I have had this problem before when it was a bad head gasket, but the water wasn't getting into the oil...it was between a water passage and a combustion chamber. even without a thermostat installed in my neon, the car was overheating w/o showing any leaks at all. I had a new water pump and timing belt on it. the problem was the crack in my head gasket was allowing pressure from the combustion chamber push the antifreeze out of my overflow. My reservoir would remain full, but the antifreeze inside the engine would be gone within 45 minutes of driving...just long enough to get to work...saved up, and bought a new engine...it was a lot cheaper and easier for me to change engines than do a head gasket in my garage at home.

Check the Oil...If it's milky, you got a head gasket problem. If not, Water Pump

I believe my situation was just a freak occurrence.

 

thats right, i forgot that you told me to check the oil. while i did not really check the majority of the oil i did check the dipstick and it was not milky. it looked normal. i took it to the shop this afternoon (4 hours to go 5 miles). it is at pep boys. they are going to run a diagnostics on it and let me know tomorrow. they were about to close when i finally got there.
one thing i did notice this afternoon after i posted last, and i dont know a bunch about it but it looked strange to me, the radiator fans where not spinning. do they kick on when the car is on or just when it is in gear or only after a certain point? i just had it in park when i popped the hood and saw them just sitting there. that would also cause the engine to overheat right? i checked the connections and the relay but they were ok as far as i could tell. maybe a short or something electrical?

 

the fans come on only when the car has reached operating temperature or when the A/C is on. It turns itself off when the temperature drops below a certain point...not sure...but if the car was overheating when you looked under the hood and the fans were not moving, it's obviously the problem.

 

what was the verdict on that?

 

since the car would not start pepboys could not run a diagnostics on it so i had to tow it to the dealership but they have not looked at it yet. they will check it our on monday. i will keep you posted as soon as i find out. any ideas on why it wont start? could a broken water pump/timing belt/radiator keep the car from starting?

 

broken timing belt would keep it from running but broken water pump wouldnt because instead of working it would just overheat so my guess is your timing belt broke or your starter went

 

ok, the problem starting was a coincidence with the over heating problem.
i replaced the starter about 2 months ago and i guess i did not tighten the bolts enough so some of the wiring was loose on that. the mechanic fixed that today. (i replaced it where the car was when it died, a dark parking lot in the sleet from 12:30 am when i got off work until 2:00am with the light from my cell phone and a keychain flash light. haha)

AND HERE IT IS... the car was not overheating at all. the mechanic took the temperature of the engine when the needle was straight up and it was about 170. he said the temperature sensor was bad along with a bunch of other ground wires (i dont know if they were all related or not). we told him to fix the WIRING ONLY and he did. when we drove it home we expected it to say it was overheating again within 5 minutes or so but it never did. i think the ground wires may have fixed the problem (i hope i hope i HOPE!). what do you guys think?

btw, thanks for your input!

 

no problem im glad you got that figured out and that would make sense temp sensors will make it seem like its overheating when it really isnt your lucky thats all it was and loose grounds would also cause it to think that

 

if your waterpump is bad stop driving it and fix it right away before it gets expensive. go get yourself a waterpump, oil pump or inspect current one. and timing belt kit and you should be good to go.

if not you will be doing all that and pulling the head if the belt breaks.

 

thanks garret but i dont think thats the problem