Temperature raises high during short distance drives WHY???

[Blue Jay]

Well, everyone else has chimed in here, so why not me as well, I am after all, one of the old guys ;) .

Like it has been said before, it sounds to me like you simply have a sticking thermostat, especially if it only happens every couple of days. Take the thermostat out, and stick it in a pan full of water. Bring the water up to a boil and see when and if the thermo opens up at the right temp. If it doesn't, you just found your problem, if not, keep doing diognostics until you find the problem.

[Swata]

Had had that problem to about a year ago, checked all of the fluid levels and everthing was okay.. so a couple of days later I poped my head unded the front of the car and guess what, a paper bag stuck to the front of the radiator... [img]graemlins/dunce.gif[/img]

N/P since then.... Every so often I will check just for the heck of it. You never know what might have blown up there.... [img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[fozzy72]

Ok don't waste gas bye turning on the car and waiting for the fan to come on... turn on the car and turn the air conditionor to max the fan will turn on... If it takes a while check conections... If you want becuase the fan doesn't come on then you can let it heat up if you want.... Even If your hoses might look good or new take them off one at a time and check the inside... or check for bubbles in the hose... Worn hoses cause heating problems... First thing to check before even thinking about changing you therm.. go to checkers auto zone or some type of car parts place near you... They most of the time have a gauge that can check your radiator cap... make sure the cap is on there right.. and check your over flow... These are just things to check... And one more check your belt in the inside see if there are no warn spots.... bad belt will start sliping...

[TTA 1387]

My guess would be:
thermostat
fan
bag stuffed in front of radiator
air deflector gone

[nofear_102]

TTA, I don't think that would explain the fluid loss. I'm just chiming in because I to had/have this problem. No visable leaks, but constant fluid loss, only when its warm though. I was fine through the winter.

Any way, my short term fix was to refill it, and put prestone leak crap in their. Well, after checking yesturday, its still leaking.

[SexyFirebirdMama]

WEll, my dad changed the thermostate, so we'll see, if that does it. My dad seems to think some of my gauges are off. For example, my gas was one crazy, because it was was sitting on E (it was really empty, shaking because it was running out of gas) and we filled it up with only 6 GALLONS and the guage read "FULL". It stayed there until I drove the car two days. That's not the first time for that, i've just looked passed that. So, my dad might think the gauges are all screwed up. IS that likely??

Audrey

[Blue Jay]

As far as the fuel gauge is concerend, the tank in a f-body is in a V shape, so the gauge doesn't actually read the true value in the tank. When the tank is half full, it actually reads 3/4 of a tank. And when it reads 1/4 tank there is about a gallon left. That is normal.

[John_D.]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by SexyFirebirdMama:
Yes, it gets hot on stop and go short distances, especially when I gun it and take off and speed and then come to a fast stop. But like I said, it only occurs a few nights when I do it<hr></blockquote>

This symptom usually points to an airflow problem. Slow speeds, stop & go, idling in traffic, all these don't move enough air through the radiator to cool the hot coolant. Could be the fan, could be some kind of blockage (bag, CAI, etc...)

It could possibly be a thermostat. If the thermostat lets some water flow, but not much. Then even with barely adequate air flow (fans) it can overheat, but still cool down when you have more than adequate air flow (highway speed forcing air through).

The other symptom, missing coolant, gives it a whole different twist. The overheating could be forcing the coolant out through the overflow. Or the low coolant could be causing the overheating.

I think everyone has mentioned the most typical ways you can loose coolant. When the bearings are going out in the water pump, coolant will get past them and run out, through the weep hole in the bottom of the pump. If a head gasket is leaking, you may get water in the oil, you may not. You may just be burning the water, if it leaks into the cylinder but not into the oil drainback passages from the heads. If the heater core is leaking, you'll notice an odd smell inside the car, and the windows will tend to fog up very easily (at least the old green antifreeze would do that, not sure about the new orange stuff). Other than that, it would be a hose leaking somewhere.

[Jeff Pristelski]

Well, on our cars, the fan should turn on around 215 degrees, so the fact that your car isn't going to much higher than that is a good thing. It means everything is working...

Your car should only reach that high in stop and go traffic... If so, thats completely normal, if not get your coolant system flushed

Considering you're in texas though, I would also go with a cooler stat...

[bubba]

its normal to run at 220 just dont let it go over. our car depend on an air dam to cool it down. if you dont go fast enough air cant be push up so it gets hot. Mine does it all the time even at night. its from being at idle to long an not getting fast enough for the air dam to function properly. If you want to get something get a fan switch are a 180 thermo. dont get a 160* it can cause more problems over time than it could help.