Tiburon overheating - help me diagnose
 

Car: 2003 V6 Tiburon GT

Mods: None. Bone Stock.



Symptoms: Overheats when stopped, not while driving.



Scenario: Driving on the interstate at 70mph it's fine, but once you get off the interstate and come to a stop, it overheats immediately. Driving on city roads it's fine, but beware if you hit a redlight because it'll overheat.



After it's been overheating at stops on the way home, upon popping the hood the radiator and hoses are cold to the touch.



Observations: Radiator fan rotates fine. When started cold and let sitting, it will idle up to normal operating temps and not overheat. Removing the radiator cap shows no movement of fluid. There's also corrosion around the hose connections. Radiator and hoses are cold after engine has overheated.



What's the most likely cause? Of course a thermostat is the easiest and cheapest fix to to test first, but we won't be able to get into it until this weekend.

1. Water pump?

2. T-stat?

3. Clogged radiator?

4. Bad sensor?

Does the hvac put out any warm air?



Is the corrosion around both radiator and thermostat housing?



Try draining the rad, (should be able to keep the fluid if it isn't circulating) when the motor is cold, and remove the rad hoses. If ample fluid is present, then it's probably clogged.



If not, check the thermostat. If there seems to be enough play, then odds are it's your pump.

Thermostat is simple to test(just boil some water and see if it opens) So i would test that first if not I would move flushing the radiator if the radiator is working correctly the coolant shouldnt be mis colored if it is either major clogging or fault radiator

it looks like your coolant isn't being circulated. first thing i'd check is the thermostat, heat it up in some water and see if it opens.

if I pull the T-stat I'll replace it while I'm in there.



It's my sister's car, so I'm going to be going to my parents house to play with it. If the t-stat is fine, what should I do next? Pop the Radiator Cap and put a hose in it and see if it flushes out the _____?

Those are classic thermostat symptoms (only opening partway/getting stuck/broken & binding) and they do fail so go ahead and bring a new one. A gurl's car is likely to be wanting fresh coolant also so bring a gallon or 2 regardless.



+rep for being a good brother. Like you needed one more.

I'm also having overheating troubles but on my RD Tib, and I'm almost sure its the fan.



And I think I posted it in the wrong forum too, first posts are hard :S



Help! https://www.hyundaiaftermarket.org/f...26#entry621326

FYI, we replaced the t-stat. We had to remove the t-stat housing at the LOWER radiator hose for the 2003 GK V6 Tiburon. Replacing the t-stat fixed the problem.