Overheating, quick help!!!!

So was just heading to my parents house and pulled onto the highway. Heading down the ramp I noticed my temp gauge was climbing and climbing and climbing. I backed off the gas and pulled over at the next exit. Checked under the hood and coolant res is full but it was steaming some. Didn't pop the radiator cap (car was hot). I cranked the heat and was getting HOT air and the temp gauge started to drop and settled back at normal range. Made it the rest of the way about ten miles with the windows open and the heat blasting. If I turned the heat off temps shot back up again. I'm thinking thermostat, would that be correct? I don't believe the oem one has the fail safe feature does it? Please help and soon. I'd like to be able to pick up parts tonight if needed and swap things out tomorrow am when the car is cold.

Sounds like thermostat to me.

i agree i had same issue recently so yea thermostat

^^ What they said,... it's a ten dollar part and pretty easy to change.

^+3

how many miles on the car?

verify there is no leaking from the water pump...if the shaft/bearing went, it'll start leaking every where from the pulley...you should see a puddle by the passenger tire area if this is the case...

it most likely is the thermostat sticking closed, or at least partially closed...if its closed...the 'cool' pipe to the thermostat, running from the passenger side of the radiator, shouldn't be getting very hot...instead, pump suction is drawing coolant along the front of the engine block, not through the radiator...it does seem likely to be the thermostat though...if running the heat is helping to slow the overheating, you're still circulating coolant properly...its just not getting to the radiator (because of the thermostat)...this will NOT work if there is a problem with the water pump...

there is a chance its air in the system...but unless you very recently did a coolant flush or something, or the coolant level become overly low...its unlikely...

Well I stopped at Oreillys and picked up a new thermostat on my home last night along with some 50/50 coolant and a new gasket for the stat. I let the car cool over night and set out to change it this morning. Drained all the coolant from the radiator, a good amount ended up the garage floor. I learned the hard way not to pull the drain plug all the way out!!! Took off the lower hose to the thermostat housing and the housing it self. The old thermostat was stuck in there pretty good but a good yank with a large channel-lock got it unstuck. More fluid fell out over everything, o well! I poured several pitchers of hot (softened) water thru the radaitor until it ran clear. I also took the top hose off at the radiator and poured water thru there until it ran clear out of where the thermostat was. Everyone can argue that I should have use distilled water or that the garden hose would have been just fine but the sevice manual mentions using de-mineralized water aka softened water so that's what i did. I put everything back together and filled up the radiator with fresh coolant, this took a while as I kept shaking the radiator in an effort to get out as many air bubles as i could. Once that was filled I filled the overflow res to the full line and started her up. Idled for about 10min, then held the accelorator down to run at 2500rpm for five more minutes then a quick jump up to 3000rpm and back to idle. i did not have any issue with the temp gauge spiking or going above just below halfway point. She's cooling down now so hopefully I'll be able to check the levels here soon and take her for a spin. It's so nice out today!!!!

^just keep an eye on the overflow reservoir for a few days...it'll rise and fall regularly during warm up/cool down phases...if it gets too low, add a little to that...These system do a pretty good job of bleeding air out on their own, unlike some other cars...but if you do run into a pretty big air pocket (i.e. no heat in interior when fully warmed, weird burbling sounds from reservoir, etc.)...just let it cool down, lift the front as high as you can get it, leave the rear on the ground...remove the radiator cap...and let it idle up...as the air pockets move out, the level will fall, so be sure and keep the radiator as full as you can...

its not hard work...it just takes a few days of driving to get it completely sorted out...