Help! Hot engine bay, Cold coolant reservoir | CEL small Leak

[aodioxp]

Need help!
I bought the car with a rebuilt 420a. Water pump and timing belt also changed during rebuilding. But now the engine bay is very hot and there is a burning smell coming from it.
The temp gauge climbs to half way between COLD and HOT pretty quick and stay there, never went past half, but the engine bay just get hotter and hotter.
I upload a picture of the engine bay of about 5 mile driving. The radiator is hot but the reservoir cold. The tube connecting the reservoir is warm.
What can be wrong? Thermostat? Or the water pump itself?
I am afraid of driving long distances in case I broke something...

Any suggestions,
Thanks!!!

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water bump from this angle~

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[david-b]

If the water pump itself was shot you'd be having overheating problems. With you saying that the temps stay perfectly at the middle on the gauge, it should be good. Always starts with the T-Stat since it's the quickest and easiest and cheapest. That's usually the problem anyways. I personally dont see a problem with the resivoir being cold. If the system has plenty of coolant in it, it won't be pulling any of the reserve.

 

[Black420RS]

also change the radiator cap and test your radiator fan

 

[Diamond Star Werks]

There is nothing wrong. Just drive it. Reservoir won't get hot like the rad.

 

[Nicklepage1010]

I don't see anything wrong.

 

[red_devil]

Everything you put as hot is supposed to get hot. The overflow will stay some what cool because no hot coolant is circulating in it. Now if the car starts to get hot the radiator cap will then let some coolant past it and into the overflow, which will heat it up some. If you have no leaks, a good working cap, and its sits right at operating temp then you have a good cooling system.

 

[aodioxp]

Everything you put as hot is supposed to get hot. The overflow will stay some what cool because no hot coolant is circulating in it. Now if the car starts to get hot the radiator cap will then let some coolant past it and into the overflow, which will heat it up some. If you have no leaks, a good working cap, and its sits right at operating temp then you have a good cooling system.

I am concerned that maybe the guage stuck? It never passes half but the engine bay is super hot and there is a burning smell...Is the smell normal?
Sry I am newbie ~~~

There is nothing wrong. Just drive it. Reservoir won't get hot like the rad.

Once I drove 10 miles and the burning smell enter the cabin. So I stopped and open the hood. There was a heat wave when I opened it and strong burning smell. Cannot determine where it came from~
I am considering swap the thermostat for a 180 degree one~ yet I am newbie and afraid of breaking this newly rebuilt engine.....

CEL on with "small leak in evap system" I changed the fuel cap, no use...

 

[JRock20G]

i dont see anything wrong either.. if you were overheating the overflow tank would be full of hot coolant.. Maybe small exhaust leak for smell? Maybe sharty rebuild? burning oil?
mine used to leak exhaust fumes in through the spare tire well until i patched the holes.. there are rubber plugs that might be gone..

 

[jayson427]

i think our engine bays are a little hotter then other cars. and yeah if you drive your car and open the hood you will get a heat wave. you have to remember 180-200 degrees is pretty hot to the human body. if it was actually running hot when you shut your car off the coolent would boil over and fill the resivor up and then pour onto the ground.

 

[WES_393]

if it was actually running hot when you shut your car off the coolent would boil over and fill the resivor up and then pour onto the ground.

This.

It's important to note that the reservoir does very little for the cooling system while the car is running. When the cooling system reaches optimum temperature, excess coolant will flow into the bottle. As the engine cools, the excess coolant will be sucked back in to keep the system full (and free of air). But water isn't constantly flowing in and out, it's just there to regulate the level of water.

So as long as coolant is overflowing from the bottle, or the bottle needs to be refilled constantly, I wouldn't think twice about it's temperature.