New member needs help with 2014 Mirage over heating problem.

[jetrmang]

Hello All
I am really worried about my 2014 Mirage that has over heated.
There was a leak in the rad hose that I repaired with some special tape as a temporary measure (I thought).
I called the dealer, Napa, Car Quest, Can Tire, etc and was told out of stock, or not available.
Searched on line for rad hose with same result, found part but out of stock or not available.
My repair held up (I checked the coolant level regularly) while trying to find a real solution.
I lent my car to a friend to pick up his kids for the weekend, as it is much cheaper on gas than his pick up.
The rad hose failed of course and the car over heated about 150 km from home.
Yeah it was a pain in the a$$ for everybody, his ex had to drive him home, no kids that weekend, both he and I felt bad for the other.
Ok, we went back the next weekend to get the car and the kids and I made another repair using some hose I found that I thought would do the trick. It seemed like everything was really good. No leaks, the hose was extra long and I zip tied it neatly, the bottom curve was smoothed with a piece of the original hose as a guide. The hose is also clear and it looked like the coolant was flowing when I set off for home.
At 1/2 hour mark I stopped to look under the hood and tightened the lower hose clamp a bit, no coolant required.
At the 1 hour mark the car showed red overheat warning light, pulled over and stopped.
The engine was not hot for very long but it did overheat, I let it cool down, added almost two litres of coolant.
I am sure that the coolant looked like it had bubbles in it, what was left that I could see in clear hose.
Also the extra long hose was full. It seems like the engine had none.
I drove 15 min to next exit, stopped no overheating, but was very hot.
It did not need more than 500 ml coolant when I checked it cold.
I also check the oil, and may have added a 1/2 to 3/4 of a litre over the full mark.
I had just changed to oil the week before and it was so clean I could barely see it on the stick.
When I tried to start the car it was not happy. I had to give it gas for it to fire up, idle at low revs very rough.
I stopped two more times to let the car cool down over the remaining 30-40km's to home.
Needed some coolant but no red warning or overheating. When the engine was running it did not look like the coolant was flowing through my clear hose.
The car was running very rough on low revs, but not bad other wise. Sort for died under 1,000 rpm.
The orange check engine is on now, and it really really was not happy being started the last time after I stopped.
It did need coolant.

Ok, What do I do now???
I am worried I have hurt my car.
Should I start with thermostat?
The pressure test was done on the hot hot car, and the hose seems to be holding.
Having said that where is the coolant going???
It was not gushing out and not a lot on the ground at any stop.
The last time it looked like the overflow was bubbling.
The rad itself has some damage to the fins on one side. The tubes seem fine but the fins have been knocked over a bit and may not be as efficient? I blame snow and dirt roads for damage.
Any ideas on next steps??????
Water pump???
I have not tried to start the car since it got me home.

[Fummins]

I'm having a hard time trying to piece all that together.

Put a proper hose on it.
Throw the clear jerry rigged hose in the trash.
Pressure test it.
Don't over fill crankcase with oil.
Find out why engine light is on.

On second thought, I'd really consider just having a competent mechanic look at it.

If your oil level is rising out of the blue and coolant going down then there's a good chance you overheated the crap out of the engine, blew the head gasket, or cracked and/or warped the cylinder head. If that's the case it'd make most sense just to remove the engine, and replace it with a used one.

[jetrmang]

I'm having a hard time trying to piece all that together.

Put a proper hose on it.
Throw the clear jerry rigged hose in the trash.
Pressure test it.
Don't over fill crankcase with oil.
Find out why engine light is on.

On second thought, I'd really consider just having a competent mechanic look at it.

If your oil level is rising out of the blue and coolant going down then there's a good chance you overheated the crap out of the engine, blew the head gasket, or cracked and/or warped the cylinder head. If that's the case it'd make most sense just to remove the engine, and replace it with a used one.

I have tried to find the rad hose, but it is not available any place I have looked.

How bad is extra oil? should I drain and refill?

Would a thermostat be damaged by overheat?
How to tell if thermostat?
How to tell if pump?

I am new to the area and the dealer is at least an hour away.

Thanks

[Mark]

On second thought, I'd really consider just having a competent mechanic look at it.

I second that!

[foama]

On second thought, I'd really consider just having a competent mechanic look at it.

.

I second that too!

These cars can stand a lot and won't break easily, but an air pocket in the cooling system will usually kill any engine real quick. Good luck!

[Wallythacker]

I'm having a hard time trying to piece all that together.

Put a proper hose on it.
Throw the clear jerry rigged hose in the trash.
Pressure test it.
Don't over fill crankcase with oil.
Find out why engine light is on.

On second thought, I'd really consider just having a competent mechanic look at it.

If your oil level is rising out of the blue and coolant going down then there's a good chance you overheated the crap out of the engine, blew the head gasket, or cracked and/or warped the cylinder head. If that's the case it'd make most sense just to remove the engine, and replace it with a used one.

Likely the best advice you're going to get here. Sorry to hear of your woes. Worst case, a used engine (I paid $400 for one with 13,000 miles) and the labor cost to install it. Could be next to nothing if you're handy.

[MetroMPG]

If you can't get the rad hose from a local parts store, you can order it online, eg:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...cooling+system

Or search eBay, Amazon to look for a Canadian parts source.

Is your oil still perfectly clear?

Based on your description, it sounds like there's more damage than just a blown rad hose.

[DottandDolores]

Made me think of my college years. Friend had a new 96 corolla maintained and babied his dad owned a store 50 miles from home We were returning from the store in May 1998 car had 35k dummy light appeared within 5-10 seconds car shut off. Overheat, head gasket shot, bulge in lower hose, craziest thing one cyl seized is why the car stopped. Toyota rebuilt the motor. This car was perfect no one knows what happened I was there the car ran perfectly up to the last minute. Once Toyota rebuilt the motor the car lasted until 300k rust killed it.

[Dirk Diggler]

How in the hell is it so hard to find OP's part? Unacceptable that the big parts companies like Napa hardly carry anything. How many Mirages have been on the road since 2014 in NA? At least over 125k units? This should translate in more options being picked up by the parts big boys.

[7milesout]

I'm just winging it here, and a bit late to the party. It sounds to me by the rough idling condition that the head gasket is just starting to blow. Meaning, it's letting some compression swap. I think that's possible (not an expert).

Once the engine is up to speed, the loss of compression is reduced due to the high speed (of the piston) and the loss of compression is at a fixed rate due to a small path where the gasket is letting go / starting to let go. But again, at high (piston) speed, the rate of compression loss is not high enough to create a noticeable bad ignition stroke. That's harder to explain than I figured it would be.

But at idle, the piston speed is slower which gives more time for the incoming air/fuel charge to run up under that gasket, making its way over to the next cylinder ... so probably 2 cylinders (maybe all 3) are running low compression at idle and causing it to idle rough.

A compression test is in order. But also, if your coolant starts looking somewhat like chocolate milk and your oil level is rising ... you have a blown head gasket.