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2003 Hyundai Tiburon

Question: heating issue or cracked head?

Question

monica44, 2.0L 4 Cylinder, Arlington, VA, December 19, 2010, 20:51
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 Rookie

My 03 Tiberon's thermostat went a month ago and had it replaced and rad fluid was flushed. Since, haven't had any heat, thermostat reads cold all the time and every two weeks rad fluid is slightly down mechanic says and thinks might be slight crack in head gasket. Car runs great but even after putting fluid in the car will not have heat. Put stop leak in and no change. Only time I get temp gauge to rise a bit is when turn off heating and idle..but only sometimes.

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  • Answer #1

    DaveJHM December 19, 2010, 21:53
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     Master

    Have you verified there is no air pocket in your cooling system? Could be one after changing the thermostat, and even doing a "flush" of your system.

    I don't really see a head gasket as a concern at least based off of your information. I am concerned about the use of stop leak, as it can hurt more things than help.

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  • Answer #2

    Visitor, December 20, 2010, 14:06

    Have your mechanic verify that the new thermostat is actually working. New parts can be bad as well as old ones. If it appears to be working like it should have the mechanic add some leak detecting dye to the cooling system and then check it after you have driven the car for a couple of drive cycles. There are some unknowns that we would need to know before we can give a better answer. Was the heat working before the thermostat was replaced? Did the engine overheat when the thermostat went bad?

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