bRunCL

iTrader: (1)

hey guys i need some help asap, while on my 25 mile commute home (about 2 miles away from home) i heard a humming and realized my radiator fan came on and my temp gauge was at Hot I ran the heat full blast which dropped the needle slightly but everytime i stopped at a light the temp was all the way at HOT. I did not see any leaking coolant anywhere under the hood. the top rad hose was pretty hot, but the lower hose was just warm(cool enough to place my hand on). i need some good places to start to begin diagnosing the problem. Im very scared its the waterpump but i wanna rule some things out first. Car is a 99 2.3 with 153k. and yes i'm searching also. i just want to see how to best attack this b/c this is my dd. Thanks guys

bRunCL

iTrader: (1)

UPDATE: my heater is now blowing cold air into the cabin. I also did notice some coolant leaking seems like from the block? it collects on the top of the transmission

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Leaks are definitely not good, my first guess would be your thermostat though

6spdTLman

id also start with the thermostat it could be stuck closed .

Cocoa

iTrader: (2)

^ exactly what I would check first. Especially if it overheats with the car in motion. If it was at stop signs/lights then I'd check the fan switch, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

You can find the thermostat in the upper radiator hose by the engine block.

bRunCL

iTrader: (1)

thanks for the input guys. im gonna pick up an oem tstat tomorrow since theyre relatively cheap and go from there

bRunCL

iTrader: (1)

changed the thrermostat, replaced two leaky heater hoses that run through the firewall and all seems to be good for now. My waterpump is still leaking but will be having the tbelt service done next monday

2door

i hope you picked up a oem thermostate, i picked up a cheapy and still ended up with the same problem a week later