eatmorepork

Thanks LL, I haven't tried a new thermostat yet. I spoke with a couple of mechanics and they indicated that it could very well be a blown head gasket. One suggested a dye-test kit to see if the antifreeze would change color in the presence of combustion gas. They both said it will be about $1,500 to replace the headgaskets. This car may be done...I don't know. My wife isn't very happy, she loves this car. :cries:

I am searching through the forum...would the overheating be due to a cracked block? Again, the temp gage jumped quickly coming up that hill.

I have a 1993 ES300 and it overheated (puked out the overflow tube) earlier this week and again this morning. The car has almost 174,000 trouble-free miles, until now. I replaced both radiator caps and yesterday I ran the car for 45 minutes in the garage with no overheating problems; I just added a bit of antifreeze through the top cap and made sure the air bubbles were worked out (which it has some). The upper radiator hose became firm and both radiator caps warmed up so I figured the fluid was flowing. The Temp Gage never went past the 3rd mark. I drove this morning 25 miles into town to run some errands. I kept it running the entire time...so it ran about 1-1/2 hours. It did not overheat whatsoever. B) The gage indicated just past the 2nd mark. I thought yabahooba, just the radiator caps! Then as I pulled into our home the Temp Gage shot straight up to H. We live up on a hill, no more than a 1/4 mile up a fairly steep grade. :cries: It again went out the overflow tube and it was bubbling slightly; all in a 1/4 mile! I quickly looked under the hood before shutting it off and the fan was running hard too, so the hydraulic motor/pump should be okay. The radiator is a couple years old, the antifreeze looks good, the oil was recently changed (by myself) and it looks very clean, so I don't think it can be a head gasket. Maybe it is. Or can it be the water pump since the entire drive this morning was down the driveway and flat except for going back up the driveway? The car starts up and still accelerates hard and smooth. The engine idles smoothly too. How difficult is it to replace the water pump? I suppose it would also be a good time to change the timing belt too. Any help is appreciate so thanks in advance!

Hello everyone, I signed up a while back ago, but never posted, just lurked :whistles: ...my 1993 ES300 just never had any problems. It has almost 174,000 miles and now there are a few things that are cropping up. I will find my appropriate forum to post my questions and concerns, but I thought it would be best to say hello first here and thanks in advance! John