Why would a 1997 Mazda 626 LX V4 start overheating and after driving for 3-4 minutes?

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Hey Nachiket==It is probably the cooling fans. Have them checked out, GoodluckJoe

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the prooblem most probably is the water pump which might be leaking. U need to replace the water pump.sometimes u cannot make the leakage through u r naked eye check if u r loosing coolant if u r then there must be a hole in the pump which needs to be replaced.

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It seems too short a time for the coolant to truly get hot enough to overheat. you may have a blown head gasket which is blowing gasses into the coolant system, which gives the voilent torbulence in the cooling system. This will push out coolant under xs pressure as a normally overheating scinario. Standing still while idling should cause the same effect. OralB.

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Check the following: 1) There are these inexpensive radiator repair kits. Use one and see if that fixes it the problem other wise it will mark the leaking area and have that repaired. 2) Check water pump. The easy way is to run the car and see if the coolant gets collected in the reservoir bottle after some time. It that does not happen that means the pump is out. 3) See if the thermostat is working. If the car gets so hot so quickly, I think that is because the thermostat is not working and needs to be changed. You can buy one for under 50 USD. 4) Also check if the radiator cap is not leaking; if that is happening, then the pressure is not sealed properly and the steam leaks out. Just change the cap in that case and the problem would be fixed. 5) Check is the smoke from the silencer is steamy. In that case your car is burning coolant and many need new gasket.

There are several reasons for the engine to knock when it gets hot. Check all the leads, see if all the spark plugs are good. See if the radiator housing is secure etc.

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Sounds like your head gasket is blown and most probably your termostat is gone too. Check or replace water pump, termostat and gaskets, and revise radiator's hoses and make sure fans are working while overheat.

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The first and most important thing to check is the water level in your radiator! The level could be low due to a leak or just poor maintenance.

If the level is ok the next things to check would be;
1. sticking thermostat,
2. electric fans not operating,
3. timing too advanced.
Any of these things would cause the engine to heat rather quickly.

If these are ok then check for;
1. faulty waterpump,
2. blown head gasket or cracked head.
While either of these problems will cause overheating, it is unlikely to occur in 3-4 minutes.

First answer by ID0000000000. Last edit by Rikko. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 73 [recommend question]