Hey Guys, I just bought an 03 sebring with a 2.4L, its having overheating issues. Both radiator hoses become very hard as well. The fans are working and I tested the thermostat in a pit of boiling water and it opened up. I bled the system of air twice and no different results came up. I also block tested with the liquid and had no color change in the testing device. I did a compression test with the coil pack unplugged and had 105 110 105 100 on the cylinders and the spark plugs looked clean. I also ran the car with the radiator cap off to see the thermostat open and when it did water came splashing out.

I am not sure if its the water pump or the headgasket or both? I am going to rent a pressure tester today and will post results. Any insight at all would be great, I am not at all familiar with the 2.4L engine

 

Lots of possible causes for overheating including clogged radiator, internal or external, wrong coolant, collapsed radiator hose (could be internal and not visible), bad water pump, dirty system, etc. The car is now going on 12 years old and is entitled to some problems. You're on the right track and need to continue ruling out possible causes one-by-one. Let us know what you find.

 

Okay so I ran the pressure test last night. The radiator has a leak around the gasket on one side. It causes the pressure to go from 18lbs to 0. Will this cause my overheating? or is this something that happened due to the overheating?

I was considering putting in a quality stop a leak to see if this would solve the problem but if that is done and the head gasket is an issue I wouldn't know because it would get sealed.

 

DO NOT UNDER ANY CONDITION PUT STOP LEAK IN.
Replace the radiator fix it right and yes it will cause an over heating if U have low coolant.

 

I did test the system full of water (water only for test purposes) and I followed this fill procedure below and it still over heated after driving it with the a/c for about 15 minutes and the hoses became rock hard at that point. am going to replace the radiator but want to know if its something else as well. Can that leak on the radiator cause the both upper and lower hoses to become rock hard when overheating?

How can I verify if the water pump is working? When I fill the system and and run car with the cap off the thermostat opens up the engine is like spitting water out so I cant tell if its flowing or just boiling out.

FILLING - 2.0L/2.4L
Close radiator draincock by turning clockwise.
Open cooling system bleed valve (Cooling System Filling - 2.0L/2.4L).
Attach a 6.35 mm (0.250 in.) inside diameter clear hose that is 120.0 cm (48 in.) long to the bleed valve. Route the hose away from accessory drive belts and radiator fan. Position the other end of hose into a collecting container. The hose will prevent coolant from contacting accessory drive belts and other components.
Remove cooling system pressure cap and fill cooling system with recommended coolant.
Slowly continue filling until a steady stream of coolant flows from attached hose on bleed valve.
Close bleed valve and remove hose.
Fill coolant to the top of pressure cap neck.
Install cooling system pressure cap.
Fill coolant recovery container to the MAX mark.
Start engine and allow to run until thermostat opens and radiator fans cycle.
NOTE: It may be necessary to add additional coolant to the coolant recovery container after three or four warm-up/cool down cycles to maintain coolant level between the MIN and MAX marks; as additional trapped air is removed from the system.

 

You filled it with water and it overheated? Not surprising. The system is designed around the coolant. Replace the radiator and install the correct coolant. Those things need to be done. If that doesn't fix the problem then start looking for other things but you still need to take care of the known problems. Get your radiator cap tested. Make sure it is of the correct pressure rating and that it works at the correct pressure.

 

I was using water for test purposes. I purchased a new radiator and installed it. I ran the pressure test again and it lost pressure but this time at a very slow rate with no visible external leaks. Does this sound safe to say its a head gasket?

Also once the system gets warms its constantly boiling in to the reservoir.

 

Both of my radiator hoses are very hard and pressurized once the system has been on for a few minutes.

 

Not sure what the significance of the "very hard" hoses is unless the radiator cap is not relieving pressure. That's why you need to test the cap. If the pressure is too high, it's obviously bad for the system including the radiator and the water pump seals. The specification is 14 to 18 psi.
As far as the slow leak is concerned, that could be a function of your pressure tester. Read the instructions that came with it and see if they mention anything about very slow drop in pressure.
As far as a head gasket problem is concerned, there are hydrocarbon testing kits that look for products of combustion in the coolant. If they are present, it's a pretty good indication of a head gasket leak. You should also do a compression test. Don't jump to conclusions.
With water in there instead of a proper coolant mix, you are very likely to get boiling. The system will not perform properly with water alone.

 

Thanks for the reply. I went ahead and filled the system with coolant and re ran the engine until it was hot. The system continued to get high pressure and the radiator cap does relieve the pressure but something is creating the high pressure.

I did try the block test previously and the test did not show carbon present in the system.

So far

Changed the radiator
Compression tested the cylinder all being around 105 (With coil unplugged)
Tested the thermostat
Pressure Tested (losing at small rate)
Block tested (no color change in fluid)

The pressure tester instruction didnt mention a small leak but said if there is no visbale external leak than it would be an internal leak.