anytime im caught in traffic my car begins to run hot and the temp will climb towards 290! it runs fine otherwise. it takes forever to cool. Coolant leaked out of the radiator cap, i forgot to tighten it down. it did run hot prior to today tho. what could it be?

 

Is your fan working? Does it cool down when you turn the heater on?
Try replacing the thermostat first. If that doesn't do it maybe a head gasket. Take it over to a Midas and have them pressure check your engine.

 

time to change thermostat? i had an electric water pump and when the water did not flow, it did what you explained.. (didnt turn the pump on, same as stuck thermostat) temp skyrockets then pours out.. make sure your water pump is ok too.. start it up and feel the hoses for pressure.. if there is pressure, pump is ok..

 

hoses have pressure. i changed the thermostat and put all new coolant and it is still overheating. im stumped and need my car for work tomorrow. please help

 

is your fan turning on? if not i would just wire it up so it stays constantly on... is radiator clogging up?if not sure i would go to autozone and grab some kind of fluid to clear it up... check the oil cap or dipstick and look for milky oil? is it smoking from the exhaust a sweet smell? or is the spark plugs a tint of green? check for leaks around the thermostat housing or intake manifold..... just a list of ideas and a few things to look for

 

i ran a bottle of transmission flush through the system. im gonna make sure there are no leaks and if not change the water pump. hopefully this fixes my problem. if not i have no idea what it could be.

 

if the coolant is real rust colored you might need to have your radiator serviced. only costed me about 40$ and fixed my problem

 

no the coolant was normal colored. i changed the waterpump today and is still running hot unless i have the ac or heat running. my fan dont seem to come on by itself. what could be causing this?