Hi guys,
Thanks for your responses.
While it is certainly possible that my radiator could be clogged, I just find it incredible that such would happen in only half a year and 3000 miles. Given the fact that my overheating problem is actually far worse than when my radiator was (40%) blocked, it seems that it would have to be even MORE blocked now for this to be my problem now. When I had the blocked rad, it gradually got hot (to somewhere around 190F, but not much hotter than that, and stayed there. Now it is getting hotter faster, and there is no ceiling but redline. In my (limited) understanding, flushing the cooling system almost never "fixes" an overheating issue; it is merely routing maintenance rather than a panacea when one is overheating.
Now, the latter two suggestions - while quite amazing to my inexperienced troubleshooting ability - are interesting. I cannot tell you how frustrated I would be if I replaced the thermostat and water pump and then continued overheating!!! I had never heard that retarded timing could cause an engine to overheat. Coming from t walgumuth - whom I know is a mechanically smart feller from his posts - I have to consider this a serious suggestion. As for Brian's suggestion that a dirty condenser could be the culprit - again, news to me. I DID know that debris could block the airflow to the radiator and thus cause overheating. But no, I have not checked the condenser. I CAN tell you that - of all things, the PO (again, an M.D.) - was more concerned w/ his creature comforts than anything
During the 27 odd years he owned the car before me, he dumped silly money into his precious AC system!
Looking over the doctors sercice records (he was maximally anal in record-keeping, which I consider to be a compliment. I have every single service record for the entire life of the car
), I can tell you that he had a brand new condenser installed in 95' w/ 108000 miles on the car (it has 127000 now, w/ 3500 put on by myself in the last 7 mos). As for the ignition timing, he had that professionally set in Mar 2004, at 123,000 miles. I have not checked the timing - or replaced any ignition components - as I was "saving" that maintenance item for the next pre-smog test.
Does this sound more likely than a bad water pump? My problem now is I've got the cooling system partially dissasembled - and the car "down" - for the moment, and can't check the timing. I'd hate to put everything back together again, only to have to tear it back apart.
I'm not pathetic, mechanically speaking, as I generally CAN take off part x and install a new part x in its place; but - in the words of Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry - "a man's got to know his limitations." I am NOT a diagnostic troubleshooter. I need help in this department. Would that there were a blue-suited, red caped do-gooder flying from car to car, and fixing it. Now THAT would be a super-hero!
