Why is my 1998 vw beetle overheating?

SOURCE: White smoke coming out of exhaust even when engine is warmed up.

on the 3.8 ussaualy not the head gasket but the upper intake gasket . antifreeze leaks inside intake and into the cylinder. very common. the new gaskets are much thicker.or the plastic plenum the black plastic part on top of the engine goes bad around the water inlet and need to be replaced . when i do either job itell the person to replace both at same time saves money and headaches in the near future. hopes this helps .....and cost for a shop to do this $1100 to $1500

SOURCE: 99 vw beetle, been overheating for a couple weeks

Check around, I'm sure that you can find someone that can do it for less money.

I don't know if the radiator was bad or not, so I can't offer advice on that.

If your mechanic charges $100.00 per hour or more, I can see where they get the quote from.

If you need more assistance, post a comment.

Where are you located?

Maybe we can help suggest a mechanic for you.



Thanks,

Tim

SOURCE: Hi, my 99 vw beetle

Head gasket for sure would cause it to smoke and get hot. May seem like a stupid question, but did they check the thermostat? If head gaskets are good now and radiator was replaced, look for the obvious. Thermostat or air bound engine. An air pocket in the engine could also cause this. Need to bleed the air out of the cooling system. Some cars have a bleed screw to do this.

SOURCE: My Granddaughter has a 2003 Honda Civic which has

Hi, its not good news im afraid by you describing that with the coolant cap off and revving the car causes the pressure to build up and push the water back out it sounds to me like the head gasket is on its way out, what you need to do is take it to a garage and dont have a compression test done you need to have a gasses test done, you can buy these yourself if you want to and what it does is this.

its a plastic tube with blue liquid inside it then you take the coolant cap off and place this in its place you then run the engine and rev it up then you squeeze the rubber at the end of the tube and it then sucks the air out of the coolant and through this liquid then if it detects gasses from the engine in the coolant then this turns the liquid green and this is then telling you that the head gasket needs changing.

please dont let it keep over heating as this will cause the cylinder head to warp and you would then need to get it skimmed to make sure its not warped, get the gasses test done as a compression test dont give you a true reading as the engine is not running when they do a compression test.

let me know how you get on or if you need further assistance ok

plz rate this solution as i have a whole page of unrated posts, thanks

SOURCE: My 1999 Chevy Malibu is losing the coolant though the overflow hose by the resevior I've had my head gaskets replaced there is no overheating no water oil mix, but my radiator fans arent working I

Sounds like you need to disconnect the Radiators' electric fans and have them tested. You absolutely must have them working, or your car will overheat. Check to see if the Temperature guage is working.

You need to go to a good autoparts store and have them test the fans and charge and test your battery. You may need some sensors to activate the Radiator fans, but you could be running the battery down with shorted cooling fans.

There are also Relays which work with the Radiator fans. The overflow will stabilize once the water gets into where it belongs. Make sure your Thermostat is not clogged with the sealer.