I own a '94 Eclipse with a 2.0 DOHC non turbo. I race it at the local track here in Iowa. Dirt track that is. The last three races I have overheated. The first race, I thought it was the alternator cause I lost a belt, same thing on the second race. I replaced the alternator and that is fine now. But at third race, overheated again. This week I replaced the thermostat, radiator cap(went to a 16psi instead of 13psi) and but a brand new radiator in it. I did not give it a chance to overheat this time by watching the overfill tank. Which my overfill tank is just a 20oz. water bottle. Tonight I messed with it some more. I noticed that it bubbles in the overfill tank, like it is pushing air into the tank and it fills up. I took the radiator cap off and let some of the coolant overflow out of the top of the thermo housing. I have been told by certain people that it might be a head gasket? I rented some tools from the local autozone and nothing is showing exhaust fumes in the coolant. What do I do? I did notice one thing, this whole time it idled for an hour it did not overheat. But my check engine light stayed on after the motor warmed up. Nothing from the exhaust either. If it is air trapped how do I burp it or is it a head gasket? I want to get this fixed right away cause another race tonight and do not want to put anymore stress on the engine.

 

Please can anybody help? What do I do?

 

My car overheats just when its sitting and being reved a little. I dont think its a major issue. If could just be an air flow problem. Turn on your A/C to get both fans on and see if that helps.

 

would it be turn on the A/C or the heater? While I burp the system, which I am not fully understanding, do I add coolant as I go? I my overfill bottle not big enough? How do i flush the system?

 

Well if you have coolant bubling it sounds like a head gasket. Do a compression test to make sure.

 

Well, I raced it tonight. I took out the thermostat and inserted a washer that had a 5/8" hole in it. During my heat race, I did not overheat at all. But when feature time came, I started getting hot around lap 5 and she was really hot when I pulled in three laps later. I almost seems like the engine does not have enough time between races to cool all the way down. Any suggestions on getting the engine cooler faster?