1993 Es300/windom Overheating

[Lex3486]

My car has begun overheating recently and I can't figure out why. I replaced the radiator a few months ago and ran strait water in the system for a couple hundred miles, to flush the system out some. It never overheated in the summer when I had just water in it. When I drained the water out, it looked sorta rusty, but nothing terrible. I put the orange Dex-cool antifreeze in it and it drove fine for quite a while. The temperature when workin right, is right above the second line on the guage; right at halfway. Recently, I can drive it for a while (usually 30 minutes or so) in the city, on backroads, the highway, wherever without any trouble, but eventually the temperature begins to rise. Usually it'll go back down momentarily, indicating the thermostat opening and closing I suppose, but after a while of this, it will go sky high at which point the system can't recover and I have to stop and let it cool down. I've visually checked the thermostat and gasket, as well as tested it and it works just fine. The cooling fan also appears to work alright (it runs continuously at a slow speed and speeds up as temperature goes higher. stays on full blast when it gets really hot). The cooling system has no leaks, and as I said earlier, the radiator is new. One thing I've noticed is that when I very first start the car, I can hear the sound of rushing water behind the dash (possibly air in the cooling system moving through the heater core my dad says). Also, as the car is running, the coolant overflow tank will slowly fill up above the full line till it's almost full, but the temperature is still normal. Eventually when the car begins to get too hot, it boils outta the tank. Performancewise, the car still drives 100%. It does smoke some on initial startup, but it's not white smoke and doesn't smell of antifreeze. It's more bluish and smells of gas, so...but it is an older car, so I don't think this is any major concern. My dad used to have a Toyota Supra which did almost the same exact things, except his antifreeze began to get oil in it (hasn't happened to me); he had a blown head gasket. We're thinkin what's happening with my car is that I've got a slow leak somewhere, either a head gasket or cracked head/block, which is slowly as you drive pressurizing the cooling system causing it not to work correctly and overflow and/or cause the thermostat not to work as it should. I know this isn't unheard of on an ES, and I was just hopin to hear some symptoms from people who have had this problem so I can determine if it's head gaskets, cooling system, etc.

P.S. Sorry for the long post lol. If any of you are members of the US Club, then you'd know I'm

infamous for long posts...

[Charles2]

My car has begun overheating recently and I can't figure out why. I replaced the radiator a few months ago and ran strait water in the system for a couple hundred miles, to flush the system out some. It never overheated in the summer when I had just water in it. When I drained the water out, it looked sorta rusty, but nothing terrible. I put the orange Dex-cool antifreeze in it and it drove fine for quite a while. The temperature when workin right, is right above the second line on the guage; right at halfway. Recently, I can drive it for a while (usually 30 minutes or so) in the city, on backroads, the highway, wherever without any trouble, but eventually the temperature begins to rise. Usually it'll go back down momentarily, indicating the thermostat opening and closing I suppose, but after a while of this, it will go sky high at which point the system can't recover and I have to stop and let it cool down. I've visually checked the thermostat and gasket, as well as tested it and it works just fine. The cooling fan also appears to work alright (it runs continuously at a slow speed and speeds up as temperature goes higher. stays on full blast when it gets really hot). The cooling system has no leaks, and as I said earlier, the radiator is new. One thing I've noticed is that when I very first start the car, I can hear the sound of rushing water behind the dash (possibly air in the cooling system moving through the heater core my dad says). Also, as the car is running, the coolant overflow tank will slowly fill up above the full line till it's almost full, but the temperature is still normal. Eventually when the car begins to get too hot, it boils outta the tank. Performancewise, the car still drives 100%. It does smoke some on initial startup, but it's not white smoke and doesn't smell of antifreeze. It's more bluish and smells of gas, so...but it is an older car, so I don't think this is any major concern. My dad used to have a Toyota Supra which did almost the same exact things, except his antifreeze began to get oil in it (hasn't happened to me); he had a blown head gasket. We're thinkin what's happening with my car is that I've got a slow leak somewhere, either a head gasket or cracked head/block, which is slowly as you drive pressurizing the cooling system causing it not to work correctly and overflow and/or cause the thermostat not to work as it should. I know this isn't unheard of on an ES, and I was just hopin to hear some symptoms from people who have had this problem so I can determine if it's head gaskets, cooling system, etc.

P.S. Sorry for the long post lol. If any of you are members of the US Club, then you'd know I'm

infamous for long posts...

My car, a 1992 Windom, (ES 300) has recently developed almost exactly the same problem. I found this post from 2003 by googling "windom overheating"; if lex 3486 is still out there - did you figure out what the problem was ? Has anyone one had this problem and solved it ? thanks

[chips229]

Hi Lex3486,

Sounds like youve covered most of what it could be,id also check when your starting the engine from cold,take the rad cap off before starting the engine and check that the coolant is flowing through the system ok,might be your water pump thats the trouble..ive had problems in the past with a old car i owned where one of the water pump fins has broken off and blocks the water flow at random...Might be worth checking the rad cap its self,that could be at fault and not keeping it at the right pressure(lower) and causing the fluid to boil.Or as you say it could be a air lock in the heater system.

Let us know if you find whats causing the problem..

Cheers chips..