another problem...plz help

[XxLuieLinesxX]

a few days ago i changed my antifreeze and oil and all that....and today i saw the car seriously overheating ..i think it was even past the red line...so i managed to get home and opened the hood and the smoke was coming from the radiator cap and antifreeze(green fluid) was leaking out from the radiator cap. i remembered that when the guy added the antifreeze he didn't put a 50/50 mixture with the water..he didnt add any water. so when i got home i poored water in the antifreeze reservoir and inside the radiator and the problem got better. the car still seems to constantly overheat when idling. i figured the radiator cap had a problem...maybe it was loose or broken and it didnt seem like the right cap..because when u twist it to take it off it rubs with the plastic from the radiator and its hard to come off. and while i was down there i checked all the hoses and realized that they were still the stock hoses, and the car has 115k miles. I kno its a long post but if any1 can help i'd appreciate it.<p>thanks

[TsiMiata]

Is this on a 4 cylinder or 6? First thing I'd do is replace the cap and soon. If you keep over heating the motor your going to kill the head gasket- if you haven't all ready.<p>I'd guess the mechanic probably put in pre-mixed anti-freeze

[XxLuieLinesxX]

the car is a 4 cylinder, do u think its just the cap?

[lakersfan1]

Jsut do the antifreeze yourself. It's really easy on the MX3. Then, do a 35% antifreeze, 65% water mix and see if the overheating stops (a mixture with a little more water than antifreeze will help carry away more heat). If not, you know it's not the antifreeze mix.

[phr34k]

check your radiator cap

[XxLuieLinesxX]

yea i usually do my own antifreeze but i told the guy to do it since he was already doing everything else...anyways..i think its just the cap...because its bubbling out of the cap. i did put in more water then antifreeze and it did help..thanks

[XxLuieLinesxX]

ok....now its getting ridiculous....i think its the A/C now, because today i turned it on...and like 5 minutes later the temperture its above the red, it was so bad i had to put the heater on to reduce the heat. The A/c when i bought the car wasn't working and i fixed it not too long by fixing the switch thats under the glove box...since then the car has been overheating, any comments would be aprecciated

[TsiMiata]

Could be a few different things-
-Electric fans not working- both need to be on when the AC is running
-Bad water pump
-Clogged radiator
-Thermostat- they can go bad after the engine is overheated
-Leaves/debris blocking air flow to the radiator
-Blown Head gasket
-Radiator cap

[XxLuieLinesxX]

actually now that u mention a clogged radiator, around a week ago i got in a little accedent, i was doing about 95 and tried to change lanes and the lady in front of me stopped making me cut the wheel sharply to the right and i went spinning acroos like 4 lanes of trafic into the grass and mudd(that was scary), that might be what did it..because this problem started after that, i'll get a new radiator and check out those other things..thanks for the info