Overheating question

[Fluxn83]

Over the weekend, I drove with a friend, and noticed the temperature gauge was climbing quite a bit. At the 220 mark, I heard the radiator fans click on, then a few seconds later go out. Soon, the gauge reached the first orange dial above 220, and I immediately pulled over and shut off the car before it went any higher. No smoke or radiator cap popping, and I let the car cool down before attempting another drive.

I attempted to limp it to my mechanics shop, but when the gauge reached 220, I would be looking for a safe place to pull off and manage to shut off my car just before or right at the first orange dial. After a few repeats, I realized it was futile and had a tow truck bring it to the shop. Taking it off the flatbed, the car started up and drove fine, no smoke or radiator cap popping, no funny noises or leaks. The reservoir still had plenty of coolant in it.

Do you all think there is possible engine damage or did I dodge a bullet here? I had the otterstat and hoses replaced recently. What do you all think the ultimate problem could be? Thank you all!

[kings1527]

Over the weekend, I drove with a friend, and noticed the temperature gauge was climbing quite a bit. At the 220 mark, I heard the radiator fans click on, then a few seconds later go out. Soon, the gauge reached the first orange dial above 220, and I immediately pulled over and shut off the car before it went any higher. No smoke or radiator cap popping, and I let the car cool down before attempting another drive.

I attempted to limp it to my mechanics shop, but when the gauge reached 220, I would be looking for a safe place to pull off and manage to shut off my car just before or right at the first orange dial. After a few repeats, I realized it was futile and had a tow truck bring it to the shop. Taking it off the flatbed, the car started up and drove fine, no smoke or radiator cap popping, no funny noises or leaks. The reservoir still had plenty of coolant in it.

Do you all think there is possible engine damage or did I dodge a bullet here? I had the otterstat and hoses replaced recently. What do you all think the ultimate problem could be? Thank you all!

I'm thinking you did the extremely smart thing by not driving it past the first orange hash mark and overheating the car. I doubt you did any damage to it because of that. A few questions/points:

1) you mentioned you just had work done on it. Are you sure they bled the system 100%?
2) I have to assume you no longer have the OEM fan fail (blue) in the socket? Do you have the fusible link or an aftermarket module? Not really thinking there's a problem there since the fans actually did come on but it's worth checking.
3) There's a cooling fan relay #26 right next to the fan fail. Simple to replace if it's original.
4) Do the fans come on when you turn on Max AC? If they do, then you have power to the fans and both fans are actually functional.

The first place I'd start would be making sure the system was bled completely. It's more difficult to do if you have the OEM setup rather than an aftermarket bleeder and therefore easier to not bleed completely.

[Fluxn83]

I'm thinking you did the extremely smart thing by not driving it past the first orange hash mark and overheating the car. I doubt you did any damage to it because of that. A few questions/points:

1) you mentioned you just had work done on it. Are you sure they bled the system 100%?
2) I have to assume you no longer have the OEM fan fail (blue) in the socket? Do you have the fusible link or an aftermarket module? Not really thinking there's a problem there since the fans actually did come on but it's worth checking.
3) There's a cooling fan relay #26 right next to the fan fail. Simple to replace if it's original.
4) Do the fans come on when you turn on Max AC? If they do, then you have power to the fans and both fans are actually functional.

The first place I'd start would be making sure the system was bled completely. It's more difficult to do if you have the OEM setup rather than an aftermarket bleeder and therefore easier to not bleed completely.

Thanks for the quick response.

1. I'm very sure they did, because I sent them the bleeding tutorial when the work was done about two and half months ago and I experienced no problems until this past Saturday.
2. Not sure, my mechanics have the car now. I can ask them to look for it.
3. I'll let them know of that as well.
4. I turned the regular AC on to its max (setting 4), but not the setting that said maximum (sounds weird, I apologize).

Thanks again!

[kings1527]

Thanks for the quick response.

1. I'm very sure they did, because I sent them the bleeding tutorial when the work was done about two and half months ago and I experienced no problems until this past Saturday.
2. Not sure, my mechanics have the car now. I can ask them to look for it.
3. I'll let them know of that as well.
4. I turned the regular AC on to its max (setting 4), but not the setting that said maximum (sounds weird, I apologize).

Thanks again!

Relays and Fuses.pdf

Here's a relay map to help you with things.

The reason for turning on the AC to Max (not fan speed 4, but to Max on the mode switch) is to ensure that the fans do come on. Have them check that out and see if the fans come on. They're supposed to when the AC is switched to Max. It helps troubleshoot power to the fans.

If the fans were coming on for two and a half months, then yeah I'd say the system was bled correctly. I'd start looking into the relay compartment and make sure the OEM blue fan fail isn't in there and also the fan relay. You might want to invest in a fan sequencer from DMC Midwest. This take the place of both the fan fail module and fan relay. Highly recommend.

[Fluxn83]

Relays and Fuses.pdf

Here's a relay map to help you with things.

The reason for turning on the AC to Max (not fan speed 4, but to Max on the mode switch) is to ensure that the fans do come on. Have them check that out and see if the fans come on. They're supposed to when the AC is switched to Max. It helps troubleshoot power to the fans.

If the fans were coming on for two and a half months, then yeah I'd say the system was bled correctly. I'd start looking into the relay compartment and make sure the OEM blue fan fail isn't in there and also the fan relay. You might want to invest in a fan sequencer from DMC Midwest. This take the place of both the fan fail module and fan relay. Highly recommend.

Interesting. Is it a difficult installation, this fan sequencer?

[kings1527]

Interesting. Is it a difficult installation, this fan sequencer?

Not at all. Plug and play within the relay compartment behind the passenger's seat under the rear deck. Takes two minutes from start to finish.

[Fluxn83]

Not at all. Plug and play within the relay compartment behind the passenger's seat under the rear deck. Takes two minutes from start to finish.

Thank you so much for the advice and the diagram. I really appreciate it!

[sdg3205]

My bet is you have low coolant or air in the system, or both. A slow leak can sneak up on you and drain enough coolant to cause an issue.

[DMCVegas]

First things first:
As long as the screen inside of your oil filler neck is intact, your engine is probably fine. Pressure test the cooling system to verify it doesn't leak to ensure your engine and other cooling components are fine.

If you've bled your cooling system out, it's probably ok. My guess is that you've got an electrical issue here.

220°F is a perfectly normal operating temperature for a car. Creeping up to the orange line isn't good, no, and I will share in the opinion that shutting the car down before you reached it was wise. However, there is something that should be known about car operating temperatures.

First of all, yes, we all know that water boils at 212°F. However, that is within a specific set of controlled conditions: First off is that is referring to fresh water, which is opened and not pressurized/contained. Same with freezing. Fresh water for instance freezes @ 32°F but salt water freezes at about 28°F. That of course is because once you start changing the composition of water, you change it's properties. Why else do you think we use road salt to get rid of ice?

Second, when you contain water, you also change it's boiling and freezing properties as well. If water cannot expand, then it cannot change into as gaseous state when heated (steam), so it's boiling point is much higher. And if it cannot expand to form ice crystals as easily, well, it cant freeze either.

Here'a a typical label off a bottle of antifreeze. Take a look at the temperatures for freezing and boiling:



As you can see, with the correct 50/50 mixture as recommended for our cars (and really, almost every car operating in normal temperatures), the freezing point is -34°F (that's negative), and the boiling point is 265°F. Those numbers are allot different than then normal boiling and freezing points of just regular water. And that's because the water has had it's chemical composition changed by the antifreeze additive creating the solution we refer to as "coolant", and the system is sealed off and pressurized which combined create these new freezing and boiling points.

Now auto manufactures know that almost all people have no clue about this. So that's why most stopped writing temperature numbers on their gauges, and just left us with "C" & "H" with corresponding blue and red swatches.

[Bitsyncmaster]

I would say if your cooling fans are not working, you should try the AC to see if that will keep them on. You can pull the compressor clutch wire off so your fans keep running and your not adding more heat to the cooling system. But if your problem is a bad otterstat or diode connection your engine should keep cool with the AC running and the cooling fans running.

You don't have to set MAX AC or even run the blower if you pull the compressor clutch wire.