For the past couple of months my car won't get up to operating temperature (it stays halfway from 40C to 90C, but sometimes it gets to 90C..not often).
Anyways, last night it decides to just keep going to 125C and overheat.
Today I checked to see if the fan came on; it did halfway between 90C and 125C.
The thermostat seemed to be opening too, at approx.90C like it should.
I changed the thermostat anyways. Also refilled it with new coolant (like you have to).
Coolant was low after the car overheating last night. No white smoke from tailpipe and no coolant in the crank case is visible from dipstick.. so I don't think it's the head gasket.
Any ideas?
DAMN YOU METRIC SYSTEM!!!! ( Shakes fist at sky )
Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.
First thought that comes to mind is air in the system.
Anytime you change coolant (or change 'stat, or otherwise work on the cooling system)
you want to purge any air. Air pockets typically cause the car to run hotter, but in some circumstances, they can also prevent it from reaching proper operating temps.
Check your trusty Chiltons/Haynes manual (or FSM, if you have one) for the proper procedure.
If you don't have any of those, you really should invest in one.
Or you could ask nicely, and if I find the time (or someone else does), then I'll post the actual procedure. But you really should have a manual for things like this.
-Ferrite
you mean 260F?
Yup, what Ferrite said
Also,
make sure the system is full (overflow), and your radiator is hot.
if your radiator is cold, but your car overheats, replace the radiator because its clogged up
I checked all of these. Bled the air out with the purge screw and all that fun stuff. The radiator is hot.
I'm not getting good/any circulation of the fluid unless I squeeze the upper rad hose.
I really don't want it to be the head gasket or water pump.. and I'm kind of thinking it could be something else.
what engine, im guessing it's a 2.2L b/c it has a purge valv,e water pump is a pain, but allot easier then changing in 2.4, but that's what i'd say it would be is pump
does it overheat in traffic or highway?
first thing is just replace all the sensors. ECT sensor, thermostat, coolant level sensor, all the stupid things. Take it to a shop and have them run the chemicals with the radiator flush. system could be corroded and dirty and refill with coolant. you might wana put some coolant booster like watter wetter or greased lighting stuff. also, dexcool kind of scares me so I use the prestone dex-cool approved coolant. in my opinion it works better. dont know bout u guys. eliminate small things!!!!!! then now check for air buubles as stated above in the system. if not, check for proper chemical mix 50/50 mix of clean drinkable water and dexcool. now on for serious problems, if could be the water pump not shooting the coolant through the sytem get under the car and check for leaks fell around.......if not check the stupid radiator pressure cap and c thats its snug, yah that can cause the car to overheat,, if not.....could be the head gasket which would suck........believe me ive been there....experience helps....good luck.....id also recommend to do the fan override switch which is a good think to be able to control your fan when u need it.......
i use motorcraft orange coolant. Dex-cool ended up promoting what it was SUPPOSED to prohibit
I unplugged the battery and let the ECU reprogram or whatever and it seems to not want to display high temperatures anymore...
...so problem solved? for now...
