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90 Camry Overheating


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Guest
Anonymous Poster
newfangled.chapter@gmail.com

Aug 5, 2009, 12:52 AM

Post #1 of 6 (3427 views)
post icon 90 Camry Overheating Sign In

1990 Toyota Camry
190-ish miles

My car has a long history of overheating. The first time it happened was on the interstate and I didn't even notice until it was WAY hot so I pulled over and my car immediately shut down. That day we tried a few things, we bought a flush kit and used the entire thing, I don't remember much (someone else was taking care of it) but we had a hose running in it for a loooong time, and the water never really ever came out clear. (Though way cleaner than first started)
Anywho, managed to make our way home in the car even though it was still wanting to over heat. (Kept hte heat in the car running, and the needle stayed down)

My grandpa assumed it was the thermostat, so he replaced this. Around town my car was still running fine, though I was losing fluid and having to refill every now and then.

Next time I got on the interstate, it overheated again. Finally took it to a place and replaced the entire radiator because there was a crack.
Problem solved, right? Not quite.

Car did fine on the interstate that first time, did fine around town, next time on interstate? Over heat!

How frustrating. So my dad thinks maybe its the thermostat again, perhaps it was damaged from miscellaneous overheatings.
Is it possible for the thermostat to function normally around town, in traffic, etc, but then not want to function correctly at high speeds?

(The fan is in good working condition, so thats out)

What about the water pump? Could something be wrong with that? As far as I know, I'm not leaking or really losing much fluid.
(Before the radiator replacement, I would have to refill most of it anytime I heated up, and half of it anytime I went anywhere)
(After the radiator replacement, I do have to refill it but not nearly as much, and only when my car overheats. Most of the fluid is being retained)

(put year and model in subject line - TomG)

(This post was edited by Tom Greenleaf on Aug 5, 2009, 11:12 AM)


Guest
Anonymous Poster

Aug 5, 2009, 12:54 AM

Post #2 of 6 (3424 views)
Re: Overheating Sign In

sorry about not putting the year and make in the subject line =/ Is there not a way to edit?


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Aug 5, 2009, 1:19 AM

Post #3 of 6 (3422 views)
Re: Overheating Sign In

From your description of the rust colored coolant that was coming out, it sounds like someone ran water instead of coolant and now it's just all caked up with rust. To make matters worse, you overheated it so bad that you likely have a blown head gasket now. You don't have a whole lot of options that don't involve completely tearing down the engine now. That rust is going to come out one layer at a time and then get completely rusty again as you have found out already.

You can't run water in these cooling systems.



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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Guest
Anonymous Poster

Aug 5, 2009, 1:49 AM

Post #4 of 6 (3418 views)
Re: Overheating Sign In

Well, when we took the car and got the radiator replaced, would the mechanics not have checked to see if the engine was messed up?


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Aug 5, 2009, 2:32 AM

Post #5 of 6 (3415 views)
Re: Overheating Sign In

I'm sure he saw the rust but there would be nothing he could do about it. He likely didn't test for head gasket though.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Loren Champlain Sr
Veteran / Moderator
Loren Champlain Sr profile image

Aug 5, 2009, 12:39 PM

Post #6 of 6 (3399 views)
Re: 90 Camry Overheating Sign In

>>I'm not leaking or really losing much fluid.
After the radiator replacement, I do have to refill it but not nearly as much<<
Any coolant loss is unacceptable. As Hammer suggested, have the system checked for head gasket leakage. A pressure test will confirm or rule out an external leak. The head gasket can be checked chemically, or with an exhaust analyzer.
Loren
SW Washington






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