03 protege5 Overheated again

[goodfornothing]

So about a year ago I replaced my thermostat and radiator after my car overheated. I was in sto pand go traffic and it overheated again just now. I shut the car on and off and managed to pull over. Upon opening the hood, the radiator was steaming. What I noticed too was the coolant overflow was overfilled and the coolant was a transparent Orange color.

if anyone knows what this indicates, please let me know. I hope my head gasket didn't get damaged. ALSO as the car cooled down, the orange coolant flowed back into the radiator, emptying the reservoir. I'm thinking the thermostat could be malfunctioning. Car almost has 180k miles. Your help is appreciated!

 

[pcb]

The reservoir is working properly if it sucked the fluid back in.

You may have the wrong fluid in there,... I know there's a yellow and an orange kind and they aren't the same but it may not matter,... mine is yellow.

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123834298-Overheating-(Not-the-usual-culprits-though-)

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123834298-Overheating-(Not-the-usual-culprits-though-)

 

[pcb]

If I were you, I'd wait for it to cool off then fill the rad and overflow tank (as described above) to their proper levels and go ahead and drive it keeping a close eye on the temp gauge.

If the temp gauge moves above the middle mark, crank your heat on full blast. (make sure you don't have vapour lock in your heater core by making sure it blows hot as soon as the temp needle hits that middle mark)

The middle mark of the temp gauge is reached at 68* C and stays there till the actual temperature is well over 97* C. Get yourself the torque app if you wanna know the real temperature,.. the gauge on this car is useless and dangerous.

That'll buy you some time with a driveable car while you figure out the problem.

Did your fans come on ???

Did your temp gauge rise above the middle mark ???

 

[goodfornothing]

Thanks for the advice! I should add more detail:

I bought the radiator used from the forum, and was said to be in working condition (bought from a reputable member). After the install of the new thermostat and radiator, we burped it correctly and got the car to overheat. The fans kicked on and I saw the fluid get sucked in, so everything check out and the cooling system was working properly, maintaining a normal position on the temp gauge. The radiator was empty and I specifically used green colored coolant. (I use Prestone 50/50 anitfreeze coolant)

 

[pcb]

That's starting to sound pretty serious. Turning on your heater may not help much then,... if it helps at all.

I'm starting to think head gasket,... let us know how it goes.

 

[goodfornothing]

That's starting to sound pretty serious. Turning on your heater may not help much then,... if it helps at all.

I'm starting to think head gasket,... let us know how it goes.

This is what I'm afraid of too. The coolant shouldn't just change color like that. I'll have to take it to a shop this week or next and have them check it out, if the head gasket is blown, looks like I'll be in the market for a new car. Thanks for the advice!

 

[pcb]

Or you could borrow one of these at Autozone for free and sniff the bubbles yourself.

It's called a block tester.

 

[pcb]

The coolant shouldn't just change color like that.

I don't think it did,... I googled this. (I didn't read it all,... I'll just stick to yellow)

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=78008

You may have had some unfortunate mixing screwing things up. (you might have gello in your cooling system)


EDIT....
Opps I missed this part ....
"The radiator was empty and I specifically used green colored coolant. (I use Prestone 50/50 anitfreeze coolant)"

So now I don't know what to think about the color change. Oil or exhaust in the coolant ???

 

[goodfornothing]

I don't think it did,... I googled this. (I didn't read it all,... I'll just stick to yellow)

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=78008

You may have had some unfortunate mixing screwing things up. (you might have gello in your cooling system)


EDIT....
Opps I missed this part ....
"The radiator was empty and I specifically used green colored coolant. (I use Prestone 50/50 anitfreeze coolant)"

So now I don't know what to think about the color change. Oil or exhaust in the coolant ???

You are awesome, giving your time to help me out with my problem. I really appreciate it! I know there are chemical tests I or a shop can do to check if coolant/oil is in the system. I am lucky to have a motorcycle as transportation for the time being. I'll keep this thread updated.

 

[pcb]

Thanks dude,....

I'm a professional couch mechanic,... I don't have to get my hands dirty.

80% of what I know, I learned from this forum.

 

[rit14623]

Overheating isn't good for the engine oil. Unless you have fully synthetic oil, your oil will lose viscosity in very high temps, like from an overheating engine.
I would recommend that you change your oil even if you have not reached the mileage to change the oil.

 

[hornsfan10609]

Mixing and changing the color of coolant is a bad head gasket 95% of the time with Proteges.

 

[goodfornothing]

Mixing and changing the color of coolant is a bad head gasket 95% of the time with Proteges.

Your first statement is quite vague, not sure if you're implying I mixed coolant (and color) or mixing of oil and coolant in the engine due to a bad head gasket. But either way, I'm going to get a block tester either today or tomorrow but I feel I do have bad head gasket.

 

[mp5build2013]

your situatiuon sounds pretty frustrating. my input may be useless and misleading so take it as a simple opinion.
i always use green coolant, however my engine had 175,000 miles on it so you better believe its rusty. i had a leak in my intake for a while so i was sucking in hot air and my engine would runs tad bit hot, but as pcb stated the gauge didnt tell me it just felt hot and the fans would kick on a lot. because of this, i played with my coolant a lot. the first step was to do a flush and my coolant came out orange, but i honeslty thought it was becasue hot water cleans.. so i figured when my car got hot rust ame off into the coolant. before my dumba** figured out my intake problem i re-flushed it to add some water wetter to my coolant. once again the coolant came out green with a very orange tint to it.

id check intake, exhaust ( when my cat clogged up it was overheating)
if nothing add some water wetter to atleast ease the problem
usually when a head gasket blows the pressure is outward making your car smoke, however there is a possibility that oil may have entered the water system. but oil and water dont mix, so you wouldnt be getting an orange color from oil you would be getting spots and it would smell horrible.

 

[goodfornothing]

Since there may be other complications that might spring up due to my car overheating, I'm really considering a replacement engine. where's the best place to get one? I've read people get them in ebay.

 

[goodfornothing]

Brothers!

So I ended up getting an 05 350z 6MT as an upgrade! Very happy, but I still have the protege5 to diagnose, do some fixes, and sell to someone who is interested in replacing/rebuilding the engine (if that's the problem).

Advice is needed, however. Upon closer inspection, when the car overheated, coolant leaked out of the reservoir tank. I'm wondering if this means coolant did not flow through the engine, causing it to overheat. Could this be a bad water pump? Or perhaps the thermostat failed to open, although I did replace it? I still need to inspect where else the coolant leaked from, but it was mostly on the driver side due to the reservoir location. I will be changing the oil today, perhaps I will see if coolant mixed in with it.

Regardless, I'm looking for some info, maybe the engine can be saved.

 

[pcb]

You should get that block tester and test your block. If there's exhaust coming out of your overflow tank then you know you have a bad head gasket. lf you've got no exhaust in your overflow tank then you know you overheated for some other (cheaper) reason.

The block testing is free except you have to buy fluid for it. It will let you know if you need a new engine. (or head gasket).

(there is still a very good chance your engine is OK)

 

[pkane]

You mentioned adding "green" coolant when the new radiator was installed. Do you know if you or PO used Dexcool (orange)? Mixing them is VERY BAD. The coolants chemically react and form a gel rather than a liquid.

 

[goodfornothing]

derp

 

[Cheap5]

First thing I do is a coolant pressure test. It will check the whole cooling system for leaks, minus the radiator cap. If you were local to me I'd do it.for free. Call a few shops to price that service.