Okay, nothing major, I'm just really picky about my car and it's been running a lot more hot lately. Not overheating, but the bar usually sits in the middle where as before it would sit right above the bottom line. See, I'm picky. :D

Anyways, I had my coolant changed a while ago when replacing the water pump, and all went fine. Then my upper radiator hose somehow started to rub on a pulley and punctured a hole in it (Drove 30 miles with a leaking hose). My mechanic pulled out the old hose and coolant went everywhere and since we didn't have a stock replacement we used a Napa hose and cut it to fit. After everything was situated he just topped it off with some tap water.

This is when I've been noticing the higher temps, would it be worth it to get the real radiator hose and try again? The hose we cut to fit has a very slight "kink" in it. Not much of one though, it's just a little more narrow at one corner.

I'd be more concerned about the tap water and potential trapped air in the system. The tap water isn't OMG horrible for short term fixes, but I wouldn't want it in there for very long. If you use water, deionized (or second best distilled) is what you want. Try burping the coolant system, too.

^What he said.^ Bleed the system and fill accordingly. If it's not a bad kink the hose should be fine.

Well I didn't change the coolant or anything, but I did just try and burp the system. I had no idea what I was doing. I read that you take off the radiator cap, turn on the heat, and start the car. After a while it should burp on its own and you fill it up with more coolant. Well, I did all of that and the coolant basically was overflowing the whole time and there were no signs of burping or anything, so after 15 minutes I just turned the engine off and left it alone.

Also, I think I may need a new alternator or something because when the defroster is on, my car almost stalls and my headlights flicker. Car starts to idle really rough although the RPM's stay the same.

I don't know what to do with my car, guess thats what I get for buying it used with 80k miles. :(

EDIT: Also, when I got back from a short drive around the block, I checked under the hood and was hearing some slurping noises from the radiator cap... not sure what all that was about.

Figured I'd bump my own thread again.

Car is running okay for the time being, though I think I may have a faulty thermostat. When running the car with the radiator cap off, once the car warms up shouldn't the coolant go down? The fans never turn on nor does the coolant go down, it just sits there at the very top unless I give it gas, then it comes back up again. :confused: Also, the fans only seem to come on when the temps start to raise in traffic or at a drive thru.

I installed an OEM water pump not too long ago, but I also replaced the thermostat and radiator cap with "Stant" products. Should I be using OEM?