Poor Celica Options

[BlackCelicaGT94]

So today is the hottest day of the year (so far) about 95 degrees and I was going to go drive about 20 miles to get on the ferry boat and see my boyfriend. Well I was sitting in stop and go traffic with the windows open and getting my tan on in traffic about 10 miles into my drive when I notice that my temp gauge is almost to the red area so I turn off the AC and drive a little bit more but it was so close that I just didnt wanna risk seeing if that would help so I pull over on the freeway in a tunnel and call my dad. he said he will be there asap with water but with traffic itd probably be 40 mins so Im sitting there waiting and dying in my car cuz i have the doors and window closed so I can talk to my boyfriend when it got so hot that I had to tell him id call him later cuz I had to open a window. I was thinking 'how can anyone leave a child in a car on a hot day' i was literally sweating buckets. so i open the door and get some fresh air when a WSDOT (washington state dept. of transportation) vehicle shows up and saves me with some water. Theres no exits for another 3 or so miles so I just get off and hit up a starbucks for 1.5 hours and let traffic die and go home.

Sigh my poor celica is slowly dying. I feel so bad for it. We check water and oil every few days because theres leaks and what not so it needs to be checked so it just sucks that it overheated :-( or just about got to the point of overheating.

anyways just thought id share my story about my celica driving experience today.

[Celicav]

So sorry to hear that. Yeah, my Celica was in the shop for like two weeks and it was frustrating. But she is okay now, and runs even better. If I remember right, yours has over 200K on the odometer? You can be proud of that, and the leaks and stuff just come with the engine age.

[SlowCelica94]

Shows like you a mechanic to throughly go thro it.

What'd your mileage? I'm betting $10 now it needs a timing belt and water pump.

[95celgt]

i think shes like at 230K right?

I wish it was 95, thats a nice cool temp, our temps down here are about 106+, may not sound like much more but it is...especially on humid days:S

[creis]

yeah today was horrible heat, I have to sleep durring the day (work nights) so I got maybe 2 hours because of the heat did not actualy get decent sleep untill my girlfriend got home and basicly dumped cold water on me while i slept

seems about the same time last year I had the same problem, over heated the celica in traffic. actualy the AC helps (i think) in traffic, I found that with the ac on, both radiator fans are forced to be on all the time rather then the 1 fan off and on, my problem was that 1 the radiator cracked and 2 the temp senser on the radiator died. its not nessisarily the weather temp but also since your in traffic all the exhaust and the heat from the road add to it.

This post has been edited by creis: Jul 12, 2007 - 12:42 AM

[DarkPrince]

next time when that happens, put the AC on heat, It will help on the head reduction while you drive it might buy you a extra second or so, or help cool it down a bit.. but who knows... this is what I did when this happned to me in my Maxima.

[ScoobyDooCruiser]

Also, have you ever replace the radiator? Sometimes those things calcify, and won't keep the engine cool in the heat. Mine would overheat just driving down the freeway in the summer, then I replaced the radiator with a new one (the old one was the one that came with the car- 13 years old) and it works great now.

[CelicaST_CALI]

95 degrees.....my celi laughs at 95 degrees,it hit 108 a month ago......lol yea i say water pump

[Chanh55]

Time for a new car...

[punkuup5150]

yeah its been hitting 108 here and my celis doing fine i would drian your antifreeze and radior fluid and if it comes out all rusty collored flush the system a few times. mine sat to long and i blew a freeze plug. its a 5-7 dollar part and takes a little work to replace but with the fluid just sitting there it tends to rust easy like mine did i have been flushign my system every month and its still coming out all rusty color but i havent blown a plug since then and my motor seems to be runnign alot better with a better source of water flowing not so much sludge in the wter jackets.

[95CelicaST]

You should PM Rick on PSTOC and see if he can take a look at it.

Considering the tubgirl explosion you had on your windshield a while back my bet is on a new radiator and a nice system flush. You'll probably want to replace the timing belt and water pump as well.

[Razgriz]

95 degree heat? it could always be worse. nowadays in phoenix it's nice if it hits 95 in the middle of the night.
i guess considering it's peaking around 113 (unfortunately it's gonna get hotter) here and i put 50 miles on the car a day, im lucky it still runs at normal operating temperature.

and turning on the heater does help somewhat, (when your overheating) your heating unit will pull the already hot air out of the engine bay and push it into your cabin (windows down makes it bareable)

make sure your belt isn't loose or being allowed to slip.

and besides if you still have all of your original equipment from when the car was new, it may be time for a 'cooling system overhaul'

New

-Radiator
-Water Pump
-Belts
-Hoses
-Caps

(also depending on the climate and how you drive your car you might need to change your glycol/water mix ratio)