Engine Overheating for no obvious reason

[sarmadraheem]

Hi Fellows.

I am facing a really strange overheating problem in my corolla 4A-FE. Car in question is corolla 1995 1.6GLi. The car recently came from a long drive of 950KM and it worked without a single problem all the way to its destination. Today noon (after 1 whole day reaching its destination) when i took the car from my office to my residence which is hardly 1.5 km, on the way back needle raised progressively to the middle. One more notable thing is that car was parked in my office just behind the back of a window AC which was constantly blowing hot air on its radiator. I have also tried 1.5 km again today night for a check and again it did the same. Few more notable things are

1) I got the radiator cleaned 3 days back.
2) There is immaterial decrease in water level
3) Fan is direct
4) There is no valve installed
5) Car just came from a 950Km journey absolutely fine.
6) Engine heats up without AC and on heats up more rapidly on AC
7) Fan speed also seems to be normal

please help me, before taking my car to long route i have spent 45K on tyres, brakes and other suspension stuff, i dont want to spend 7 or 8 k on radiator. Please guide me.

[haali]

1st possibility: Check if the radiator fan wires are correctly connected, also check the rotation of radiator fan..clockwise or anticlockwise... may be fan is not rotating in its correct direction.. preventing proper radiator functionality & causing engine overheating... Also check radiator water level & chances of any leakage.
(sometimes radiator becomes choked due to rust or any rusty piece that came in its way during water circulation... upto my lil chemistry-physics :D)

2nd: Check plug, its wires and do check ignition coil, convert on Petrol & cng and check if it is missing in petrol or cng..

[sarmadraheem]

its currently tuned on cng and running on petrol with new spark plugs. Another thing i observed today is that, there was a little grinding sound from right side in the bonnet for a little while. Could it be water pump bearing which could have gone bad?

[haali]

its currently tuned on cng and running on petrol with new spark plugs. Another thing i observed today is that, there was a little grinding sound from right side in the bonnet for a little while. Could it be water pump bearing which could have gone bad?

don't know about it but remember if your car suspension/wheel bearings etc are faulty(requires servicing/replacement) & it is preventing the wheels from its usual work (i.e;smooth running), then it will put heavy load on the engine causing it to over heat... I have faced almost similar thing in my khyber, then my mechanic said that your front wheel is jammed that's y engine is taking load & heating up...

I don't know much about mechanical stuff of cars, just sharing some experiences that I have gone through...

W8 for the experts...

[Xulfiqar]

the thermostat valve in your engine is a positive bypass type, you NEED it for the engine to function properly. If its missing then firstly your ecu will never go into closed loop mode and secondly you would have a "dead zone" for the circulating coolant, the positive bypass ensures that all coolant is either circulating in the engine under full movement or through the radiator under full movement.

Seems that your system has air in it and that air bubble was lingering around the temperature sensor, that will cause great temp rise as steam is quite some magnitudes hotter than cooling water.

If it were my car I would have never undertook the journey on a car with a compromised cooling system. I have seen too many bad experiences.

[fahadwizz]

In addition to what Xulfiqar suggested, kindly check for a malfunctioning water pump. You mentioned a grinding sound and its safe to assume that you are using plain water which must be very very rusty.

If you have to replace water pump, replace all the hoses with brand new ones and also check for rusted metal pipes and replace them all. Flush the system put in Tstat and bring the fan back to auto. No big deal ! i have done it on my city but i replaced the rad too because i didnt wanna leave any weak points! (Don't go on replacing the head gasket!!!!)

[rizkhan2010]

fan on direct setting is an engine killer....go for automatic fan setting, with a thermostat valve installed as Xulfiqar bhai said....
i am not sure but u got to check ur head gasket too...chances are that it may have been blown...u can check it yourself using an simple test...YOUTUBE got easy demonstration videos of that test.

[capsat]

Go through this LINK as well it may be of some help

[ahsanonline]

You wrote you dont want to spend another few thousand on radiator...well friend you must if you've already spent so much on the car itself because all that will be useless if the engine kills itself due to overheating (overheat bataa kay nai hoti)

For complete peace of mind:

1. get the thermostat
2. get fan back on auto
3. go to radiator wala flush out the engine cooling system.
4. If radiator is "single naali" then change it and get the "double naali" one. It works wonders (with it: my 5afe on A/C stays below fan operation temp these days, mashallah).
5. Use that osaka coolant (green one in long steel can). Put two cans in the radiator.

Do it once. Do it right. And never have to worry about an overheating engine again.

[capsat]

You wrote you dont want to spend another few thousand on radiator...well friend you must if you've already spent so much on the car itself because all that will be useless if the engine kills itself due to overheating (overheat bataa kay nai hoti)

For complete peace of mind:

1. get the thermostat - Click
2. get fan back on auto - Click
3. go to radiator wala flush out the engine cooling system.
4. If radiator is "single naali" then change it and get the "double naali" one. 1.6 Gli does not need double nali It works wonders (with it: my 5afe on A/C stays below fan operation temp these days, thats very strange if the fans are at automatic under all the given conditions fans must come online not matter what mashallah).
5. Use that osaka coolant (green one in long steel can). Put two cans in the radiator. use 50 % in distilled water

Do it once. Do it right. And never have to worry about an overheating engine again.

if fans are not kicking-in check for the fan actuator before you suffer

[ahsanonline]

Does not need 'double naali', but having the capacity doesn't hurt, esp. knowing we're in a hot zone. In 40degree celcius temperature, with the A/C working non-stop and standing still in traffic - Car's engine would be screaming for it ...lol

Fans are auto, I'm saying the cooling is so good that while car is moving inside the city the coolant temps do not approach the temp required for the fan to kick in. Even while stuck in traffic the fans do not have to work themselves crazy to keep their master cool. And two cans of coolant dont fill it up to the brim, you'd always have to add water to it (distilled if available, otherwise the most filtered water you can find).

[Xulfiqar]

the tall osaka cans are dye and nothing else. Proper coolant is available both conc and premixed. Its quite a bit expensive than the cheapie and silly osaka cans.

[Xulfiqar]

our qibla buzurg ustaad rehmatullah Alehe mechanics are considered to be the "aristotle" of automotive technology and if they say "d'rect fan" is good then its considered good. Same with the thermostat valve or "wall"

lastly I have also heard a genius tell me that "well water" is good for the radiator. Aristotle had too much to "smoke"

[sarmadraheem]

Thanks to all for reply. Car is currently at mirpur mathelo. Would i be able to get thermostat valve from Rahim Yar Khan and which is best new one or old used one. Moreover to be on safe side if i have to replace the radiator, which should should i buy new, used, how much nali or any other thing which you suggest.

[fahadwizz]

did u check ur water pump?

[s_ruhail]

Do what Xulfiqar and Fahadwizz said, and for heaven's sake do NOT use water or cheap Osaka/NASA coolant. Proper coolants are slightly expensive, for example one litre of 100% concentration coolant from FUCHS or LiquiMoly will cost around 350rs whereas premixed 40% 4 litres from FUCHS are for around 1600rs.
I suggest premixed since even the water here is not pure.

Good luck with your car

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

[capsat]

if your GLI need radiator replacement buy new locally produced. Loads Pakistan Aalwin engineering aka atlas engineering are producing radiators for cars assembled in Pakistan. A thermostat with 82 C stamped on it is OK if original one is missing. You can buy from Sukker auto parts market, I doubt if M'rpr M'tlo is big enough to cater for a Toyota new parts no harm in trying. Whatever coolant you flush make sure you mix it with Distilled water aka Bottled drinking water

[ahsanonline]

I never knew Osaka was that bad (although its much better than plain tap water). So yes, do get proper coolant, preferably NOT orange/rust coloured. Pre-mixed is ideal unless you can find distilled water too...

For radiator: get it kaabli. they know it as double naali wala radiator. No need to get new unless you got $$$ printing press...

New Tstat valve if you can find the proper one from a reputable shop (specifically for that car/engine). Otherwise get it from the guy you get the radiator from and ask for guarantee/ test it in hot water.

[rizkhan2010]

if your GLI need radiator replacement buy new locally produced. Loads Pakistan Aalwin engineering aka atlas engineering are producing radiators for cars assembled in Pakistan. A thermostat with 82 C stamped on it is OK if original one is missing. You can buy from Sukker auto parts market, I doubt if M'rpr M'tlo is big enough to cater for a Toyota new parts no harm in trying. Whatever coolant you flush make sure you mix it with Distilled water aka Bottled drinking water

sir i guess bottled drinking water (Nestle, Aquafina etc) is most of the time MINERAL water NOT distilled water...mineral water has mineral/salts mixed in it which is good for human health but very bad for radiator/car battery....distilled water on the other hand is pure water, which is WITHOUT any salts and minerals in it...distilled water is obtained from boiling water into steam vapors (only pure water will vaporize while the salts and mineral will be left behind) the steam is then allowed to cool down back into water in a separate container...hence u get pure water or Distilled water...
now obviously i dont want the poster or anyone else to put on a white gown and go into Alchemist's laboratory and do this but i just wanted to clarify the difference between the two which most people mistakenly consider the same, and happily pour 1.5 litr Nestle in their radiator coolant mixture thinking that they are using distilled water

[ahsanonline]

if fans are not kicking-in check for the fan actuator before you suffer

if your GLI need radiator replacement buy new locally produced. Loads Pakistan Aalwin engineering aka atlas engineering are producing radiators for cars assembled in Pakistan. A thermostat with 82 C stamped on it is OK if original one is missing. You can buy from Sukker auto parts market, I doubt if M'rpr M'tlo is big enough to cater for a Toyota new parts no harm in trying. Whatever coolant you flush make sure you mix it with Distilled water aka Bottled drinking water

drinking water is not distilled water. If you drank a bottle of distilled water it will screw you up.