sha4000 Posted June 24, 2005 Posted June 24, 2005 Well heres my problem. i drove down to baltimore to pick my son up for the summer and everything was fine. I gassed up in b-more got my son and stood outside the car talking to his mother for a little while. When i left after about amile down i noticed my gauge almost to the top in the red it scared the mess out of me because i didnt want to kill my engine and i had to get back home so i pulled over at a gas station and popped my hood the reservoir was all the way to the top. at first i thought it was some kind of malfunction because i have not had any kind of problems with this car or the 91 that i owned previously (great cars) so i cut the car back on and the temp gauge goes back to the top i know a little bit about cars so i turned the heater on all the way to high and waited for the the gauge to go down (this releases some of the heat from the engine into the cabin through the heater) and then i sucked some of the anti-freeze out of the reservoir until it reached the low level. i cut the a/c off and got on I-95 to head home and no problem everything is cool when i cut the a/c on at highway speeds as soon as traffic got thick because it seemed liked everyone was headsing up north for the summer the gauge would start to rise to the top again as soon as i cut the a/c off it would drop back down to operating temp i went through this the whole drive does anyone have any ideals? i checked for leaks on the hoses and under ther car nothing also i have a custom colgan 2 piece bra for the highway do you think this might be restricting the air ? this is the first summer ive had it
sha4000 Posted June 25, 2005 Author Posted June 25, 2005 Did your condensor fan/fans kick in? ← nice to hear from you RFeldes yes it did kick in but i guess at low speeds with the extra load on the engine from the compressor it couldnt cool fast enough. the funny part is that when i got back home at about 6pm i parked the car for about 2 and a half hours and waited for the sun to go down then i took it for a ride down atlantic ave in brooklyn with the ac/ on i even parked and let the car idle for acouple of minutes to see if the gauge would start to rise but nothing happened so i was kind of glad but skeptical because it was much cooler outside at night than in the day. its supposed to be real hot up here today so im going to let my car idle with the a/c on and see what happens i just hope that theres nothing wrong with my car
wwest Posted June 25, 2005 Posted June 25, 2005 Don't know about the newer ones but my 92 has two fans which are sometimes run in series for low speed. Your fan(s) may be running but at low speed??
RFeldes Posted June 25, 2005 Posted June 25, 2005 I believe the 98 you have is a single fan but I am not sure if it is two speed. Maybe someone else here has a better idea. My 1990 with two fans really cook when it is hot. If not the fan, then a faulty radiator thermostat would be suspect. Probably a complete flush and new thermostat is in order. Make sure to replace with Toyota Red Coolant.
akewlguy Posted June 25, 2005 Posted June 25, 2005 Good job pulling over ASAP.. I had a 95 Ford Contour and the head cracked? No idea why? I mean no leaks, thermostat was fine.. When I noticed the HOT I pulled over, but it was to late.. I think it started before that, since the morning before my radiator light came on then went off.. Fluid level was normal so it was weird.. I guess just internal failure.. I will say a prayer for you.. Scares the beeesikkkeess out of me when I think of hot engine..
sha4000 Posted June 25, 2005 Author Posted June 25, 2005 i had a 91 which had to fans in the front but my 98 has only one i thought it might be the thermostat but as long as i dont have the a/c on at low speeds or idle there is no problem so wouldnt that mean that the thermostat is good? i went out today and it is really hot so i let the car run with the a/c on and sure enough the gauge rode all the way up to the red level so i turned it off and the temp dropped back down this has something to do with the compressor making the engine work harder therefor making it hotter the car runs excellent besides this problem can anyone thinkof why the a/c might make the engine overheat?
RFeldes Posted June 26, 2005 Posted June 26, 2005 Sha4000, My advice to flush and replace with Toyota red radiator fluid plus change the thermostat is the best advice I can come up with. If you look for an opinion on this forum it is best to take it from experienced members. It is normal maintenance and could save you $$$ if you take it. There is no quick fix other than sound guidlines for maintenance for summer woes. Dirty, sludged radiators and worn thermostats are starting places and certainly good PM's. A good place to start or get ready to hit the "Deep Checkbook" if you keep letting it overheat.
wwest Posted June 26, 2005 Posted June 26, 2005 Normal maintenance my.............!! If the Ph and the freeze level of your coolant is okay then I very much doubt that your problem is in that area. My 1992 LS400 went almost 100,000 miles on the factory coolant before I changed it out just about a year of so ago.
UCF3 Posted June 26, 2005 Posted June 26, 2005 It sounds like you may have a clog in your cooling setup and/or even a bad water pump. I'd start by changing the coolant. I'd do a complete coolant flush, and use some conditioning agent like a BG coolant additive. THat should help clean the clog as well.
sha4000 Posted June 26, 2005 Author Posted June 26, 2005 yeah people i was thinking about draining the coolant changing the thermostat and blowing out the radiator. Its sunday so i have to wait for the dealer to open tomorrow to buy some of that coolant and a thermostat does anyone know how much that will cost
Kennyr Posted June 26, 2005 Posted June 26, 2005 yeah people i was thinking about draining the coolant changing the thermostat and blowing out the radiator. Its sunday so i have to wait for the dealer to open tomorrow to buy some of that coolant and a thermostat does anyone know how much that will cost ← It looks like your on the right track. New thermostat and clean out the fins on your radiator. This should fix your problem.
RFeldes Posted June 29, 2005 Posted June 29, 2005 Hi sha4000, Did we help? Please post so we can all learn. thanks
sha4000 Posted June 29, 2005 Author Posted June 29, 2005 Hi sha4000,Did we help? Please post so we can all learn. thanks ← got the parts today but was in no mood to do it after i changed the feul filter i got all wet with gas but it felt good after i finished good thing i only had about 2 gallons left in the tank i couldnt get the line that runs to the engine back in something to do with the angle bim doing the flush and replacing the thermostat tomorrow so i will let you know what happens by the way a friend told that the fan clutch is a little too loose and i might have to change it does anyone know if this could be a part of the problem? and if so how much doesn it cost and where can i get one?
wwest Posted June 29, 2005 Posted June 29, 2005 Your fan clutch use a viscous fluid which when heated "stiffens" and "engages" the clutch. As the airflow through the radiator gets warm, then hot, and in your case even hotter, the clutch more tighly couples the fan to the engine.
sha4000 Posted June 29, 2005 Author Posted June 29, 2005 Your fan clutch use a viscous fluid which when heated "stiffens" and "engages" the clutch. As the airflow through the radiator gets warm, then hot, and in your case even hotter, the clutch more tighly couples the fan to the engine. ← yeah thats what my friend said e turned the fan and said its not stiff enough so as the engine heats up the clutch probably cant spin fast enough to cool it does that sound right
wwest Posted June 29, 2005 Posted June 29, 2005 "Friend turned the fan..." If that was shortly, within seconds, after the engine was shut down after it had been fully up to temperature for ~10 minutes with hood closed (HOT radiator airflow over the clutch cooling fins) then your friend's test was valid. Otherwise a "loose" fan clutch is exactly as expected. The viscous fluid is formulated such that there is virtually NO coupling from the engine unless the coolant is VERY close to the point of overheating. Otherwise having the engine driving the fan continuously would result in a waste of HP/fuel.
sha4000 Posted June 29, 2005 Author Posted June 29, 2005 "Friend turned the fan..."If that was shortly, within seconds, after the engine was shut down after it had been fully up to temperature for ~10 minutes with hood closed (HOT radiator airflow over the clutch cooling fins) then your friend's test was valid. Otherwise a "loose" fan clutch is exactly as expected. The viscous fluid is formulated such that there is virtually NO coupling from the engine unless the coolant is VERY close to the point of overheating. Otherwise having the engine driving the fan continuously would result in a waste of HP/fuel. ← nah he did it after the car had been sitting for about 2 hours does that mean my clutch is good? by the way i hear alot of talk about the toyota red coolant but when i went to the dealer and asked for some coolant the guy asked me red or green and if red is so vital why do they sell the green stuff? anyway m waiting for the engine to cool down some so i can do the drain and flush
wwest Posted June 29, 2005 Posted June 29, 2005 "does that mean my clutch is good?" No, it means that your friends "test" was inconclusive.
yoichisoma Posted June 30, 2005 Posted June 30, 2005 "does that mean my clutch is good?"No, it means that your friends "test" was inconclusive. ← Sha I have a 95 LS and a 90LS. My 90LS: I changed the radiator 3 years ago because I noticed the auxillary fans kicking on on hot days. I did this because experience with 92 toyota previa van with climbing temp on hot days with relief by turning heater on. that problem was fixed by changing radiator. The fins get brittle after many years and don't transmitt heat well. most of the deterioration occurs on the front of the radiator where you cannot see. It hides behind the A/C condenser. I would change the radiator with genuine parts and red coolant. Pump unlikely bad if not leaking. Thermostat a good idea since it is cheap(probably better to do first). Yo
sha4000 Posted June 30, 2005 Author Posted June 30, 2005 i just finished flushing out the coolant and changing the thermostat while i was in there i pulled the radiator out and cleaned it out with high pressure water the fins wwre really dirty and clogged i couldhave done a better job with a air hose now its time to wait for the next hot day the thermostat was definitely starting to stick
RFeldes Posted June 30, 2005 Posted June 30, 2005 Great job sha4000...Good for you...hopefully, you have solved your problem and I think you have. Only Red in a Lexus 400.
sha4000 Posted June 30, 2005 Author Posted June 30, 2005 Great job sha4000...Good for you...hopefully, you have solved your problem and I think you have. Only Red in a Lexus 400. ← ok ill let you know in a couple of days
monarch Posted June 30, 2005 Posted June 30, 2005 The fins get brittle after many years and don't transmitt heat well. most of the deterioration occurs on the front of the radiator where you cannot see. It hides behind the A/C condenser. ← While radiator fin deterioration / disintegration is common in the rust belt Northeast states, I've never heard of it in interior California where you are located. None of my 11 - 32 year old Toyotas have suffered from it. What I believe happened to the radiator in your Previa and '90 LS400 is that aftermarket antifreeze was installed at one point or Toyota Red antifreeze mixed with tap water or the green and red antifreeze were mixed. In any of these scenarios the end result is mineral deposit buildup inside the radiator core tubes of the radiator causing flow restrictions and / or a heat insulating effect that deminishes the heat transfer capability of the radiator. Even if your Toyotas were serviced by dealers, dealers commonly use tap water instead of distilled water and sometimes substituting green antifreeze in place of the more expensive Toyota Red. My experience has been that if a Toyota cooling system is always maintained using nothing but the factory original coolant mixture (50% Toyota Red + 50% distilled water) the radiator will last for decades and not suffer any appreciable loss of heat transfer capability (except as noted above in the rust belt states where external fin corrosion is a problem)
sha4000 Posted July 2, 2005 Author Posted July 2, 2005 ok people it looks like my problem is fixed ive been running my a/c with no problems so far next up is a complete engine and tranny flush
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now