overheating or bad temp sensor?
08-25-2011, 05:01 PM
#1
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overheating or bad temp sensor? About 10 mins ago I was on my way home when suddenly the check gauges light came on. My temp gauge was up high, but not quite into the red yet. I turned the heat and fan on high immediately and within 15-20 seconds it was back to normal (still driving, nowhere to pull over).
I was moving between 30 and 50 on that stretch, ac off, windows down, radio off, nothing out of the ordinary. When I got home I looked under the hood, no signs of leaks, oil seemed fine, nothing was blocking the radiator and the plastic deflector was still attached. I did not check the coolant as the motor is still hot.
Has anyone else had this happen, and what was the culprit? I see no indications of the head gaskets leaking either.
I was moving between 30 and 50 on that stretch, ac off, windows down, radio off, nothing out of the ordinary. When I got home I looked under the hood, no signs of leaks, oil seemed fine, nothing was blocking the radiator and the plastic deflector was still attached. I did not check the coolant as the motor is still hot.
Has anyone else had this happen, and what was the culprit? I see no indications of the head gaskets leaking either.
08-25-2011, 05:17 PM
#2
Either the coolant temp sensor is on its way out...and you really never were running hot.......Or there's suddenly a relationship between the A/C controls and the sensor.
The temp cannot be "almost" touching the red zone and then be back to normal in just 15-20 seconds. It would take allot longer than that. When a coolant temp sensor starts to fail it will move much faster left and right then normal.
Next time it happens.....pull over immediately and see if the engine is actually getting hot. The test is: If you can keep your hand on top of the intake, YOU ARE NOT actually getting hot. If you can only keep your hand there for a couple seconds, then you are running hot.
Also, if your A/C was off, and you were just steadily cruising....the fans should have been off, so I wouldn't suspect them right now.
First see if you're actually getting hot. Your year F-Body can still run with a failing or failed temp sensor.......my 1998 will not run hardly at all if that sensor is on the fritz.
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The temp cannot be "almost" touching the red zone and then be back to normal in just 15-20 seconds. It would take allot longer than that. When a coolant temp sensor starts to fail it will move much faster left and right then normal.
Next time it happens.....pull over immediately and see if the engine is actually getting hot. The test is: If you can keep your hand on top of the intake, YOU ARE NOT actually getting hot. If you can only keep your hand there for a couple seconds, then you are running hot.
Also, if your A/C was off, and you were just steadily cruising....the fans should have been off, so I wouldn't suspect them right now.
First see if you're actually getting hot. Your year F-Body can still run with a failing or failed temp sensor.......my 1998 will not run hardly at all if that sensor is on the fritz.
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08-25-2011, 06:10 PM
#3
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cool beans, I'll be sure to test that next time.
I blasted the heat as soon as I noticed the temps reading high to use the heater core as a secondary radiator. I immediately saw the needle start to slowly come down, and was back to normal operational temps on the factory gauges in about 20 seconds. The check gauges light went off as soon as the needle started dropping. During that time, I was rolling down the road at about 35mph looking for a place to pull over since there was no shoulder.
I turned the heat off and continued the last half mile home, at one point driving up a decent sized hill to get to my neighborhood, and saw no more issues. I'm hoping it was just a freak occurrence, but second to that, just a dying temp sensor.
I blasted the heat as soon as I noticed the temps reading high to use the heater core as a secondary radiator. I immediately saw the needle start to slowly come down, and was back to normal operational temps on the factory gauges in about 20 seconds. The check gauges light went off as soon as the needle started dropping. During that time, I was rolling down the road at about 35mph looking for a place to pull over since there was no shoulder.
I turned the heat off and continued the last half mile home, at one point driving up a decent sized hill to get to my neighborhood, and saw no more issues. I'm hoping it was just a freak occurrence, but second to that, just a dying temp sensor.
08-25-2011, 06:16 PM
#4
cool beans, I'll be sure to test that next time.
I blasted the heat as soon as I noticed the temps reading high to use the heater core as a secondary radiator. I immediately saw the needle start to slowly come down, and was back to normal operational temps on the factory gauges in about 20 seconds. The check gauges light went off as soon as the needle started dropping. During that time, I was rolling down the road at about 35mph looking for a place to pull over since there was no shoulder.
I turned the heat off and continued the last half mile home, at one point driving up a decent sized hill to get to my neighborhood, and saw no more issues. I'm hoping it was just a freak occurrence, but second to that, just a dying temp sensor.
I blasted the heat as soon as I noticed the temps reading high to use the heater core as a secondary radiator. I immediately saw the needle start to slowly come down, and was back to normal operational temps on the factory gauges in about 20 seconds. The check gauges light went off as soon as the needle started dropping. During that time, I was rolling down the road at about 35mph looking for a place to pull over since there was no shoulder.
I turned the heat off and continued the last half mile home, at one point driving up a decent sized hill to get to my neighborhood, and saw no more issues. I'm hoping it was just a freak occurrence, but second to that, just a dying temp sensor.
.
08-25-2011, 06:38 PM
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IN my experience buy you a infared heat gun there not to much. You can eliminate alot with one of these. Maybe like stated above, sticking T stat. It's not good on a older engine to run hot, i've seen numberous engines pop heads gaskets.
