hello, third gents, I’ve been having a problem with my car overheating, I initially started by replacing the thermostat, it’s still overheated, then I put a three-core radiator with shroud fans in, then I decide to do the head gaskets, I still have an overheating problem, I replaced the water pump about a year ago, it’s from advanced auto parts. What’s the deal with these? could it possibly be the water pump? I also have a leak at the coolant heater control valve. Could this have to do with overheating? and before all the smart asses ask, the air dam is still bolted on the bottom and functioning. The temp gauge will shoot up and go a little bit above 220, after driving it it will go slightly below 220 then when I slow down it shoots back up above 220.

 

What is "overheating"? What's REALLY going on?

 

What do you mean by that? I said in the paragraph “MY CAR IS OVERHEATING” the temp gauge rises above 220 when I start the car and drive it, after a little bit it will stay sometimes a little below 220 then go up past 220. When I turn The car off smoke comes out from under the hood, I assume that's the pressure from the leaky heater control valve dumping coolant onto the exhaust manifolds.

 

Have you checked the accuracy of the gauge? Perhaps used an infrared thermometer to verify temperature?
Have you pressure tested the system?
Why have you not yet fixed/replaced the leaky heater control valve?
Have you flushed the system and verified theres no clog?
When the thermostat opens can you verify water circulation?
Do the fan(s) come on when they're supposed to?
Is the water pump pushing water in the right direction?
Have you checked the heater core and verified its not clogged?

 

Also possible that you got a bad thermostat. Not common, but I've seen it before.

 

People come on here and post about "overheating" all the time. The vast majority of the time, as in your case, nothing of the kind is going on.

When I asked what's really going on, I was trying to draw out "it starts spewing after 5 minutes", "temp gauge pegs when I sit idling at a traffic light", or some such. As in, a description of the car's actual behavior, that might be interpreted as "overheating". Not just ... repetition of the magic meaningless word.

220° is entirely normal and correct. In fact, in the cars w single fans, the fan DOESN'T EVEN COME ON until the temp reaches something in the 230 - 235° range; and then only runs until it gets down to 210° or so. So no, 220° is NOT "overheating".

OTOH, "smoke comes out from under the hood" is a bad thing, "overheating" or no. I'd suggest fixing the leeeeek regardless.

Since you don't tell us what kind of car you have, it's hard to be any more specific.

 

A friend of mine from the Car Club that I belong to has just replace his water pump that is two years old being defective. Chinese crap but came from Rock Auto. Maybe check it???

 

First thing Id do is fix that known leak. You could be getting air pockets in the system from this leak. Plus sounds like our system is losing pressure... it sounds like its a pretty bad leak from what you describe.
if its still overeating then Id personally look at the water pump. AA, auto zone, oreillys etc.. .al l sell junk unless you specifically go in and ask for a good brand named unit.


Delco pumps in my experience are very good although some may disagree. but Id say they're at least a step above the parts store stuff.