i was in traffic today and my car hit just below 3/4 mark on the temp guage. I was in traffic when it went up. as soon as i started to move it went back to normal. When i sat in traffic again it went up again after a bit. what the hell??? could i have air in my system maybe cause i just replaced a heater hose and water neck gasket.


Also my cluster lights dim when i am below 3500 rpms, but as soon as i hit 3500 lights go bright. Goes back dim when it goes below 3500 rpm. i also seem to be losing power down below that. i already got the battery and altenator checked at advance and both are good.

 

sounds like your fans not working.

 

thats what i thought too...but why does it only take 3 secs of driving to bring it back to normal temps?

 

did you check your fan, fuses relay??? It makes common sense that if you stop and no wind is blowing through the radiator to cool it and it gets hot, and then you drive and air is moving through it to cool it and the temp goes down that the fan just might likely be the problem. If not let us know and we can go from there, but check the simple common sense stuff first.

 

I agree that your radiator fan is probably not running. Check the coolant temperature switch on the thermostat housing, the fan relay in the hood fuse box, and the fan motor itself.

For the light dimming, it sure sounds like a bad alternator. Check the wires and connectors for corrosion. Also check for a blown alternator fuse.

 

ill recheck the fan later...but it was workign earlier int eh day when i was bleedng the system.

i already checked teh altenator....but it could be corrosion illl clean up all th econnections later.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by The Lobster &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ill recheck the fan later...but it was workign earlier int eh day when i was bleedng the system.

i already checked teh altenator....but it could be corrosion illl clean up all th econnections later.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i highly doubt it is your fan, but i can understand how people would automaticlly jump to that one.

chances are you have air in the system after replacing the parts.bleed out the air then go from there.

as for your alternator, check all the connection. if all checks out take it to a parts store and have them test it (while still in the car).

 

ya i am thinkign its air its just weird how fast it cools down. takes literally 3 seconds of moving to bring ti back to normal temps.

i already went to advance to check teh altenator and battery and both were good.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by The Lobster &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ya i am thinkign its air its just weird how fast it cools down. takes literally 3 seconds of moving to bring ti back to normal temps.

i already went to advance to check teh altenator and battery and both were good.</TD></TR></TABLE>

double check for corrosion around the battery, ground cables, and alternator cables.

as for the coolant, yeah if you have air it's probably at a minimal. it doesn't take long because when at a stand still not enough coolant is being circulated. once you start driving parts are being moved faster (pump) and more coolant is being circulated.

just let the car cool down, open the radiator cap, start the car and add coolant until the radiator is capped off.

 

had an identical overhating problem on my friends 97 lx fixed it by checking the coolant level and adding some coolant hope u figure it out and if ur stuck in traffic turn the heat on full blast to bring the temp down real quick

 

i guess i did have air in my system thought i bled it pretty well so thats solved.

i cleaned off my positive side on my battery still lights dim. going to try to clean the other connections tomarrow.