Overheating Problems

[gdave]

this is very annoying my car overheats and i have changed the thermostat and my coolant levels are full ,after like 20 min of driving it will just get hot then shoot to the red zone and start to overheat, answers on why this occurs would be very helpful

thanks , dave

[eatingupblacktop]

Gdave, a couple of questions. How long has it been overheating, have you noticed whether any of your fans are working? Any smoke from the engine area, particularly the front of the engine, and have you smelled anything? If you have none of these, you could have a blocked rad. Are you getting any heat inside the car? If you run the heater on max does your temp gage go down? Even if you haven't noticed smoke or smelled anything your water pump could be seized. If that's the case then your timing belt will be shredding as you drive and will soon fail. Check to see what condition your belt is in. If you notice any shredded teeth, you need to replace it.

[gdave]

Gdave, a couple of questions. How long has it been overheating, have you noticed whether any of your fans are working? Any smoke from the engine area, particularly the front of the engine, and have you smelled anything? If you have none of these, you could have a blocked rad. Are you getting any heat inside the car? If you run the heater on max does your temp gage go down? Even if you haven't noticed smoke or smelled anything your water pump could be seized. If that's the case then your timing belt will be shredding as you drive and will soon fail. Check to see what condition your belt is in. If you notice any shredded teeth, you need to replace it.

Its probly been overheating for a couple of weeks up until that the car was in my garage sittin,i have no heat in the car until the car starts to overheat and once it overheats there is smoke and a very bad smell from the engine the smoke comes from the front drivers side once overheated

[90LS400Lexus]

I wonder what year this LS400 is?

I hope you have not toasted your headgaskets by running it into the red zones on the temp gauge.

Possibly could be a failing water pump. Whats the mileage?

[eatingupblacktop]

With the smoke and bad smell you describe, sounds like you're burning your timing belt on a seized pump or idler pulley. Your getting heat inside the car when it's starting to overheat only because of the pressure forcing coolant circulation into your heater. If it's a gen1 (90 - 94) you can drive it into a shop as long as you stay out of the red. You don't want to add head gaskets to your problems. If it breaks enroute you won't damage anything but you'll be stranded. If it's a newer model with an interference engine, tow it. Either way get it nto a shop unless you can do it yourself. Replacing a timing belt is about 9 out of 10 on the difficulty scale.

[SKperformance]

Turn the fan by hand , see if it has any resistance but still turns. Does it make the loud whirrrr when you first start up? If not then the clutch has no oil and is not activating.

[OmarG]

my mom's 94 was overheating when we bought it. I was freakin out. all i needed was a new thermostat and bleed the air out. now the car is perfect.

[gdave]

hello all thanks for the advice or help it is a '90 ls400 i anm taking it to a mechanic on sunday to flush it out and hook it up to the computer to run some test thank you all

gdave

[eatingupblacktop]

hello all thanks for the advice or help it is a '90 ls400 i anm taking it to a mechanic on sunday to flush it out and hook it up to the computer to run some test thank you all

gdave

Let us knows how it turns out.