'01 Won't stop overheating

[twistedkeys]

About a month ago out of being lazy I forgot to checking my very slow oil burn and my car ran out of oil to the point the oil light turned on, I pulled over immediately added oil, and noticed it was overheating too. (I've had problems in the past with it running out). I added coolant and was on my way, but it wouldn't stop overheating.

Now let's back up, in Feb of this year I rammed a car and broke my radiator, I replaced all the broken engine parts, and filled it with coolant. It overheated on me and so I went to autozone and got some more coolant, which it needed. The guy there also helped me "pump" the coolant through the hose by massaging it, and getting the air bubbles out. Since then the car ran fine until the above incident.

NOW. I've gotten to the point in the last week that I've had to just put water in it. It overheats sooooo easy in the city. I can't drive it more than 10 minutes in slow traffic. Now when I get going 35+ and there's wind, the engine stays at 200*. For example, I forgot about this because I was excited to teach my sister to drive, we drove around in a parking lot for 15 minutes before the temp was at 270* and steam was bursting out the engine.

I got a new thermostat, but it hasn't seemed to do much. The car seems to may be burning a tiny bit of water, but that's not 100%. Have I checked to see if it's going into the oil? Not yet. Any other suggestions?

[MKMike]

Do the electric fans come on?

Are you now using just water, rather than 50% antifreeze?

[twistedkeys]

Do the electric fans come on?

Are you now using just water, rather than 50% antifreeze?

The fans come on a little over 200, every time. And I used to use antifreeze, like most of this year I did, but the last few weeks I've been using water, because i can't afford $40+ a week for antifreeze

[nos4blood70]

So you did replace the radiator? What trim level is the car?

Check your oil. If you have the non-supercharged one, your upper intake may be done and pouring water into the cylinders. The sooner you check up on it the better or you risk losing the motor.

[MKMike]

Borrow a pressure tester from Autozone, fill the radiator up to full, bleed out any air and then follow the troubleshooting steps on these pages:
https://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/what- ... m-problems

In addition to leaks and bad thermostats, an odd problem that sometimes happens is the fins of the waterpump have eroded, so they're not moving coolant well.
Bad LIM and UIM gaskets are also commonplace.

If the LIM and UIM gaskets are originals, there's a good chance one or both have developed leaks.
Bad or repeated overheating can make the head gaskets let go or the head itself warps or cracks.

[nos4blood70]

Or you'll hydrolock the motor and bend a rod.

[redfury]

And doing the LIM gaskets is really not all that hard if you have a decent tool set. Biggest pain is just parts cleaning. See if a local shop will hot tank the LIM for you, it will go a long way to a proper install. Also, don't forget to buy the aluminum elbows, and if you break off the plastic ones ( you will ), don't forget to fish out all the old bits and O rings.

[twistedkeys]

Hey guys, thanks for all the replies! I think I found the problem. A couple days ago my belt started squeaking. Didn't think much of it, especially because it would get wet from the pressure leak. Well yesterday I was commuting back from work and my car starts smoking and turns off on me. Belt ripped off. After inspecting it, it looks like the idler/water pump seized. I haven't driven the car much but the rest of the way home it did great.

[twistedkeys]

Hey guys, thanks for all the replies! I think I found the problem. A couple days ago my belt started squeaking. Didn't think much of it, especially because it would get wet from the pressure leak. Well yesterday I was commuting back from work and my car starts smoking and turns off on me. Belt ripped off. After inspecting it, it looks like the idler/water pump seized. I haven't driven the car much but the rest of the way home it did great.

Sorry, obviously I fixed it on the side of the road and drove it home.

[MKMike]

Glad you figured it out.
At least the water pump is located in a way that you can do a "side of the road repair".
The bearings going bad on the pulleys is very common.
As cars age, these kinds of things wear out.