Quote:
Originally Posted by SVOboy
Also, I just have no idea what would cause the insight to overheat so quickly while moving with a huge radiator in the middle of a freezing winter night.
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This engine is TINY and it heats up fast. Air in the cooling system would do it. I've drained and filled my coolant three times. Just pouring coolant into the radiator pretty much guarantees you air bubbles. The following procedure works fine for me.
Pour coolant into the upper radiator hose until it comes out the radiator. Attach radiator hose. Fill overflow bottle and top off radiator. Drive until hot. Stop. Open bleeder valve. Close bleeder valve, clean up spilled coolant. Top off overflow bottle.
My Insight sits at 195°F, and the radiator fan doesn't kick on until 205°F. I wouldn't call it "overheating" unless it exceeded 207°F.
On your terrible mileage: I get anywhere from 15-30mpg on the first 0.25mi of my commute, which includes my driveway, a stop sign, and a red light. Running errands within 2mi of my house (i.e. most errands that I run) nets 40mpg in the cold. That's still three times as good as the Subaru.
Your car is so close to done. Hopefully you'll return before the end of the semester to finish the wiring and drive it to NH.