My friend's car is overheating, but she has oil, antifreeze and transmission fluid ..what is the problem?

Answer 1

Could be a stuck thermostat or a plugged cooling system or both..

Cheap fix is to try and flush the cooling system with a flush chemical from the auto parts store.. Use as directed..

Next step is to replace the thermostat... about 40.00 on most cars..

Answer 2

!st check to see if your cooling system pressureizes. If the radiator cap is bad or there is a hole somewhere the system will boil over at normal operating temps. Be sure you have a 50-50 mix of coolant and water anything more or less changes the boiling point of the solution. Then you can start checking flow due to thermostat and water pump and plugged radiator. Bad fan will usually cause overheating while the car is sitting still. Flow of air at highway speed is more important than fan ops. If the only indicator of overheating you have is a dash light being on maybe the coolant temp sensor is faulty or unplugged.

Answer 3

well first overheating doesn't really have anything to do with oil or transmission fluid. it does have to do with antifreeze or coolant. it is quite possibly the thermostat though. they often go out and can be stuck open or closed. if it is closed you will not see water circulating within a few minutes of starting the car with the radiator cap off. NOTE: radiator car will be HOT if car has been running. other possibilities include fan, water pump and radiator.

Answer 4

Most likely a broken thermostat in the engine. The thermostat is heat sensitive and remains closed until the engine heats up sufficiently to cause it to open thus allowing the water/coolant to circulate. This is the engines way of allowing the engine to heat up enough to operate efficiently. If the thermostat is broken the water/coolent will stay stagnant. I know what your thinking.
"There's a fan that blows air on the engine to cool it".
The fan blows air on the radiator which has tubes filled with water/coolant. It cools the water/coolant in the radiator which will circulate through the engine, cooling that too.

Word to the wise: Don't drive that car except to get it fixed. Hope it's not too far away,

Answer 5

Radiator could be plugged inside. Water pump could be going out. Radiator fins might need to be cleaned. Thermostat could be bad. Maybe a bad coolant temperature sensor. Start cheap. Try the thermostat, then the coolant temperature sensor(unlikely culprit if the check engine light is not on). Be careful when it over heats lest you might warp the head.

Answer 6

could be many things not just cause she has antifreeze it means her radiator is working properly if she just added the anti freeze after the overheating that will not solve the bad radiator which could now be clogged .it could be her fans not working if electric or her fan clutch if not electric or her thermostat .the water pump has nothing to do with it if its not pouring water out through the pump or making loud squealing noise coming from pump bearing

Answer 7

start small. like the thermostat, and work to bigger problems. BUT... 7 out of 10 times, a car overheats because the water pump is malfunctioning.

Answer 8

it could be the thermostat, water pump, or a clogged radiator. It's hard to say any more without knowing what kind of car.

Answer 9

Probably a $5.00 thermostat.

Might want to check the fan as well. Maybe it's not turning on and not cooling the engine during use.

Hope that helps.

Answer 10

have your friend check the electric fan to see if is working and also could be the thermostat sticking closed.it also could be that the water pump is bad and check to see if the anti-freeze is circulating.