1993 toyota camry wagon over heating?

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cheapenchantments

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My 1993 camry wagon is over heating. Firestone has changed the radiator and the thermostat and also the intake gasket. Also a tune up not related but done at the same time. The car ran fine for a week only small trips taking kids to and from school. Drove the car 60 miles today 30 miles fine and then 30 miles back the last 10 miles over heated. The weather was about 70 today. The only thing I can see is a small hole in the overflow tank at the top corner. Can this cause the problem. I really can not afford to take my car back to the shop will do if have to. Thank you for any help you can offer
The only leaking is around the overflow tank. I had the head gasket looked at and they said it was ok. The overflow tank make a boiling sound.
 
Maybe they forgot to reconnect the radiator fans when they put in the new radiator and thermostat. I changed my radiator out once and accidently forgot to hook back up the fans so on the first warm day at intersections my temp gauge would go up till I started moving. If you bring it back they have a warranty on parts and labor so if their a good Firestone they should re-check their work to see if they forgot something or if something else is wrong.
 
from personal experience, Firestone garages SUCK!!! they dont know anything!!! if they did any diagnostic work, they would have fixed your problem and you wouldnt have spent so much money. DO NOT go back to firestone. get a real mechanic to look at it. my best advice to you: stay away from big chain garages. go to a small family garage for your best service.
 
Number one, make sure your getting circulation. Start the car and warm it up to the normal operating temperature. When that temperature is reached, the thermostat should open up and let coolant through the engine and into the upper radiator hose, then back into the radiator. If the upper radiator hose doesn't have coolant flowing through it, your car will overheat because the coolant isn't circulating. Check this by feeling the upper radiator hose when the engine is running at normal temperature. You will be able to feel the coolant running through it, and it should be HOT. If you aren't getting circulation it could be a number of things:

Maybe they didn't bleed it correctly. Find the bleeder valve (looks like a nut with a little nipple hole on the top of it) on my car it is on the thermostat housing. Loosen it but don't take it off. Start the car and let it warm up to normal operating temperature. A stream of antifreeze should flow out of the valve. Once there are no bubbles and it is a constant stream, close it back up.

There could be air bubbles stuck in the radiator hoses as well. When the car is cold, open the radiator cap and start the car and let it warm up to normal operating temp and squeeze the upper and lower radiator hoses to get the trapped air out of them. Some bubbles might come up to the neck where the cap goes so watch out for anything that might splash out. Also, if you get antifreeze on your paint remove it ASAP it is bad for it.

The thermostat might not have been installed properly. Check the gasket as well. When I replaced my thermostat the first time, I pinched the gasket when I was bolting it all together. That made it so the thermostat never opened up and my car would overheat.

Hopefully that helps. Good luck to you!
 
No the overflow tank is just that, a resivoir to hold the coolant that expansion has pushed out of the cooling system It will be drawn back in when the system cools. If you have a new thermostat and a new rad, and assuming all was installed properly the all that is really lefgt in the system is the water pump and the belt. A loose belt may slip causing the pump to be less efficient. A worn pump may also loose efficiency. Unless there were modifications made to the car or the repair shop screwed up with the work done ( air lock or something) thats really all thats left in the cooling system.
 
are you leaking coolant at all? Check to see if your water pump is functioning properly..
with the car running and up to operating temp, squeeze your upper radiator hose and feel for a surge. if you dont feel a surge even after your thermostat has fully opened then its your water pump.
 
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