After driving my car for awhile i felt the lower radiator hose and it felt cold, also like there wasnt anything in it.The top one was hot. My car doesnt overheat (stays a little below the half way mark after warmed up). Also my fan doesnt come on at all. The thermostat and waterpump are only about a year old and there are no coolant leaks. Any ideas?

 

ohh yea and my radiator is only like a year and 1/2 old

 

That's how mine is too in the winter. The T-stat is not or only partially opening...because it doesn't need any cooler coolant - therefore not much is circulating through the radiator. Don't be concerned - unless it is still doing that when it's warmer out.

 

Don't worry about the car staying cool until it gets warmer? That's sounds like the wrong answer to me. Let the car warm up to operating temperature. If the hose never gets hot then you <U>need</U> to replace the thermostat.

 

Not always. In a few minutes I'm going to drive about 15 mi and I garantee when I get to my destination the lower rad hose will be cold. And, no, I don't need a new T-stat.

Your are right though, there is a definet possibility that he needs a new T-stat. I should have said that in my first post.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Boostin_GSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Don't worry about the car staying cool until it gets warmer?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Where did I say that?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mcvtec &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That's how mine is too in the winter. The T-stat is not or only partially opening...because it doesn't need any cooler coolant - therefore not much is circulating through the radiator. Don't be concerned - unless it is still doing that when it's warmer out.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

Just drove 16.3 mi, lower rad hose is cool to the touch, but not as cold as the ambient air temp.

Why? The radiator is doing it's job. 33 degree air is rapidly cooling the coolant, T-stat is only partially open because the engine doesn't need much to stay at operating temp.

 

hmm.. well i replaced my thermostat like a year and half ago. I did have to flush out the radiator a lot though cus there was old dried up coolant in some of the coolant lines on the motor, could there be more of that stuff maybe cloggin the system?

 

bump, ne ideas?

 

like previous replies...i would start with the theromstat. I would also flush out the cooling system again and make sure the radiator is not clogged. even though the thermostat might be only a year old it can still go bad within that time...never assume that even a year old part can not go bad.