OHMEGA

Hi guys.

I've had my '96 sc300 for almost 2 months now and I love the drive of it. But I am having one strenuous prob.

Yesterday it overheated pretty quickly, so I stopped driving immediately and pulled into an Exxon to let it cool off and check fluids. Popped open the radiator and the coolant levels were dropped so I topped them off and monitored the gauge for the next 45 miles. Anyways... drove fine up until the last remaining 10 miles. I scoured the forums for help and started off with replacing the thermostat because no evidence of a leak showed up. The radiator is fairly new from the previous owner (my best friend) had a little rust inside and it is over 200k miles. Otherwise, the car has been routinely maintenanced.

Well, I don't live anywhere near an import repair shop and I have fixed issues before. I replaced the thermostat and then drove it for 5 miles. It went into the red again driving around 30-55 mph. Made it home and felt the lower hose which was tremendously cooler than the upper hose,

I also wanted to mention that my fan clutch has some spin on it and after idling and up to normal temp, I would shut it off and it would spin for a good 5 seconds afterwards,

Anyways, I normally purchase my replacement parts for my other vehicles from rockauto and my gut feeling for my next move is to replace the water pump.

Here is the problem though... it has them for both the 10 and 11 hole.

Can anyone please guide me? And thanks for your time.

Studiogeek

iTrader: (6)

It's trickier to fill and bleed an Sc cooling system properly than some other cars. You have to open a bolt on top with the front wheels up I think. Search this site for bleeding before you replace the pump unless you are sure it has been done. In this case, do the timing belt too.

Duck05

Similar symptoms that you describe can be a blown head gasket. Check compression and the color of the oil and coolant.

OHMEGA

Welp, getting a diagnostic ran today and hopefully back within a couple of days. I took it to a trusted shop that allows outside parts for $8 more an hour on labor. I felt that was fair.

OHMEGA

Blown heater hose. Tested compression for BHG, came back fine. Using a vacuum system to pull coolant throughout the system. Total cost for parts and labor: $197

I'll get it back on Monday and see how it drives.

OHMEGA

The hoses were replaced and fluid topped. It idled fine for a good 30 min. It had a bit of a small misfire on 4. I asked the mechanic if it was a huge drop at high speeds. He took it out and it overheated again. Tomorrow the water pump comes off and checked, along with the timing belt.