Chevrolet - Tahoe :: 2005 - Coolant Temp Gauge Went All The Way Down To Nothing - Losing Pressure?
Aug 10, 2013
We have a 2005 Chevy Tahoe. Been running great. Has 140,000 miles on it 80% open road. Couple of weeks ago was highway driving and noticed the coolant temp gauge went all the way down to nothing, and then back up to normal (middle of the dial) This happened 5-6 times and each time as the temp rose back to normal, the transmission would lurch.
I took it to a mechanic who could not figure out what was wrong, but acknowledged it was running terribly. He said that was what he would try before going to a dealer. I agreed and the car instantly seemed to be running perfectly. Now a couple of weeks later, the coolant temp gauge is dropping again. It is not going all the way to nothing, and the transmission is not lurching. It goes down from half to a quarter and then back again. So something still seems to be wrong. Otherwise all seems to be well.
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I have a 2005 Chevy Cobalt, 2.2L engine and am having a few problems. I believe I am losing coolant somewhere, but cannot ever see any leaks or anything on the ground where I park. I am having to top off the reservoir a couple times a month with water/coolant to keep the temperature from going up above normal (which I've found is around 190 degrees). I first noticed this when the temperature had reached 230 degrees! I also hear a sound like sloshing water in the front end when I first start and drive the vehicle. The sloshing usually subsides after I've been driving for several minutes. To top it all off I now have a bit of foam on the oil cap and the oil looks a tad bit cloudy.
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I have been battling this for some time. The check engine light comes after a period of time from reset. I have changed the thermostat, temp sensor, coolant flush and added per MFG.
I am down to clutch fan. The temp gauge sits right at 210.
From what I can tell is the check engine light comes on because the engine reaches operating temp to SLOWLY. Im guessing because the clutch fan is spinning to early in the game.
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I have a 2003 Tahoe that I love but is driving me crazy with a "Reduced Engine Power" message. I am driving along and suddenly it dings at me, the message center says "reduced engine power" and I am losing speed. It goes into a "limp mode" in which I cannot accelerate, it cannot pull itself up a hill, and the engine misses badly. I can pull over, shut it off for a couple of minutes and then start it up and run again just fine until it decides to do it again.
There seems to be no rhyme or reason, one day it did it 4 times w/n the first 20 miles, then ran 100 miles w/o doing it at all. I recently took it on a trip that normally takes me 1 1/2 hours, it took 2 1/4 hrs that day because I had to pull over so many times. I was having to stop every 3-4 miles by the time I got there. My usual mechanic has completely given up, told me to trade it. I have had it to another mechanic for over a month now, 3 times he has thought it was fixed, but it wasn't. One time, I didn't even make it the 5 miles to my house before it acted up again.
One other note on this: this past trip I made, I left early in the morning and my lights were flickering high/low. . . this went on for several miles. Finally my lights quit flickering, then I lost engine power, pulled over, shut it off. When I started it back up, the lights started flickering again. The cycle seemed to continue, once the lights would settle, the engine would lose power. I took it to a parts store and had the battery and alternator checked. They said both were fine. (Had never noticed the light thing before, but I can't think of a recent trip after dark.) How I can pass along to my mechanic?
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My wife has a 2005 Equinox and we discovered an oil residue in the coolant pressure tank. I wanted to diagnose the problem myself and hopefully rule out a blown head gasket. I flushed the system and replaced the hoses that had began to break down. I dove the car for a while and let it sit overnight. Sure enough the oil came back. This time it was blackish put couldn't really tell. The 3400 engine in the Equinox has no pressure on the top of the engine while running so transmission cooler must be the culprit. I ordered a new radiator and the broke one sat in the shop over the weekend and while it was there it drained. The milky fluid leaked out and separated from the coolant. I then knew it was trans fluid because it was red after separating. Changed the radiator and the problem is fixed. One thing I did learn is head gasket doesn't mean engine killer.
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I have a 2012 Crew cab Silverado 5.3 V8 with the towing package. When I pull my travel trailer (approx. 5000 lbs), the water temp stays 1/2 guage and the tranny temp is 170-190, however, on steep hills the water temp guage goes 2/3 to 3/4 guage for a short time and the tranny temp reaches 200-210 degrees. Is the elevated water and tranny temps okay or should I try to reduce them back to the normal range. What is the max temp I should keep the tranny at?
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I bought my 2005 Chevy Tahoe used in December 2010, with about 2200 engine hours and 54,000 miles. It's been a great car - I love it! In January 2012, when the engine had about 3000 hours, it reset to zero! I went to a dealer, they had no explanation. They contacted GM, who had no explanation either, other that to say it couldn't be done. Since I was left with no way to reset the hour log, I made a note of what I thought was the correct amount of hours. Last month, with about 350 hours showing, it reset again to zero!
I'm at a loss to figure this one out, and don't want to waste my time again with the dealer, or GM. Is it possible cold winter weather has anything to do with the on-board computer malfunctioning? Is it possible the odometer was tampered with, before I bought the car? It runs well, but the only thing I've had to deal with is the transmission, which went out two days before Christmas, at about 87,000 miles. $3500 later, we were back up and running.
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I have a 99 S10 4.3 2wd. Last week on a 5-6 mile drive it overheated, and it turns out the coolant was somehow almost a gallon low! I topped it off and all was well for nearly a week. This weekend I was driving and suddenly could smell a strong coolant odor. The temp gauge began to spike and when i pulled over and popped the hood it was clear the coolant was finding its way out but not through the overflow or radiator. When it cooled down and I added water/coolant I could see the coolant coming from the block or near the block. Also, when I let it run for a few minutes i could see the fluid "spraying" out from what appears to be near the pass. side valve cover maybe near the intake manifold...The oil looks good, so I'm not sure it's the head gasket. Not sure where to go with this.
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I noticed when I shut off the truck about 30-40 minutes later I'll open the degas bottle cap and notice there is no pressure.
I used a coolant pressure tester kit and pumped in 16PSI but couldn't hear or find the leak.
I'm going to buy a smoke machine in a month or two but until then, can I still drive the truck ?
I'm guessing it is a pin hole leak somewhere as once I shut the truck off... there is a lot of coolant pressure.
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Coolant temperature gauge bounce up and down.
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I got my car back finally and on the way down the belt way i started sliding around a big turn and I get home to see my temp gauge way up and all the coolant went all over my engine .
I took it to a shop the did pressure test and that was fine, But the also found jell around the thermostat. The other thing they said is that it had air bubbles in it too. They said exhaust bubbles. But when they ran it it didn't heat up any more. They said its the early stages of blown head gasket ..
I took it to the dealer right away and they are telling me they cant find any thing wrong. Both places asked if i put stop leak in there but I never added anything to my car. So I am lost and don't know what to do.
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Lately my engine/coolant temp gauge has been screwing with me. It is either been almost at 190* or dead 90-100*
It seems to go up when in the lower RPM range (idle-2000) and goes down when in the higher range (4000-redline I suppose).
I stayed at or above 4000rpm on my way home from work for 3-4 minutes and it was almost at 90*...went to 5000 for 2 minutes, same thing. I shifted to 6th and it rushes to 190*.
So is my sensor bad or what?
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Got a '98 rodeo 3.2 with 160k. A couple weeks ago when stopping at red lights I noticed the temp gauge creeping up to the hot when stopped. This happened about 4 years ago and I was just low on coolant. I kind of figured that was the problem this time and added coolant. Then I started noticing coolant on the ground dripping from the skid plate a little toward the passenger side. The vehicle is parked on the street in front of my house so the vehicle may lean slightly to the passenger side. This rodeo is only driven during the week and then sits for 2-3 days on the weekend.
Over the last couple weeks I have noticed that it doesn't really leak during the week when it's being driven daily and if it does, it's just a drop or two. Now when it sits for 2-3 days there is a pizza sized leak under the vehicle probably about 18 inches wide. Since the overflow wouldn't hold coolant, I figured that it was cracked or had a leak. I removed the reservoir and didn't find a leak. I seen no evidence of a leak anywhere else, however since it's dripping from the skid plate, I assume that it's leaking on the front side of the engine. What to check. Seems strange that it doesn't really leak when running or hot, only when sitting for a few day.
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I have a 2002 supercrew 5.4 triton. My coolant temp gauge is acting up. When it starts up its obviously in the cold range but when the truck begins to get up to temp, the gauge only goes up 1/4 full. What it can be?
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2003 Pontiac Montana 3.4 L
225000 Kms
Intake Gasket replaced already at 60,000 kms (yes a while ago)
Recently, noticed a major external coolant leak at the front of the motor (passenger side). It only leaks when at operating temperature and under pressure. It does not leak when you first start the engine, it takes a while before it leaks.
I replaced the rad cap, just in case it was faulty. Upon the second test, after getting it running good and hot, it leaked again. But only when at operating temp. It is not overheating.
Problem is, as the coolant is leaking out, the main drive belt is splashing the coolant all over the place and thus I am having a heck of a time pinpointing if it is a head gasket or intake manifold leak or perhaps somewhere else.
I can't take things apart to get a better view, because it needs to be running at operating temp to get the leak. If I pull anything apart for a better view, I won't be able to start the engine to reproduce the leak.
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My 2001 Malibu v-6 temp gauge is not working. I have replaced the temp sending unit and it works for a few weeks unit it goes out. What keeps killing the temp sendor?
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My radiator gave way on the highway, and by the time I noticed it the temp had maxed out the gauge and all the coolent was gone. So, I only have 90k on my '94 Camry and I'm debating whether to tackle repairs and perhaps a rebuild if necessary. What's the likelihood that there's damage to the rings, bore, crank, valves, etc due to the overheat? How much repair am I potentially looking at and what can I check without a tear-down? I'd like to get it running again since I just invested in new struts, brake calipers and MS and tires (not to mention that it has been pretty-much worry-free until now), but I want to know whether it's even worth my while.
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Have a 2000 subaru outback 2.5l, automatic, with about 245k, I replaced the thermostat,water pump, the radiator and the car is still overheating. both fans are working. no leaking coolant. Maybe this is related- over heats mostly when driving on the highway. But if a shift the gear to neutral and coast for a minute the shift back to drive the temperature gauge goes down. Whats wrong, running out money fixing the car, but love it driving it in the snow.
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So a couple weeks back I'm on expressway home and I look down and and temp gauge is pegged out overheating I immediately pulled off and shut it down and towed to a buddy of mine's shop he flushed it filled it up w antifreeze and checked for leaks and couldn't find one. I drove it for about a week and got out to for a quick stop , Ex parked on a slight decline and came out to prolly half gallon of coolant on the ground..I limped it to my buddies shop as it was not running hot .. he has checked it out but can't find any leaks, even after having it run 30 or so minutes..
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My friend has an 08 4.6. He has replaced the thermostat with 3 different ones all with different temps, still nothing. Temp gauge reads normal but after driving it for a bit he can take off the radiator cap while it's running and not get sprayed in the face with coolant, almost like there is no pressure in the system.
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I have a 95 s10 4.3L V6 auto with 92k miles.
This all started when one day on my way to work the temp gauge got to 260 then quickly fell. It has not gotten that hot since then.
When I start the truck cold and start driving, the gauge climbs to about 215-230 within 10 minutes of driving. Once the gauge hits what ever is the magic mark for the day it quickly falls (10 seconds or less) to about 170-180. Sometimes it will "cycle" up again to 200 or so then fall back to 170-180. Once it is done moving around it stays low and will not move much as I am driving.
I bought an IR thermometer and measured the temperature at various points in the cooling system. The top of the thermostat housing is about 195 or 200 right after it climbs and drops. If I drive for a while around town then check it, the housing reads hotter, about 220 max.
There does not seem to be enough temperature drop across the radiator, I have measured about 15 degrees difference max between the hoses and on some days only 10 degrees difference.
I have replaced the fan clutch (was bad or going bad), the thermostat, and the radiator cap.
After none of this fixed it, I took it to a mechanic who did a "block test" at my request and said it was fine. He thought what it was doing, climbing and falling was normal.
If I run it without the radiator cap on I do not see much if any flow when I look down into the radiator.
Right now I am thinking of doing the water pump and flushing the radiator this weekend.
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