jcdickson1

Can someone please tell me if they have experienced the issues I am having. So today my daughter is driving the car and it runs hot. I just had the car tuned up, new brakes, radiator replaced. I noticed antifreeze leaking on the bottom of the car. I couldn't find where it was coming from. I topped off all of the fluids. Now the car just turns and turns but won't crank. Car was working fine yesterday now it's acting up. Was not having any of these issues before

Bylan

Unfortunately we're going to need a lot more info than that to find a starting point. If the car still has all the plastic under body covers, remove them and try to pinpoint where the antifreeze is coming from. After that, we'll have to consider if the antifreeze damaged an electrical component or possibly soaked the timing belt in antifreeze, which could cause it to skip timing. Does the car sound abnormal while turning over?

jcdickson1

The car turns like normal but won't start. I can't see any fluid leaking anywhere. The fluid was low. Could the temperature sensor be the culprit? The car has been tuned up. New radiator new thermostat plugs wires distributor cap rotors. Car was running fine earlier now it's doesn't want to start. Just cranks but not turning over.

Sin1UZFE

Is there gas in it? Fuel getting to injectors? Plugs sparking?

jcdickson1

There's gas, fuel and spark.

jcdickson1

I used my code reader and found that the Temperature sensor was bad. I replaced the sensor. I started the car after replacing the sensor and checked for leaks. I didn't find any leaks. The car ran fine. So the sensor change solved the start hesitation problem. The drove the car around my neighborhood for less the five minutes and it starts to run hot again. What could be the cause of this.The oil has been changed and is clean no indication of coolant in the water. The car was running find a couple of days ago with no issues. What could be the cause of this?

Bylan

Does the temperature drop if you hold the rev's up in park or neutral? Based on the fact that it lost some coolant and recently had the radiator replaced, it could very likely have air bubbles in the cooling system. Mechanics notoriously do not bleed the cooling systems properly.

Bylan

Might also have a junk thermostat that isn't opening. Unfortunately all the service it recently had done is going to be what you need to check, since it ran fine before any of it was messed with.

Banshee365

Was the water pump changed? If not, perhaps there is just air in the cooling system. There is a 17mm head bolt right behind the thermostat housing on top of the engine next to one of the ignition coils. The proper procedure is to fill the system up through that port until it is full. What brand radiator was installed? It's possible that something has come lose inside the radiator or something was left in the system that is now causing a blockage. It seems that whatever is causing your issues stems from your 'tune up.'

Also, in my experience, I don't see how a coolant temp sensor can cause a no-start. If the ECM sees a signal that it doesn't like from the ECT sensor it will just use a default one.

deanshark

I was thinking these 2 exact things. If there's air in the system, the temp gauge will go up like it's overheating but actually it's not. When you bleed the system through that bolt (on top of thermostat housing) I usually have the car facing uphill a little, or jack it up so that is the highest point. Also, if you remove that 17mm bolt you can see if the coolant is circulating. If not, then either the T-stat is stuck closed or the water pump is not working. I also never heard of the ECT sensor causing a no start situation.

jcdickson1

The thermostat was bad on the car and the temperature sensor had dry rotted. I replaced both now I have a miss on cylinder 4 that I have to fix. Thanks for the feedback.

Sin1UZFE

Awesome so it now starts and doesnt overheat?

spuds

Take your infrared thermometer and shine it around radiator and hoses and make sure dash temp is accurate?

jcdickson1

Car no longer overheats. I've changed the spark plug on cylinder 4. The idle was smooth for a few minutes and now the idle is back rough again and throwing the same code on the same cylinder. Any ideas on what I should check next? could the coil cause one misfire? The wires are new and the distributor cap, rotors are new as well. This has me stumped.

Sin1UZFE

Could be corroded wire or coil