Overheating issue

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Tetsubo

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2013 MS3 w/ Tech
I know I haven't been around for some time. This is due to me just graduationg from my institute and being a busy man. This has come to a stop today because I have run into a problem.

I noticed a huge wet spot near the front passenger side of my car the other day, but didn't think to look at it at the moment. The car struggled to turn over the morning of overheating and I noticed the heater wasn't working either. While driving it that night the "gravel" sound got more prevalent and not too soon after the car threw CEL(301,117,660). The car overheated almost immediately after. Ended up having her towed back to the house.

I checked the radiator and it is bone dry, but I have coolant in my resevoir. I have plenty of oil aswell. I could use some help on what I should be looking for, possible bad head gasket, hoses?
 
the front passenger side houses the water pump, a flange with multiple coolant line inputs of which also houses the thermostat...and is also what the lower radiator hose connects to...

Any of those could be the issue...a big puddle probably means either a destroyed radiator hose, or a water pump that ate it...Wouldn't worry too much about a head gasket just yet, that definitely isn't what caused the puddle i'd say...and its a good thing you had it towed, rather than trying to limp it home...

Struggling to turn over also points to a mashed up water pump...its driven by the inner drive belt...and if the shaft and pump gears are screwed up, it won't freely spin...Some guys also notice voltage problems around when a water pump goes...as the same belt turns the alternator...

one of those things mentioned is most likely the problem...i'm betting its the pump entirely...
 
better than a head gasket haha...

Its one of those jobs that requires more work removing various stuff in the way, rather than just bolting on a new pump...check around here, there was a kit that had a new water pump, new timing belt, TB tensioner/idler, all major seals, gaskets, belts, etc...for like $240 shipped...You have to take all the belts off anyway, might as well replace that stuff while you're in there...
 
Ok, so today it warmed up a bit and I was able to roll the car outside to see if I could run some water through the radiator and segregate where the leak is. I noticed some dripping and decided to jack her up, when I did it turned into a waterfall. From what I was seeing a bit hard too. The leak was coming from right above my oil pan near the front of the car. If I'm not mistaken that is the waterpump right above it?

I am trying to keep my cost down on repairs, this car was meant to get me through school and it has.
 
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Seems like the pump to me in that location. If it was from the t-stat area or lower hose you would have seen it while looking down on the engine bay.
 
Its still hard to know for sure until you take some stuff apart...

The water pump is mounted to the 'front' of the engine, which is the side with the timing belt (and all the other driven accessories)...but the thermostat housing, some seals, and a couple tubing inputs all run right in there too...the thermostat housing is on the 'right side' of the engine (these are confusing i know, as the engine is mounted sideways in the car)...you can clearly find this cup looking flange by tracing the lower radiator hose...as mentioned, you probably could see this from the top of the bay...but normally when a pressurized cooling system opens up...it sends coolant all over everything down there, so its probably pretty hard to tell exactly what failed...

it literally could be any of those components...or all of them...I was leaning towards the pump simply because of you stating the engine struggled to turn over...and you mentioning there still being coolant in the overflow bottle...if the pump was working properly, but you had a steady leak, the pump would still be able to siphon the remainder of that bottle out most likely...but when a pump doesn't work, you can still have significant fluid in the system...and over heat in just minutes...
 
The information really does help a lot. I am by no means a mechanic, just a bit inclined. Going to have a couple of friends come over to the house this weekend and have our hand at tearing the engine apart with no air tools.
 
So, I was able to replace my water pump with the help of some friends. Back when I bought the car in 2010 I had it serviced at Pep Boys replacing a cover, belts and pump. When I got down to the pump I didn't even need a wrench to take the bolts off. Decided to replace the pump and the passenger side engine mount. Turns out no retailer has one or believes that a Protege5 exists, lol! Anyways, I put her all back together and see if she fired without some leaking. She turned over just fine with no leaks just waiting on the mount to come in through the mail to put her back on the floor.

One more thing I also decided to paint the Valve cover here tomorrow. I picked up a can of Ford red, what would ppl suggest as colors?
 
A lot of guys have used that 'vht' ceramic paint for valve covers (i think thats the brand, if not its something close to that)...with good prep work and patience, it looks pretty good when finished...also, i'm sure you've seen the 'crinkle' stuff too...again, turns out great if you take your time...

but, being in a city...you could probably find a good powder coating shop that would do it for like $40 (at least thats what it costs in my area, you probably have a lot more options)...and the results are significantly better than anything from a spray can...and they'll most likely do it in any color you want...
 
think i over tightened the belts now... getting a weird queeling sound. they sound like guitar strings when i pluck at it.
 
^^exactly...you have 4 different bearings for 4 different accessories that you'd rather not destroy...and if you really yanked on it, you're even pissing off the oil pump and crankshaft mains...None of those things need to be overly stressed...a loose belt is better than an overly tightened one, the only thing that'll happen is some squeeling and poor belt life (although, you need that water pump turning obviously)...much easier to fix than the other way around...

So just tighten them down until the belt can be turned 'sideways' without too much force...but without too little either...you have a pretty decent area of perfect...you'll know when it feels right.
 
When i touch the gas i get the most whinning out of the car, is this the timing belt? When it kicks on I get a bit of whine and then it starts to somewhat settle away after a couple of minutes. trying to get vids up.
 
did you install the timing belt plastic cover with the water pump pulley off? If not, it may be that thing rubbing on the water pump inner plate (where the pulley mounts to the water pump)...Without having the pulley removed, its almost impossible to get that cover to sit in there properly...I didn't do it right when i changed timing belts...but eventually the plastic melted and it stopped make noise haha...now i have a few mm's of clearance there...
 
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