I figured I'd add my question to this post rather than start a new one, but anyway. Yesterday my car started runnig hot. The temp. gauge was just a little over the middle. Later it was half way between normal and the red part of the gauge. I added a little bit of coolent to top it off, but the temp. was still high. When I touched my rad. hoses the upper one is hot and so is the little elbow on the engine, but my lowerer hose wasn't hot at all. Could this be the thermostat, waterpump, a clog somewhere, or something I'm not even thinking about?

 

Could be several things.

1. Big Air Bubble. Righ at the pump or such, fluid isn't being moved.

2. Clogged or otherwise non functional radiator or hose.

Those are my top 2 guesses.

When is the last time you FLUSHED the system and filled it with new coolant?

 

I'm not sure when it was flushed last, but I've had the car almost a year and I've never done it. Guess maybe I should look into that.

Just got a new thermostat and I'm about to put it in but it doesn't look like the one that I'm taking out. It's the same diamiter, but the old one has a little nub that sticks out and postitions the thermostat, and the new one doesn't also the new one isn't as long as the old one. Is the thermostat something that could be an almost universal part?

 

Replacement parts often won't look identical to a OEM part. See if it fits and try it out.

If your car is a 2001 and has never had the fluid flushed as far as you know, FLUSH IT!!!

 

Ok, due to certain other issues taking priority on my list the tib has been sitting in the driveway all this time. I went and replaced the throttle body back to my stock one which fixed my idle issues(I won't go into it). So, I drive around for a while and everything is fine with my idle. Well, when I come back and go under the hood to tighten a clamp I remembered not touching I realized there was no air being blown at me and I look over in horror to see my FAL 220s not spinning after the car was driven for 1 hour with the a/c on and I now have another issue. They were just working last month! So, I sit in the car and let it run in my garage and watch the temp needle slowly rise and see both of the fans still not spinning. I hit them while the car was still on to sorta "help them along" and nothing(managed to touch my headers with my finger which was fun). Great, I cut the car off and now I'm stuck again. I checked the wire connections and they are fine and the blades spin freely. What happened? Any suggestions? Ideas?

 

check your radiator. Most fan switches are at the bottom of the radiator. If the bottom is not getting hot, then the fans are not going to come on..

however, they should still come on when the air is on..

 

I grabbed the top and bottom radiator hoses and they both were hot. I don't know where else to check to see if the bottom of the radiator is hot because it's all covered up at the bottom.

I'm going to drain and refill the radiator as this would seem to be the best way to get rid of any possible air bubbles. It was flushed back when I put the fans in about 7-8 months ago.

 

Check your fuses too bro.

 

dont rely on your stock plugs or any other taps to know the connection is good with the fans. Go grab a 12v battery from a drill, and apply voltage to the fans. They'll come on. I have some pretty beat up Fal Fans too in my RD2, and if they dont have the wires soldered on, I'm never sure the connection is there. Also, you can grab a volt meter and just put the neg. side at the batter, and then probe the 12v wire from either side of the fans to see if you indeed are running voltage. Do this closest to the fan motor itself, and then on the hyundai wire side. Make sure you're even hooked up right before you get too worried. It all sounds like what I went through a couple months back. Make SURE its not the water pump before you swap it out, cause even with as much as I know about tearing down a tiburon, it took me a good 8 hours to do the swap at home without tilting or lifting the engine any to get all the pulleys off and back on later. WATER PUMP JOBS ARE THE DEVIL!

 

i hate to thread hop but.......im having a similar problem....
-car is running hot..not overheating but the needel isn't where its supposed to be....
so...
I changed the thermostat
drained the fluid and refilled it..
the oil is clean and im not leaking fluid so thank goodness not a head...
both fans work with a/c and one does come on eventually and then turns off...both hoses do get get hot..
could this be the sign of a water pump...how can i tell

also how do i burp the system

thanks and sorry for jacking your thread