For reasons I can't figure, the Temp gauge on the wife's Explorer is shooting from normal to high in just seconds. Then, it drops back to normal. When I looked at it this afternoon, I noted 2 things.
1) There was no sign of a coolant leak or overheating.
2) There wasn't ANY coolant in the tank!!!!!!!
The truck has evidently been running fine while this is going on.
Every now and then when I slow down the temp gauge drops about 1 notch below its normal 200 reading. It's nerver done this before. Car runs great and heat is strong. Is this a sign of a failing thermostat? If so, where is the thermostat located, is it hard to replace, and should I get OEM or is OTC ok? Car has 89K on it.
View 11 Repliesmy 1990 Nissan 300zx with 136,000 miles often surges at highway speeds for several seconds then drops back down to normal. the surge is usually 1000 rpm. does not happen if not in overdrive, and will not happen unless having been driving for 15 minutes or so. also seems to occur more on hot days (80 degree +) than on cool days. mechanic has looked at this several times but not yet able to determine why.
View 2 RepliesSo my understanding is the water temp gauge at 200 degrees is pretty much spot on. The last three days I notice the temp gauge go to 200 then up to 240 which is like just one line away from the red zone. I turned on my heat full blast and was on the tollway and the temps went back to 200. The moment I got back into stop and go traffic the temp goes up again 220-240 range. Again, one line away from the red zone. No other alarms or dash messages come up. No smell of anti-freeze.
As well, the oil temp which was always at 200 has done the same thing. Running over 200 in the 220 plus range. Could this just be low anti-freeze? If so, would I not get a dash warning light?
1998 Honda Civic EX. This has been a great car and have got a ton of good miles on it. The problem that I am having now is with the temperature gauge. The measurement is completely all over the place while driving. While moving around town, the gauge shows the temperature VERY hot. As soon as I reach a consistent speed, the temperature drops back to normal (moves very erratically!). The gauge seems to get even hotter while idling. Another issue (may or may not be related) is the heat coming out of the vents is only working while the car is in motion. While stopped, it pumps out cold air. The temperature immediately changes when I get going again. Both problems seem to be getting worse. The car has coolant, and all other levels of fluids are normal.
View 14 RepliesMy 1994 honda accord station wagons cooling fan is working but the temp gauge still goes all the way up then back to normal numerous times while driving.. I park on the side of the road while the car is on, pop the hood to check and see any signs of over heating but the motor seems to be normal.. What could be happening??
View 10 RepliesI have a 98 f150(4.6 V8) that has 'seemingly' overheated for about 5 seconds twice in the last month. I noticed the temperature gauge went all the way up after about 1 mile of travel, then it immediately fell back down to normal. The truck has 198k miles.
I flushed out the system using a Peak Flushing Tee, replaced the thermostat with spring facing the engine block, and refilled the system.
I haven't had another overheating instance but I am having problems with my heater....the truck seems to warm up fine and the heat starts off working well. The temperature gauge reads normal for a few minutes then drops and I lose the heat. The truck blows cool air for a while, then will start blocking hot air again.
I believe the water pump has been replaced fairly recently...the pulley has no slack and I don't see any leaks or wetness around the pump or its weep-hole.
I read it could be a blend door or blend door actuator. I don't hear any funny clicking and obviously get some heat.
Should I try another new thermostat? Intermittent water pump problems?
On my 97 X SOHC, I have a temp gauge that is rather erratic. It reads high even with the engine off and cold and rises when the engine is running to the point the "Check gauges" light illuminates. Then bounces to normal then back near red line. This cycle continues.
To evaluate this, I bought a scan tool and the ECT reads as expected, around ambient to start, gradual climb till the thermostat opens, then hovers there while the radiator does its thing. Heater works as expected. So I'm fairly confident that my X doesn't have a cooling issue.
What my questions are: Can I disconnect the temp sender so I'm not watching the gauge bounce around and then the Check Gauges light is available for other issues that arise?
Does the check gauge light also send a signal back to the PCM?
Can I do any damage to the truck or will the PCM throttle the power back and flash the Check Engine light if a real cooling issue materializes?
My 2001 Ranger V6 with 160.000 miles runs like a Swiss watch. After warming up slightly it idles at the typical 750 RPM. I can pull out of the garage, park in the yard, shift from D or R into P and the idle holds at 750 RPM until I turn the engine off.
But, If I've driven to warm the engine to normal run temp and go through the same D or R and into P, the RPM drops to nearly Zero and sometimes the engine stops.
This has happened in the past so I take out the MAF, squirt it good with MAF cleaner, put it back in and everything is hunky-doory. But not this time. What am I missing??
I have a 2004 Grand Prix and it is displaying the symptoms of overheating but the temp gauge is not going above normal operating temp. I replaced the thermostat twice, and after driving for about 10-20 mins coolant comes out of the overflow. I'm at a loss, I'm thinking temp sensor(?) But I don't want to keep throwing unnecessary money into it. The fans work fine, the heater blows as it should.
View 8 RepliesI have a 2004 Explorer 4.0L v6 that I recently charged the AC in. The engine was rebuilt not to long ago so the AC was completely recovered (bought it from a friend), so I know I started fresh. I am not by any means a novice mechanic but, just dabbling into the AC world and have watched a ton of how to videos, and what not.
I went out and bought a set of manifold gauges as well as a vacuum pump. I do have the rear air on this one so it takes (correct me if im wrong) 56oz of refrigerant. I pulled a vacuum of 28 (mercury?) and it held it for a good hour so, I am pretty sure no leaks. I went ahead and charged the system... Compressor kicked on like normal, air got cold, and everything seemed to be going just like it should be. I went by just a random r134a ambient pressure chart NOT from ford.
I thought great this is going to be like new! Well, now the problem i'm having is in the mornings at say 65-85 degrees it blows ice cold. Once the sun gets higher in the sky, and it gets up to 95-100, it doesn't seem to be able to keep up, even driving for miles and miles. I noticed the rear air evaporater low side, doesn't seem to feel very cold either. Does this mean I might be over charged/under charged?
I have a video of the pressures at 2000 RPM, AC set to "max", both front and rear fans set to highest setting, windows down. At 31 seconds, the pressure drop is because I let off the throttle and let it idle for a bit, so you can see those pressures.
Copy of 04 explorer ac status - YouTube....
I have never seen any of my other cars do this and I just want to see if this is normal. It happens like clockwork every time I get in the car with a cold engine. I let the car sit while the RPMs are high and as soon as the tach drops I start to drive the car softly. The engine temp gauge reaches normal operating temp in a normal amount of time, it does not just jump to the middle. But after about 1 minute it just starts falling quite quickly, as you can see in the video. It's very predictable - happens every time I drive it so it was easy to catch on video. I don't notice any difference in engine performance. Is this normal for a VW GTI or is something wacky going on?
You can skip to 19-20 seconds in the video to see the needle drop.
1998 f150 4.6 4x4 auto 180k .... Runs 100% other than a strange and inconsistent overheating issue.
On cold startup truck will warm up. Then the temp gauge drops to practically 0. After 15-20 seconds gauge shoots up to max and then falls back to normal after 15-20 seconds. Then it'll go back to driving normally. At some point it pukes.
So every morning I get in my car and start it up. Usually, It starts right up, hit 1.5K RPM and then drops to almost dead (~3-400RPM) and then goes back up to a normal idle. This has always concerned me but never thought too much of it since the car goes right back to normal after a few seconds. Today the car did the normal startup and then died. What is causing this?
View 4 RepliesMy temp gauge (which very seldom deviated form its position) is showing above normal temps. Yeah its over 90 here but this is unusual for my car to run hotter. I put in a new thermostat about 3 years ago. I've also been adding water/anti-freeze because there was a small leak (that I finally found in the hose) that I corrected. Could it be that my mixture isn't a 50/50 mix or is it my thermostat again? They say they don't last long anymore???
View 1 RepliesI have a 2012 Ford Taurus when I turn the ac on it goes fast and then back to normal every like 3-5 seconds. It blows cold air and it doesn't matter the speed of the ac it speeds up and slow back to normal. Has 49100 miles...
View 3 RepliesMy friend has an 08 4.6. He has replaced the thermostat with 3 different ones all with different temps, still nothing. Temp gauge reads normal but after driving it for a bit he can take off the radiator cap while it's running and not get sprayed in the face with coolant, almost like there is no pressure in the system.
View 6 Replies177,000 miles, fuel pump was replaced just before I purchased it a few weeks ago. Truck has been running like new until today when it started doing this completely out of the blue. If you watch the video, the sound is not off, the tach is moving independently of the sound of the actual revs. Occasionally when doing this, the fuel gauge drops to zero. Thinking this is an electrical issue somewhere.
YouTube.....
ive actually owned 4 volkswagens one of which was a 2002 big turbo gti which made 325whp..... so now i have a 2005 Jetta GLI with about 41k on it. This car has a serious idle problem. Start up is fine and it runs great and hits boost perfect. It has a 6 speed, APR chip intake, forge DV, and DP. When i come to a traffic light and come to a complete stop after about 10 seconds it hiccups and the idle drops to abou 600 and then back up to normal idle. It will also do it if i just leave the car running in neutral it will randomly stutter. I have new spark plugs and new fuel injectors and i only use 93.
View 1 Replies2004, 3 door Accent, 150K miles. This has been going on for many summers now (had an idea when driving from work). Well when I got home from work, gauge still read E, turned the car off, then back to ACC, still read E.
Opened the fuel cap, didn't hear any hissing noise or any indication that there was alot of pressure build up, put cap back on, turned to ACC, and gauge read normal.
So after a long story my question is this, is there a pressure regulator that when it over pressures, lets it vent, and what is it called and where is it located? I am thinking that regulator might be stuck closed.
My truck is essentially stock except EGR DELETE. Lately I am seeing my coolant gauge in the cluster drop to zero instantly when the truck is warm. A quick glance to my edge monitor shows my ECT temp fluctuating wildly (but not stone cold) ranging from 65-190'ish degrees. The weird thing is even when it's showing low on the edge, Gauge showing nothing, it kicks my fan in. I would have thought that shouldn't happen because it's still showing a value ( very low yes) but maybe it pops into limp mode?
I am also having other gremlins like driving along all warmed up, come up to a hill and if I back out of the throttle, boost drops to zero and even with holding the pedal to retain the speed I am at, it just drops speed with no boost.. I then have to stomp on it and the boost will ramp back up. It will show something like 85% VGT but zero boost.. Is it normal to show zero boost with 66% vgt at idle in Park with no boost? Getting all sorts of codes lately. The coolant one is very intermittent (every drive several time but not every minute)..