Hi everyone, I'm new to these forums but I've been trying to diagnose an over heating problem on my Camry and am stuck.

The temp. Gauge used to only reach hot when idle, so I would turn on my heater but now it does it at all times, when on the freeway and while idle.
The coolant over flow begins to boil and smoke so I thought maybe my fans were malfunctioning.

So first thing I did was unplug the fan bypass to ensure the fan motors were running properly, they started up perfectly. So I figured it must be a coolant temp sensor, thermostat(flushed all the coolant when doing so), or fuse/relay.

Did the temp sensor and thermostat, nothing. THEN, changed all 3 fan relays and the fan started up just fine when I would turn my AC button on, however they don’t turn on when my temp gauge is all the way at HOT, when it’s needed most. (Also my AC doesn’t work, I have a bad compressor so maybe that has something to do with it? Because when the compressor stops, the fans stop.)

But now that I know my fans work, I need them to work at the right time and STAY on so my car doesn’t keep overheating. But THEN, even when I have the bypass going so my fans are running the entire time, the temp gauge was still shooting up all the way to HOT/RED.

So even once I do get my fans functioning properly at the right times, it’s not fully helping the overheating problem.
What Else can this be? What should I do next, the AC compressor? Even if that gets my fans to stay on when the AC is not on and when needed to cool, its still not going to be at a steady cool temp/gauge will still be rising and causing overflow to boil and smoke. (Where before this problem, the temp gauge would always stay below half way.)

I guess some things that could add to this Is that I live in the northern part of California and it is over 90-95 degrees Fahrenheit here on a daily basis as of recently. But then again, this has never been a problem in the past summers of me owning and driving this vehicle. Also my AC compressor has been out for over a year now, well before this overheating problem came about.

If anyone has anyone suggestions, advice, answers, ANYTHING, it would be greatly appreciated as like I said I’m completely stumped right now. Thanks so much for the help and I’m here to answer any other questions!

 

Coolant temp gauge needle should stay slightly below the mid point of gauge ALL the time such as hwy speeds, idle, AC on, stop and go traffic. If it's going into the red when driving (not stop and go) and hwy speeds then the issue appears something else.

Fans only work when coolant temp is over approximately 199F They should be off at hwy speeds/normal driving..

Unplug fan temp switch that is on the bottom of the radiator, fans should turn on.

Run AC, fans should turn on/off with AC compressor turning on/off.

When did this overheating issue start?

How many times has the temp gauge gone into the red? If the temp goes into the red the head gasket can fail which can then lead to more overheating. A "block test: can check for exhaust gases in the coolant.

Is the radiator OK? Very rare, but sometimes the impeller will fall off the water pump drive shaft.

 

Hi again so temp gauge never went in red. I did have a crack in radiator and replaced.. After replacing thermostat and radiator fan switch I filled radiator followed directions on Toyota antifreeze bottle and put heat on high and let car reach normal temperature and then added a quarter of the expansion tank full of antifreeze and now the problem I am having is I drove it around for a little bit after adding antifreeze and a quarter of the expansion tank and now the expansion tank is empty and I don't know what to do now