imported_EscaBoi

Hey guys, I'm hoping someone can help me out on possibly figuring out what the problem might be.

Tonight I was going through a Wendy's drive through, and as I stopped to place an order, I noticed that my temp gauge suddenly went above the red line. I usually look at my cluster from side to side when driving and did not notice the temperature gradually moving up. It was as if it just went up as I was idling and waiting in the drive thru.

I popped up the hood and the coolant was still full. Any ideas?

I should also say, this happened about 4 weeks ago too, but the coolant was empty. So I just put coolant into the car and it seemed to have fixed the problem, until now i guess. I left the car running and waited for the radiator fan to come on before driving again.
Oh and the engine light didn't come on either, both times.
I'm not too keen on all the terms and techno stuff, as i'm still learning. Thanks

gladiator

if you don't have an obvious leak then it sounds like your head gasket is gone. you should get it checked asap.

Bryce

It would also make sense that your car is overheating at a standstill (on drive-thru) When your driving theres air going through your rad therefore it cools down much quicker... so it does sound like your headgasket.

imported_Cablerat

Is the guage went all the way to redline, the rad fan should have come on right away. That guage is connected to the coolant temp sensor. So, if your guage went to redline and then couple of minutes later the fan came on, that means the car was actually overheating.

You may have a problem with the guage. It's hard to tell. You need to take notice of the guage at all times. See if it jumps literally instantly, does it fluctuate temp a lot, etc. Once a car is warmed up, the temp guage should never move past regular operating temp.

imported_EscaBoi

the temperature is almost always in the middle and the 2 times that it went up, the gauge went up instantly past the redline.

i can't remember if the fan came on cuz i just panicked when it overheated and shut the car down.

I'll get it checked tho to see if it's the head gasket.

Thanks

imported_EscaBoi

Ok, the engine temperature began to rise past normal again yesterday, TWICE!
once was when i was just slowly driving through a parking lot and the other time was when I was in traffic. When I was in traffic and began to move, the temperature began to go back down to normal, but would go back up once i was at a stop.

This morning I let the car run for 15 minutes and during that time the radiator fan did not come on.

The coolant level was fine and there were no leaks under the car.

could it be the radiator??
I won't be able to get the car checked out until Tuesday and I'm gonna need it for work this weekend... would it still be safe to drive it??

imported_legend

if you really need to drive it, just turn on the heater to full blast when ever the temp goes up that'll help cool it down a bit.

imported_EscaBoi

my climate control doesn't work i'm in the process of picking one up next week

LEITNER

its the fan. you said it didnt come on.

WayFastWhitie

If your fan dosent come on, then that would be the issue, if you think you can handle it re-wire the fan to ignition power so it comes on with the Key in position II. This should help it.

Definatley sounds like a fan issue my friend, in traffic and driving slowly would do it! Goodluck

imported_EscaBoi

no idea how to do that, but thanks

would it still be safe to drive if the rad fan doesn't work so long as the temperature gauge doesn't go past normal?

imported_Cablerat

Yeah you can drive the car without the fan as long as your operating temp doesn't get too high.

From the sounds of it, your fan not coming on when required is the problem. However if your fan is working like normal then, it could also be a worn down radiator.

I want you to manually hard wire the fan to the battery and make sure it comes on everytime you touch the battery. Then i want you to test the fan relay to by providing the trigger voltage and see if you hear the click. I suspect that the relay is not closing.

In the end, don't have your fan running 24-7 with a switch or hardwired to ignition cuz that's not a proper fix. In the winter @ -20 your fan will be screaming cuz the bearings are frozen and you'll end up ruining it..

imported_jdm ek4

Same symptoms i had when my headgasket went. Check if the rad has antifreeze too as well as your resevior.