overheating

[motocdmahead]

i have replaced factory radiator with metal one 30,000 miles ago.
water pump and timeing belt 5,000
head gaskets and heads 10,000 miles ago.
my car has 168,000 or so miles on it.

whats happening,

my car overheats when i drive for a long while, i drive 45 min to work and when i get about 10min away it will start. but it is wierd you can give a lot of gas and the temp will fall for a second or if you turn on the a/c it will fall for awhile just to comeback up agian. and for a while it would only do it on hot days as long as it was under 90 good to go all day.

also when you turn the heater on when the temp is hot it will blast out hot air then become just warm even though the temp is still high.

this winter it would not blow out hot air, just slightly warm.

i had seen no leaks untill this morning when i drove uptown for a second for some grub and heard a hissing sound when i looked under the hood. the hose that comes from the firewall into the engine had a small split in it. wich was letting water escape.

i guess what i need help with in the morning i am going to make an appoinment with the mechanic to tell him to replace the hose and thermostat since i have never had that done. and to do a cooling system flush. do you think this will solve the problem, and how much would a repair like this cost. i have to drive around 1000 miles on a trip next week and want to be go to go.

[Tallahassee]

I'd definately have that termostat checked, but I'm curious, was the metal radiator new when they installed it?

[MaxRPM]

yeah...check it dude, ..cause they try to be cheap sometime, so they just weld it and tell you it new. I got my new radiator with lifetime warranty.

[shattadem]

how did it work out???.......if somthings still wrong, try changing the antifreez water ratio mixture.