Ok so my girl friends 2000 has been having some over heating issues, every once in a while the temperature red lines and coolant will start to boil over, and splash out of the resovior tank. The car over heated two days ago just from idiling in the driveway, and practically drained the radiator of all of its coolant. I dont know if this is water pump failure or a head gasket leak, im hoping its not something as serious, just wondering if anyone has had this problem and it turned out to be something like a thermostat. Any and all help is apreciated, i would like to try and tackle this asap because she needs to drive. Thanks guys

 

so i checked everything out on the lift yesterday and the head is not leaking, there is no oil in the antifreeze or vise versa and the water pump seems to be working fine, however i did discover that the readiator fan is not working, so i pulled the fan and tested it, the fan works fine but it doesnt kick on, does anyone know where the temperature sensor that turns the fan on is located? Also would the fan not working be enough to make the car over heat at idle in the winter?

 

How's the gasket on the radiator cap? I had an overheating/boiling problem when I first got my car. 1/2 of the gasket was gone. Replaced it. Fixed the problem.

 

I don't think there is a gasket on it but it seals tight the cap has like a clear gasket formed to the top of the cap if that's what your talking about, i don't see how that would cause a overheating problem though?

 

does the fan kick on. also I would change the thermostat just in case.

I had the same problem and it was my head gasket but do the easy cheap stuff first

 

Hm. There should be piece of black rubber on the bottom of the spring piece, as well as above it. Those are what actually seal it up. I haven't gone through and figured it out either, but I've had that same problem on two of my cars. The radiator cap gaskets were at least 1/2 way gone. Replaced them and both have been fine since. Go into a parts store and just take a peek at a radiator cap so you can see where the gaskets on the cap should be. Much clearer than trying to read where they should be.

 

im convinced that the radiator fan is the problem it doesnt turn on at all i pulled the fan off and the motor works fine, does anyone have a wiring diagram for the fan, or know what turns it on? i have already checked fuses and relays, and im going to change the coolant temp sensor right now

 

Is there only 1 fan on a 2000?... I have 2 rad fans on my 2004, and 1 kicks on whenever you run the A/C for a little while... I went thru quite a nightmare with over heating and could swear that during the problems, my mechanic was talking about the fan kicks on around 200 or 218 degrees F (?) does that sound right?

I went thru 2 radiators, 2 thermostats, water pump (and timing belt), a head gasket and a re-furbed head before I got to what I feel was the root cause... a bad heater core (lots of labor to get to that thing!)... when the heater core was leaking coolant, it was draining thru where the A/C unit drains condensation off, so I didn't notice it for a while...

 

Hint for heater cores Never take them out UNLESS there leaking, back flush and or rod them out.

and yes my 01 has one fan

 

make sure you check the fan fuse and relay in engine bay fuse box