Overheating Taco.

1997, 2.4L, 200,000 miles. Overheats, especially at frwy speeds. also the coolant level drops without any sign of leaks.

What Iv'e done:
New radiator
New radiator cap
New waterpump
New fan clutch
New Hoses
New thermostat
Flushed the motor with radiator flush and CLR four times.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

Might be thinking about a head gasket.

 

Yup!!!

 

how's the oil look? milky?

 

Oil looks normal.

Is this an easy fix for a DIYer.

 

head gaskets aren't bad on a 4cyl but it is a lot of work. You need to get the head machined by a shop as well.

have you tried bypassing the heater core to rule that out? not sure if that could cause overheating with it being clogged or not.

 

Is the exhaust at all white or smoke colored? You can also take it to a shop and have them test for a HG leak. It's very simple and shouldn't cost much.

 

Depends on your knowledge of cars

 

Exhaust looks fine.

I'll try the leak test next.

Thanks all.

 

My head gasket went and oil and water was fine the only thing that was off was the smell of the overflow rad fluid as it smelled like gass a bit. Which means its on the exhaust side where the gaskets leaking..so still head gasket as everyone els is saying

 

Best to take it to a shop and have them perform a leak down test or have them test the exhaust for coolant, will confirm if its a blown head gasket or not.

 

I didn't read mention of hose replacement/check ?
so be sure the hoses aren't collapsing (visual)

a slight loss of antifreeze could be associated with
a seeping (leak) water pump... burns off before hitting the grnd.

but a leaking head gasket is more commonly cause to overheating

if you overheated excessively... it's possible you warped the head.
so machining the head is prolly a good thought going in

I've even seen where the head gasket didn't actually fail...
but there was a microscopic fracture found on the head surface
so be sure a tech inspects the head well

 

Mine has been doing this some lately: sometimes the exhaust is really smoky/white for a little while but it usually quits. But driving home from the store tonight the temp jumped way up. what would cause this?

 

I would still think it's the head gasket. Take a look at it very closely- even better, get a professional to look at it. Sometimes the failures aren't even noticeable to the untrained eye.
Have you checked the hoses? Any hoses that are deteriorated/loose?