1 is the radiator full ?
2 Add radiator cleaner and flush radiator after following instructions on the cleaner bottle.
3 Is radiator core blocked and not allowing cooling air to flow thru ?
4 Is fan belt slipping ?
5 Is water pump faulty ?
6 Take radiator to a specialist and have the tanks removed and the core rodded out and tanks refitted
7 Is the thermostat blocked or not opening and is it the correct one for your car?
chek all above one by one, you will find the reason that cause overheat, Then handle it! Good luck!
Check your cooling fan and make sure it works. You may only have a blown fuse that won't let the fan turn on to keep the water at a normal operating temp. Check your connections and wires to it also. The worst that could have happened is that the motor in the fan is fried.
make and model of the car?
The lower hose is not suppose to be hot. The radiator is not getting rid off the heat. So, maybe fins of the radiator is blocked or the radiator fan is not working.
Many people forget the heater core is also part of your heating/cooling system. A corroded heater core might not flow as much coolant as needed to properly cool your engine.
I am trying to diagnose an overheating problem with my car and I have looked into a couple different things. An important piece of information that I am trying to figure out involves the upper and lower radiator hoses. They are both quite hot during running temperature and overheating. I believe that this means the thermostat is opening and I also believe that the water pump is working properly. If the thermostat was stuck closed, I believe the upper hose would be cold since the t-stat allows hot water to flow back into the radiator. Also, if the water pump was bad, I don't think the hoses would be warm because water wouldn't be flowing throughout the cooling system. Furthermore, I am able to drive around town for some time (keeping it at low RPM) before it overheats. If the water pump was bad, I don't think I would be able to drive around for 10-15 minutes before it heated up. Because the bottom hose was hot, I also do not believe the radiator is clogged. These are just my thoughts on it. I am no mechanic and I have relatively little experience with cars so any help is appreciated. What could cause overheating after a period of time with these specific symptoms?
Thanks for any help, people.
PS. The car does not smoke at all and there are no visible signs of coolant leaking. The car is pretty new to me so I'm not sure how much coolant was in it before; perhaps there isn't enough in it, meaning it stays too warm and doesn't cool the engine properly.
