February 10, 200521 yr About a month ago I had a new thermostat installed in my 98 legacy (2.2L, AT, 107k) since I had very little hot air. This led to a cracked burp screw on the radiator, which I replaced a few days ago. The radiator is now 100% air free. My new O2 sensor is on the way. Now the engine is overheating at low speeds. It's fine on the highway. The cooling fans are running fine as well. If I rev the engine hard it'll cool right down. My gut tells me it's the water pump...any thoughts on that? I haven't noticed any cooling coming out of the weep holes but I will double-check for that when I replace the O2 sensor and change the oil this weekend. If it is the water pump, a few questions: how difficult is this a repair to do myself? What else should be changed while I'm at it? How much would it cost an independent shop to fix? I swear, after it just had a transmission rebuild I'm getting tempted to light the thing on fire and drive it off a cliff into the ocean...
February 10, 200521 yr My gut instinct says you still have some air in the system. Air in the radiator is one thing but if its stuck in the engine, you can have problems like that. Good luck!
February 10, 200521 yr Author My gut instinct says you still have some air in the system. Air in the radiator is one thing but if its stuck in the engine, you can have problems like that. Good luck! Hmmm...how many tries at burping it should it take?!? Aside from pulling the burp scew (aka air plug) and the cap, is there anything else like jacking up the car that would help?
February 10, 200521 yr A partially plugged radiator may be another possibility or the thermostat is not opening as much as it should be, allowing the water to circulate like it should.
February 10, 200521 yr One way to tell whether it is waterpump is to see turn on the heater as soon as car starts to overheat. If the temperature drops when heater is turned on and goes back up when heater is turned off, waterpump is not the constraining factor - it has enough juice to send coolant to heater and radiator. Burp by putting car on a uphill ramp or by pulling out the upper hose and pouring coolant directly into it. Replacing waterpump is fair amount of work - requires taking out timing belt covers, crank pulley, timing belt and perhaps inner timing cover.
February 10, 200521 yr Author One way to tell whether it is waterpump is to see turn on the heater as soon as car starts to overheat. If the temperature drops when heater is turned on and goes back up when heater is turned off, waterpump is not the constraining factor - it has enough juice to send coolant to heater and radiator. Well, I have to run a quick errand in it now, so I will check this. I believe that this does work. If it's not the water pump I will sleep easier Edit: The waterpump must be in working condition, keeping the blower running does cool down the car. I guess I will re-burp it again this weekend.
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