to full mark or halfway leave cap off and start vehicle and let idle once vehicle starts to reach operating temp thermostat will start to open antifreeze level in tank will start to drop add more antifreeze to tank then put tank cap back on. That should do it unless you have another problem. Also you will notice antifreeze level in tank will start to rise this is normal until thermostat starts to open.

Orcguru the way you are bleeding is the way I do it also to these types of radiator set ups. My car overheated badly due to bottom radiator hose issue. After replacing hose and refilling car with coolant it would every once in a while overheat/boil over. This gradually got worse. Finally when trying to bleed cooling system it would just constantly bubble out radiator cap. Never fully bleed all air out. I removed spark plugs and supplied 100 lbs of air pressure to each cylinder using parts from my compression tester set up and my air compressor. On one of the four cylinders air would just steadily bubble out of top of radiator. This told me head gasket was bad.