Auto Insights Needed (NF)

[mikemcmillan]

OK, 10 to 1 stat is stuck, JMO.

[lew]

I used to have a Jeep Cherokee and I blew the water pump. The mechanic replaced the pump, but then I had a similar problem to what your describing, when I was ideling, the temp was OK, but as soon as I accelerated, the temp gauge would head into the red zone.

 

He said it was an air bubble that had gotten into the system and was restricting the water flow, so he "burped it" and everything worked fine after that.

 

Pretty sure he said it was "burped" by removing the top heater hose and that allowed the air bubble out and the water to move freely.

 

Just a thought ??

[Raf]

hopefully it is just an air bubble. in most vehicles you can 'burp' the system by running the car (when cold) up to operating temp with the rad cap off. remove the rad cap, fill the rad w/coolant. keep filling coolant into the rad as neccessary. when the t-stat opens and coolant start flowing, you're done.

 

hopefully you are not looking at a bad headgasket and/or water pump.

[wuchikubo]

Okay....here's what I can tell you from your suggestions of diagnosis I did last night.

If sitting at a light and the car is idleing and I can feel the heat coming out of the vents getting cooler, I revved the engine and it definitely warmed up right away.

 

This morning, I was traveling about 75 mph for about 15-miles and looked down to see my temp gauge at the red line. I hadn't noticed that before this morning. So, I let off the accellerator and coasted for about 1/4 mile, and the temp fell back to normal in about 5-seconds. It rose again about 5-minutes later, then as I kept the RPM lower, the temp went down to normal quickly.

 

I put a piece of cardboard under the engine last night to check for leaks...this AM I noticec 3 drops of something on it...not oil, but couldn't tell if it was coolant/anti-freeze...nearer the back of the engine toward to firewall.

 

So, there you go. Any insights are greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

Hey T-Bone,

 

it sounds exactly like my wife's van problem except you didn't mention if the coolant levels were low. look under the hood, topping up will only be a temporary solution until you get it to a mechanic to fix the problem. My wife's van problem was a leaking head gasket, would have cost around $1000 to fix at the dealership.

 

Good luck,

HearingFish

[RsX]

yea sounds like a head gasket check to see if u got oil substance in the coolant resavoir and check you engine oil cap see if there is a white substance on it

[T-Bone]

Thanks for all the insights...I knew this group would gladly share the wealth of experience and knowledge you have. I'm going to try and to see if the 'stat is stuck tonight. KW Mike...I hope you're right on those odds. I've heard others say head gasket. That's just not cheap...and would likely lead me to invest in total overhaul while it's apart. That, I'm sure, would approach $2K.

 

Ugh...

 

Once again...thanks to you all...very helpful advice. I'll post the diagnosis from the dealer when I know on Monday.

[musky_man]

My guess thermostat - certainly worth trying first because it is cheap.

[salmon]

In my exp. it is a air pocket in the system.

Air pocket in the system. you need to purge you cooling system of it.

I had the same things happen to me at a stop light. Temp gauge going on the red and still had air going thru the system and it was not hot.

Got moving and everything cooled down until the next stop. Described the condidtion to a industrial heavy duty mechanic and he mentioned

that it all points to a air pocket in the system.

I think that I drained the cooling system and filled it backup. The coolant reservoir will say it is full but it will be reading the air in the system also.

The themostat is working as it should be and since you are draining your system take a look at it.

 

Jose

[Jen]

I've heard others say "you probably have a bubble or air in your system". I've also consistently heard "fuel pump".

 

Just so I know, how do you get an "air pocket" or bubble in your system?

 

Thanks.

 

 

Sounds to me like a fairly easy solution... take your car in to a shop and ask them to do a rad flush and replace your thermostate...it won't be very expensive and you won't have to keep guessing. From what I have read here it doesn't seem as if you do your own repairs and either way your car will run so much better even if those were not the issues. Just don't let the repair guy give you a whole song and dance about "what else needs to be done"... tell him right off the bat, just do these things. Otherwise it will be an additional $80 in labour while he wanders around your car looking for more problems.

 

Cheers Jen

[Tybo]

OK, With the extra info you gave it's not your stat.

Could be a few things.

1; air in the system.

2;low coolant.

3;plug rad.

4; water pump.

5; If fan is belt drive, loose or worn out.

If their is a brownish colour to belt it's worn out.

6; Electric fan not working or not spinning at proper speed.