Q: Car overheats badly. What's the problem?
I got the car from someone who hardly ever drove it, hence the low mileage. I know it sat a while from the last time she drove it till I got it. I've been driving it for almost a year now and it's been great, then all of a sudden it began overheating badly. Turned out it was the water pump. I fixed that and it ran great for about two weeks. Now it has started overheating again but no leak. I'm not to sure what the problem is now. I think it may be the thermostat. I am going to replace that today just to be safe but assuming that is not the problem what else could it be?
My car has 90000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
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Hi, thanks for writing in. This is usually a result of one or several things. Since you have replaced the water pump, we can reasonably assume that is not the problem. Also, since you are replacing the thermostat today, that is very likely a potential solution to your problem as that is a very common culprit in overheating engine problems. If this does not turn out to solve your issue, you will want to also check to be sure the cooling fans are coming on regularly as this can also cause intermittent cooling problems as well when the cooling fan relay is bad or faulty causing the fans to work intermittently or in some cases not at all. Overheating can also be caused by a clogged radiator not allowing the coolant to flow properly. If none of the above solve your issue, you may want to consider having an expert from Your Mechanic come to your home to perform a radiator flush service. Best of luck and hope this helps!
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