1995 Toyota Corolla Overheating

BENHERRON

MEMBER
1995 TOYOTA COROLLA
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
80,000 MILES

A few months ago I noticed that my car was making a low rattling/gurgling sound sometimes after driving for a while. Then one morning I was driving up a slight hill at about 60km/h and had been driving for 20 minutes and a very loud BANG occurred. I pulled over opened the bonnet - steam was rising from my engine and a red coloured fluid had been splattered over everything. I took the car straight to a mechanic and he said the radiator had blown and pointed to a gap along the top of the radiator where it had ruptured. They replaced the radiator, thermostat and hoses. He added 1 litre of oil - as he said the oil level was low. This cost $700 for this work and parts.

After this the car has not been the same. I noticed it was overheating - temperature gauge heading towards maximum reading after about 15 minutes driving. At first, it would very suddenly drop back to normal levels every so often. So gradual rise to max temp on gauge for a few minutes and then sudden drop back to normal temp in about 1-2 seconds. You could visibly watch the temperature gauge needle move right back to normal. Now however, the car just runs hot all the time after 10-15 minutes of driving. There is possibly a very small drop in temp every so often - not like before. Checking the engine running by lifting the bonnet I notice that the radiator fan is working - it blows hot air over the engine. The coolant resevoir is EMPTY. The radiator coolant level seems to be down quite a bit.

Given this I am thinking of adding coolant and hoping the problem goes away. Is that a reasonable course of action as a first step?

Or should I take it back to the same mechanic and get it checked again. If he then tells me that I need a new water pump or something else - should I just pay up and get it fixed - or should I be covered by the original work and not pay anything and insist that the original problem was not fixed properly?

What are the most likely causes of my cars overheating and how much should I pay to get it fixed?

1 Reply

MMPRINCE4000

MECHANIC
8,548 POSTS

From your description, it sounds like the coolant level is low and coolant should be added.

I would however go to mechanic and have him do it at his cost, since refilling to proper coolant level is part of changing radiator.

While filling with coolant he should be able to see if waterpump is working. This is also a good time to change thermostat (use Toyota parts ONLY).

Any engine with an aluminum head is very susceptable to head problems if cooling system is not working properly, so get that fixed ASAP.

If problem persists after mechanic visit, then have him perform a compression test to verify head is OK.

Also when he changed radiator, he should always inspect the hoses/belts and pressure test the cooling system to see if the burst radiator caused any additional damage.
Additionally, he should have cleaned up the engine to remove traces of the coolant, including all electrical connections.
I am not talking about powerwashing the engine, I clean the engine and electrical connections with brake clean and compressed shop air.