My car is overheating

Make sure the cooling fans are working.

There are a few things to check. 1. From a cold start(safety) turn the car on with the hood lifted. Once it's running grab the upper radiator hose and squeeze it. It should be building pressure and have resistance. If your not building pressure then you have a leak (even a size of a thumbtack). Under pressure, the boiling point of water goes up. A running engine is hotter then the normal boiling temp of water. If you can, the professional way to check for leaks is to rent or buy a coolant pressure tester from any auto parts store. You screw the hand pump with a special fitting that goes onto the radiator where the cap goes. Then you can pump the system up and check the pressure gauge on the tool. If your losing pressure, you have a leak. Gauge should keep steady and hold. Also check to make sure your hoses as rent linked, or collapsing, which would restrict flow and cause overheating. 2. Make sure your radiator cooling fins aren't all smashed in and bent. They should all be as perfectly straight as possible. Air needs to be able to get in between (ideally) every thin fin of the radiator. The more air that cant flow thru the fins, means the less efficient your radiator can keep your engine cool. Also, you could have an obstruction in your radiator, restricting flow (less probable, but still possible) 3. The water pump. Depending on how many miles are on the car, you could have a failed water pump. Water pump is a turbine driven by the motor to move the coolant thru the entire system. If you dont have a current to your system, the hot coolant cannot travel to the radiator to cool down, and essentially stays in place and gets too hot for operating temperature. 4. Coolant temperature sensor. The name explains everything. Check your DTC (OBD2 codes) under the drivers side leg panel. Any auto parts store can scan your car for you. 5. Cooling fans. Make sure your fans kick on and off. One fan should be for your A/C and the other for your cooling system. (Dont be alarmed if one doesn't spin, your A/C probably isnt on. If your fans aren't working, first thing is to check your fan relay, and fuse. Refer to your manual where to find it under the hood. Hope this helps.