F Series :: 1998 F150 - Temperature Gauge Went Up Then Immediately Fell Back Down To Normal
Feb 14, 2013
I have a 98 f150(4.6 V8) that has 'seemingly' overheated for about 5 seconds twice in the last month. I noticed the temperature gauge went all the way up after about 1 mile of travel, then it immediately fell back down to normal. The truck has 198k miles.
I flushed out the system using a Peak Flushing Tee, replaced the thermostat with spring facing the engine block, and refilled the system.
I haven't had another overheating instance but I am having problems with my heater....the truck seems to warm up fine and the heat starts off working well. The temperature gauge reads normal for a few minutes then drops and I lose the heat. The truck blows cool air for a while, then will start blocking hot air again.
I believe the water pump has been replaced fairly recently...the pulley has no slack and I don't see any leaks or wetness around the pump or its weep-hole.
I read it could be a blend door or blend door actuator. I don't hear any funny clicking and obviously get some heat.
Should I try another new thermostat? Intermittent water pump problems?
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1998 Honda Civic EX. This has been a great car and have got a ton of good miles on it. The problem that I am having now is with the temperature gauge. The measurement is completely all over the place while driving. While moving around town, the gauge shows the temperature VERY hot. As soon as I reach a consistent speed, the temperature drops back to normal (moves very erratically!). The gauge seems to get even hotter while idling. Another issue (may or may not be related) is the heat coming out of the vents is only working while the car is in motion. While stopped, it pumps out cold air. The temperature immediately changes when I get going again. Both problems seem to be getting worse. The car has coolant, and all other levels of fluids are normal.
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For reasons I can't figure, the Temp gauge on the wife's Explorer is shooting from normal to high in just seconds. Then, it drops back to normal. When I looked at it this afternoon, I noted 2 things.
1) There was no sign of a coolant leak or overheating.
2) There wasn't ANY coolant in the tank!!!!!!!
The truck has evidently been running fine while this is going on.
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I have 1999 Honda Accord LX, 185000 mile, with 4 cylinders. Starts one month ago, the speedometer drop to zero randomly and immediately come back to normal on highway several times. Recently, car stops twice on street. Dashboard panel had no power. It seems electricity shuts off. I turn the key to OFF and turn the key to ON immediately then the car starts OK. The ignition switch was changed since there was a recall for it. What is wrong with my car?
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Just wondering if this is anything to be concerned about. I have a 2006 Saturn Vue. It has just over 80,000 miles on it. The temperature gauge has always registered just below the "second mark" once the car is warm. As of last week, the gauge is now registering slightly past the "second mark." So, higher. It is no where near the "red" zone, and nothing seems to be wrong, but it has me concerned. I took it in for service and they said "it is still well within the normal range, don't worry about it." But I think something made the gauge go higher, and I am concerned about a problem lurking. Am I being a Nervous Nellie? I love my Vue and want to take good care of it.
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1996 Miata. The hood of my car is so hot that you could fry an egg on it. The hood is so hot that you can not put your hand on it. The heat actually comes through and can be felt on the legs of the person in the passenger seat. The temperature gauge reads normal. This began recently. I took it to the Mazda dealer who said it was normal?
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I have never seen any of my other cars do this and I just want to see if this is normal. It happens like clockwork every time I get in the car with a cold engine. I let the car sit while the RPMs are high and as soon as the tach drops I start to drive the car softly. The engine temp gauge reaches normal operating temp in a normal amount of time, it does not just jump to the middle. But after about 1 minute it just starts falling quite quickly, as you can see in the video. It's very predictable - happens every time I drive it so it was easy to catch on video. I don't notice any difference in engine performance. Is this normal for a VW GTI or is something wacky going on?
You can skip to 19-20 seconds in the video to see the needle drop.
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Have a 2001 Subaru Legacy GT, 5 speed manual, 194,000 miles.
A few months ago, I started noticing that my cooling fans are running more often. Even when it is cold out and the temperature gauge was at normal temperature. The fans would turn on, and just keep running. Obviously, they would turn off when I shut the car off, but if the car is on, they will stay on. However, I found a trick to get them to turn off. If I am in neutral, and I race the engine up to around 3000 RPM's or so for about 10 seconds, and let it come back down to idle speed, the fans are now off. Works almost every time, not just a coincidence.
I know my car, and this has never done this before. I know it is not normal. I have replaced the following- thermostat, coolant temperature sensor, flushed the system, changed the fan relays, and most recently, I put a brand new Subaru radiator in. All of this, and the issue is still there. I am beginning to wonder if it is the water pump. Coolant not circulating fast enough, so the fans come on to cool down, but when I race the engine, the water pump works harder circulating coolant faster? Also recently, the temp gauge starts to climb going up long steep grades. If I pull over and race the engine, the temp gauge drops almost immediately back to normal. The pump is not leaking or making any noise, so I'm not sure if it could go bad any other way.
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About 4500 miles ago, I had the timing belt, water pump, thermostat, and all the accessory belts replaced and now, the water temp gauge sometimes rises rapidly from "normal" all the way to the "red" and back within about 15 seconds! This is on a 2006 Elantra GT
Should I replace the "coolant temp sensor" or do I have a real problem that needs repair?
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So my understanding is the water temp gauge at 200 degrees is pretty much spot on. The last three days I notice the temp gauge go to 200 then up to 240 which is like just one line away from the red zone. I turned on my heat full blast and was on the tollway and the temps went back to 200. The moment I got back into stop and go traffic the temp goes up again 220-240 range. Again, one line away from the red zone. No other alarms or dash messages come up. No smell of anti-freeze.
As well, the oil temp which was always at 200 has done the same thing. Running over 200 in the 220 plus range. Could this just be low anti-freeze? If so, would I not get a dash warning light?
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Got a 1986 Ranger 2.3 EFI 5 speed that I have owned since it was almost new and will never let it go. 290,000 mls and still running strong "except". Noticed the last couple of months that when I start it cold it fires right off. If I start it hot it always takes 3 tries and always goes on the third try except....on occasion it will not start at all. It is random and after I let it cool a bit (about 30 min) it will start. Over the years I have replace many of the fuel system components (fuel tank pump, high press. pump, inline filter and canister filter, fuel press regulator) but wondering what else might be the problem.
I put a pressure tester on it the other day and when I selected the key to start the pump would spool up to build pressure and shut off. The press gauge would register that but the pressure would immediately go back to zero. After start up it would hold a constant 30psi at all rpm,s. Shut the engine off and pressure drops right down to zero. Shouldn't the system hold pressure for at least a while after shut down? Could this be the problem with my sluggish starts? What would be the normal fuel pressure? Can't seem to find it in my Haynes manual. Once running it runs great.
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I finally got my 20th to run right. But now and ever since I bought it the gas needle keeps going down and back to normal every time i make a sudden move or go through a bump. What could be causing it?
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The needle is moving up and then back down. This mostly happens while at a stop and simultaneously the ac compressor kicks off.
Recently new radiator and temp gauge, plus coolant flush.
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I have had my 1998 Honda Civic for about 5 years now... I bought it used. Occasionally I have noticed my oil levels have been low every 2 months or so. Oil is not being burned and doesn't leak. It hasn't affected performance from what I can tell. I have basically monitored the levels and everything has been fine. There was also an electrical issue since I have had it.
About 8 or 9 months ago, I noticed the temperature gauge was basically in the red while driving. I pulled over and noticed the oil was reading empty. I put oil in it and took it to the shop the next day. They told me the head gasket was bad and that the oil and coolant were mixing and recommended I replace the engine. I asked them how long I could manage before the car quit entirely and he said maybe a month, two if I kept doing oil changes.
I put the heat on while driving it, and the temp was normal. I took it to another shop the same week. They couldn't get it to overheat for a couple hours. The guy told me it was probably the fan but wouldn't know unless he could see it overheat. He said the fan would cause it to overheat at stoplights when there wasn't air on the engine. When the car gets hot, it doesn't get worse at stoplights and is only after I've been driving like 20 minutes that it heats up. I asked that he call me as soon as he knew what it was and I would decide whether I wanted it fixed that day or not. Then I didn't get a call for awhile, and when I called them, they said the guy was out getting the part. I felt like they were rushing so I would replace the fan. I asked if it was the head gasket because I didn't want to fix a fan if the engine needed to be replaced. They said it was not. I didn't replace the fan. They also told my husband that we could save wear and tear on the engine by putting the air conditioning on instead of the heater. When we do this, it overheats. Its only when the heater is on that the temp stays normal.
I have been driving the car for 8 or 9 months now with the heater on with no performance issues. It doesn't overheat and even when I forget to put the heat on it goes up to the red, but doesn't "overheat" with the steam and whatnot. It doesn't seem to do anything to affect the performance of the car. We have replaced the radiator cap, which had pieces falling off, and it didn't work. The check engine light came on yesterday and the code indicated something to do with the transmission.
We took it to a third mechanic today and he said I needed a new thermostat... I do not see any sort of film in the oil. We just flushed the coolant today and there was no sign of oil. I'm totally lost on what to do. I feel like the mechanics have lied to me about what was going on. They contradict each other and the little things they told me don't seem to be the case or don't work.
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I have a 2011 xlt extended cab with a 2.3l 4 cylinder. The truck is great... I put 120,000 miles on it in under a year.
But about a month ago the temperature gauge started malfunctioning. for what ever reason -- the truck is NOT over heating-- the gauge would increase past the "H" and then the temperature light would come on. Because the truck thinks it's overheating -- the engine goes into a "safe mode" and runs with no power. When i shut the motor off and turn it back on temperature gauge resets and the truck will run fine.
Then in another 50 or 100 miles it will do it again. Why is it doing this? I took it to the dealer here in Columbus, Ohio and the mechanic installed a new thermostat and a new "control modulator" (and a part -- not really sure what it is called) anyway, the truck is doing the same thing and the mechanic still does not know
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My 1994 honda accord station wagons cooling fan is working but the temp gauge still goes all the way up then back to normal numerous times while driving.. I park on the side of the road while the car is on, pop the hood to check and see any signs of over heating but the motor seems to be normal.. What could be happening??
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1997 Nissan pickup 2.4 liter auto.gas gauge drop to all most empty when driving.then i can hit a bump in the road and it will go back to normal.
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I have a 2001 ford ranger xlt 2.3L and the temperature gauge has been staying a cold. And my heat doesnt heat well. I'm guessing I need to replace the thermostat. Before I do that could it be anything else?
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today my 98 ranger 4.0 would love to have cruise control once again .
I have checked the obvious , fuses connectors etc. I know on my f250 they had an issue with the pressure sensor mounted on the brake master cylinder leaking , I did check that and not leaking yet . I can't even get the system to turn on. So my question to to the forum , is there a common issue with ranger cruise control that I am unaware of ?
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I have noticed that my temperature gauge is indicating that usually my truck is running very cool. It seems that it is also somewhat erratic. At times it indicates what I would expect a reading in the middle of the gauge. Other times after running a while it will drop to the lower end (cool) of the gauge and stay there.
I am guessing that the thermostat is sticking open. Is there a way to test the sensors to see if they maybe bad? I have a 99 ranger with a 4cyl. It looks like I have two sensors. If one is bad, how can I determine which it is?
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1991 Ranger STX, 4.0. Had a leak from the rubber seal on the thermostat. Changed the thermostat (stat 195) and seal. Now my temperature gauge is not showing a constant reading, goes to half way and when the thermo opens the gauge falls down to a quarter. The gauge is cycling this way every time the thermo opens.
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