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One for the BOOKS. (Problem)

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Old Aug 8, 2011 | 12:09 AM
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Default One for the BOOKS. (Problem)

Alright,

I am calling all gurus to put on your thinking cap's here because I am sure this will stump you. I hope not because i really need some help.

I am experiencing some of the weirdest problems.

It all started with the thermostat indicating the car begining to overheat. So i started with the basics. Checked the coolant level, the radiator cap is on snug. The radiator fan didnt seem to want to kick on so i think easy fix, either a relay or temp unit. Well another 30 minutes down the road, i wanna turn the A/C off to check the over heating.

Now it gets interesting, the A/C wont turn off, so i turn heat on full blast and try to disable the A/C, doesnt work, I turn the blower off which does, but the light stays on car starts over heating. So ok A/C back on cool her back down. Well the hazards flicked on for ONE flash. I was confused, think maybe i hit the button. So i press the hazard light button they come on, well i push again and they wont turn off. uh oh. Now im driving down the interstate hazards flashing with A/C on full blast. i tried shutting the car off to no avail. The battery is unplugged now and i will see if that helps in the morning.

Please help me......
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Old Aug 8, 2011 | 07:39 AM
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lol sounds like you have an electrical nightmare.

Start with the basics. Hows the grounds, battery terminals, and battery? How many fuses have you checked?
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Old Aug 8, 2011 | 08:15 AM
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Check the grounds. It does sound pretty bad. How does it drive? If you lost a ground then it won't drive good either (ie. shift's hard, loss of power).
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Old Aug 8, 2011 | 08:15 AM
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BTW: Welcome to Club Lexus!
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Old Aug 8, 2011 | 08:41 AM
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The car wouldn't turn off? Holy wtf...
I wouldn't drive that car very far or drive it if you have to be somewhere on time.

You definitely have some electrical gremlins...
Good call on disconnecting the battery but that's not gonna stop this from happening again..
If you let your engine overheat you're playing with fire, gonna burn seals and have a lot bigger problems than just electrical.
No check engine lights?
Do you have any mechanic friends? Hook it up to a scan tool, see if anything is out of whack.
Do what justin said and start checking fuses and make sure they're properly re-seated.
If you have accessories tapped into fuses take it out.
If you have an amp and subwoofer unplug it.
Basically make your car back to stock

I don't know, I am always against taking cars to the dealership for service.
But for this case, you might need a specialist, if it was me and I didn't have a backup car to drive, I would take it straight to lexus.


ALSO: Try posting this on My.IS, they might know something, lot of knowledgeable people over there too....
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Old Aug 8, 2011 | 01:10 PM
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Default Most problems resolved one mystery remains

Seems to be that this revolved around me getting a little over worked about it and being tired on top of it.

A/C not shutting off and hazards, seems from all the heat lately my dash decided to start shifting itself to the point that after bumping the hazards with my arm while messing with the A/C controls it was stuck on. Took some playing with the dash panel to get it to unseat itself. Even though it felt like it was un seating after depressing the switch, also seemed to wiggle something loose behind it with the A/C for a loss of control there. Everything is remounted and in working order.

Overheating, fixed, however i now have a Vanishing act to deal with.

So today after 10 minutes of driving 2 of which where interstate i started pinging red on the temp meter. Immediately pulled off waited 30 minutes for normal operating temp, proceeded down the exit ramp i was pulled over on too nearest gas station. Open hood and see a Bloated upper radiator hose, that was scalding to the touch. Get some rags slowly open the rad cap, steam proceeds to whistle out for quite some time. Apparently my coolant was dissatisfied with its current living conditions and decided to move out.

The question i have is WHERE too? I have NO leaks coming from anywhere at all!!! i crawled under and on top and beside my motor trying to find a wet spot or even dark. nothing.

So now i am fearful for my head gasket, however no white smoke to report and after an hour of driving the car from drowning the radiator with new coolant no overheating.

Quite the confusing set of problems revolving around me getting too worried and forgetting the basics. I will not make that mistake again.

I thank you all for the time you spent racking your brains and being fearful for my IS. She is grateful for the attention i think.

For now keep it sideways and cool.
Z
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Old Aug 8, 2011 | 01:13 PM
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Originally Posted by hypervish
BTW: Welcome to Club Lexus!
Thank you by the way, i feel more welcome here already then after months with MY.IS and a run in with a Moderator. Seems my humor is not welcome there.
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Old Aug 8, 2011 | 01:47 PM
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Sir you may already have a BHG. Get a pressure tester or exhaust gas tester from napa.
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Old Aug 9, 2011 | 12:17 PM
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whats the exhuast gas tester checking for? burnt coolant? if so will being straight piped with no cat interfere with the results?
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Old Aug 9, 2011 | 12:43 PM
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It's a block(head) tester kit. Napa part # BK. 700-1006

it checks to see if you're getting exhaust gas in your cooling system. The fluid in the test will turn from blue to yellow if it something is wrong.
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Old Aug 9, 2011 | 11:47 PM
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Originally Posted by 03is300ztk
Seems to be that this revolved around me getting a little over worked about it and being tired on top of it.

A/C not shutting off and hazards, seems from all the heat lately my dash decided to start shifting itself to the point that after bumping the hazards with my arm while messing with the A/C controls it was stuck on. Took some playing with the dash panel to get it to unseat itself. Even though it felt like it was un seating after depressing the switch, also seemed to wiggle something loose behind it with the A/C for a loss of control there. Everything is remounted and in working order.

Overheating, fixed, however i now have a Vanishing act to deal with.

So today after 10 minutes of driving 2 of which where interstate i started pinging red on the temp meter. Immediately pulled off waited 30 minutes for normal operating temp, proceeded down the exit ramp i was pulled over on too nearest gas station. Open hood and see a Bloated upper radiator hose, that was scalding to the touch. Get some rags slowly open the rad cap, steam proceeds to whistle out for quite some time. Apparently my coolant was dissatisfied with its current living conditions and decided to move out.

The question i have is WHERE too? I have NO leaks coming from anywhere at all!!! i crawled under and on top and beside my motor trying to find a wet spot or even dark. nothing.

So now i am fearful for my head gasket, however no white smoke to report and after an hour of driving the car from drowning the radiator with new coolant no overheating.

Quite the confusing set of problems revolving around me getting too worried and forgetting the basics. I will not make that mistake again.

I thank you all for the time you spent racking your brains and being fearful for my IS. She is grateful for the attention i think.

For now keep it sideways and cool.
Z


Sheeeit dude, look up at my last post. i tried to tell you to not drive it if you're having issues with overheating, because it's gonna make bigger problems. I definitely agree with justin, if you have steam whistling out of your radiator like that and hot pressure backed up & bloating your radiator hose there is no doubt you cooked your head gasket or it's gonna happen sooner than later..... I'll tell you why you had no water leaks.... Because the water came whistling out when you opened your radiator cap....

Seriously, you shouldn't drive your car until you get it looked at.

If you keep playing with fire you're gonna get burned, or in the case of your coolant - vaporized!!
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Old Aug 10, 2011 | 12:04 AM
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Did you have boiling coolant in the overflow tank when the engine was overheating?

I have to agree with Justin, check ur head gasket. It might be bad on the coolant passages.
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Old Aug 10, 2011 | 08:01 PM
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Another simple thing that can go wrong is that the radiator cap can not hold pressure properly... if it isn't holding pressure, it will boil over much easier (at lower temps) and will also allow coolant to escape back in to the reservoir...
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Old Aug 10, 2011 | 09:13 PM
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Originally Posted by mitsuguy
Another simple thing that can go wrong is that the radiator cap can not hold pressure properly... if it isn't holding pressure, it will boil over much easier (at lower temps) and will also allow coolant to escape back in to the reservoir...
How do i check this, when i had the cap off i pushed on the retainer spring and it felt like it had good pressure???
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Old Aug 11, 2011 | 05:54 AM
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Have you bought the test kit from NAPA yet? It's not expensive and will give you more of a clear answer then what you have already.
Try to get it done today my friend and let us know the results. Pick up a rad cap and thermostat too while you're there as they aren't expensive either.
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