Impala - Chevrolet :: Coolant Temp Fluctuating / Going From 200 Up To 240 Sometimes 260 Degrees
Aug 22, 2016
I have a 2002 Chevy Impala with the 3.4L engine. The car has 180K+ miles on the original engine. The coolant temperature started fluctuating recently. Going from 200 degrees up to 240 sometimes 260 degrees.
I recently had the check engine light on with the P0420 code which indicates a bad catalytic converter, I had that replaced and I was hoping that maybe the lack of exhaust flow through the converter was causing the overheating. It is still fluctuating however after the converter replacement.
The coolant temperature seems to go up when the car is idling but when moving it starts to go back down to normal. I had the cooling fan assembly replaced last year after one of the fans failed. These are less than a year old and are both operating as expected.
A little history on the engine. It originally had that crappy DexCool in it that then ate away at the cheap plastic head gasket causing oil to leak into the coolant system. This caused the coolant to turn into 'mud' within the radiator and eventually the head gasket failed completely and I had to have that replaced along with putting in ethylene glycol to replace the DexCool. Now when the coolant system was flushed, I am not completely sure that all that 'mud' was flushed out of the radiator. So the radiator may not be operating at full capacity. In fact, driving through the mountains this summer going up inclines, the car would tend to start overheating.
So thoughts on what might be the issue, radiator, thermostat, sensor, water pump, something else? I'm pretty sure it's not the sensor because sensors don't fail in this manner (they fail either high or low). I'm leaning toward the radiator because once I get some air flow across it, the coolant temp gets back to normal.
Also, the A/C is sometimes working great and blowing really cold and other times it is just slightly cold.
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My 2007 Chevy Impala has developed a brand new problem today. Driving down the block to the store, the speedometer started fluctuating wildly. I was going a consistent speed of about 10 mph in my parking lot and when I braked to a stop the speedometer started swinging all over the place, from 10 to 35 mph. It then gave me a message on the dash saying "Speed Limited to 107 MPH" and somehow killed my accelerator because the gas pedal no longer did anything. I restarted the car and the accelerator worked again for a bit and then pulled the same problem again. The speedometer is now fluctuating wildly the entire time I drive, including while stopped, but so far the message seems to have kicked on and disabled my accelerator only when slowing to a stop and accelerating out of a stop (it happened three times).
I know that the Impala's governor is set to 107 mph so I can guess why that message exists, but I wouldn't think a governor would actually kill the car even if it kicked in at the right speed.
It wasn't that long ago that we had to have our pedal position sensor resynchronized and the mechanic had mentioned that it was possible the sensor was going bad, but I don't think that would be the problem here as it seems like the car would actually have been accelerating sporadically, whereas in my case just the speedometer is swinging around despite an even speed.
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I have a 1992 Chevy 1500 5.7L V8 with 167,000 miles that is running hot. When I drive the vehicle the temperature quickly rises to just about 250 degrees and hovers just under the "red" zone. It never fully overheats, even on longer drives (50+ miles). It seem to run just fine otherwise. It is not leaking coolant and I have not had to fill the radiator. My first thought was that the thermostat was bad, but wouldn't that be an "all or nothing" issue? Where should I start looking for the problem? It has been going on for about 3 weeks, and I want to get it resolved quickly.
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I have a 2006 350. When I am pulling my camp trailer (about 12,500 lbs) up a grade I hear a fan or blower turn on and I get a high pitched squeal. It will also have a beep and my in dash display will say high engine temp. I have a bullydog pmt programmer (i tow with it in stock mode) the display will show my coolant temp at about 180 degrees. If I pull over and let it idle for about 2 minutes the warning clears and the temp gauge returns to normal. the display reads about 180 degrees the whole time this goes on. I know the engine is not over heating so why do i get this warning and squeal?
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Ok so I recently started noticing my car was overheating and the sensor would go off saying coolant temp hot. So I started by adding coolant that didn't work. I than replaced the thermostat didn't change. I saw the water pump was leaking and changed that but before I did I was driving it home one night and the engine stopped and I barely had control of the car. Now the water pump is new and I don't know what the problem is. I think it's the head gasket ???
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When I'm sitting still in traffic or going up a hill the temp gauge will go up. But it goes up real slow. You can set and watch temp gauge and it will just jump up every minute or so. And it has 2 fans on it but they won't kick on till temp gauge gets up over the half way mark. But when temp goes up i can raise the hood and the motor does not feel hot at all. What could cause this?
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I have a 2002 Chevy Impala, 3.4 engine. Mileage is at about 235k. About a month ago I had to replace the radiator because the car was overheating. Not even a week later, the low coolant light was on (even after I filled the reservoir) and the car was once again getting really close to overheating. I took it back to the mechanic who replaced the radiator. He checked and said the head gaskets were bad. He showed me where they were cracked/torn and showed me that I had coolant mixing with my oil. I haven't had the money to fix it, so since then the car has been sitting in my garage.
I have drove it maybe 5-8 times though (to the grocery store down the street, etc.) Should I even invest anymore into this car, considering the age, mileage and problems (fyi, the car was in an accident so there's some body damage to the hood, front fender, the a/c isn't working)? Would replacing the gaskets or buying a used engine be a smart move? Or is it better to purchase another car? I only have about 3k to go towards another car, so I'm kind of afraid I'll get another one and it will have the same (or worse) problems.
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So I recently bought a Chevy Impala with about 150,000 miles on it. The check engine light is on and sometimes it will tell me my coolant levels are low. I filled it up with coolant and the message still comes on sometimes. Also, when I'm driving, I can feel my rpms go way up when I press the gas, but they car won't accelerate for shit. Sometimes the check engine light will blink, which I've heard is for safety, and my car will barely accelerate at all. I can drive it around town easily the way it is now, but I don't want to risk ruining it. On top of that, my radio and lights will cut in and out sometimes and get better the more gas I give it.
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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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So today I was driving to work and it was pretty cold out. It was about -22/-30 C with the wind. The drive is about 20 minutes in traffic. I to through drivethru and as I am leaving I notice that the temp dropped from about 90 to around 75/80. I then drive accross the street to work and the temp goes back up to 90. So I decided to sit there and let the car idle for a few minutes. Then the temp dropped again by about 10.
So I called the dealer and stopped by. All they did is take it for a test drive and do a scan to tell me everything is fine. By then the temp had warmed up outside and the issue was no longer present.
Having issues with fluctuating temp once your car reaches 90?
I know with my MK4 Golf 1.8T when I used to be in stop and go traffic the gauge would go down. So I replaced my thermostat and all was fine after that.
Do a modern car can a scan detect temp going below 90? Or could be a sticky thermostat?
It's a 2015 Golf 1.8 TSI
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My son recently bought a 2012 GLS. The temp gauge was fluctuating and I noticed the overflow was really low. I added coolant and warmed the car up with no change. After it cooled a little, I cracked the radiator cap and heard bubbling air. Upon complete removal of the cap, I saw no fluid, however, the cap is above the radiator where the hoses connect. I added coolant directly to this opening until I could see it. Closed everything up and warmed up the car. Temp gauge is now steady 1 mark below half way. The question is, did I add enough coolant? and should I see coolant inside the radiator cap when the vehicle is cold?
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1994 Ford E150 5.0L. Will not start when the weather is above 70 Degrees F. No fire from coil...
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2002 S-10 2.2L ... Started noticing my temp gauge running around 170 degrees as it gets cooler outside. I changed the thermostat and noticed that the connector to the temp sensor was cracked, changed that too. Had to warranty replace the temp sensor because the first one didn't register on my dashboard gauge. Still didn't get heat above 150 degrees.
Warranty replace the new thermostat and still not getting heat above 150 degrees. Radiator cap test bad at 15psi, replaced radiator cap and still not getting heat above 150 degrees. The engine is running cool and the cabin heat is not as hot as it has been for the last 5 yrs. There are no engine codes stored, anti-freeze leaks and level is correct.
I'm lost as to why all the sudden the truck starts running cold and won't build heat.
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My F-150 ac shuts down when air temp reaches above 80 degrees. The freon has been checked, the compressor clutch cycling switch & high pressure switch have been replaced with no effect.
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Have a problem with the coolant gauge on their Passat? The temperature gauge on my 02 Passat sometimes reads normal (190) when I am driving and then all of a sudden it will drop back to 90. My first guess was the sending unit, but the dealer says it might be the gauge cluster too. I would think that if it was the gauge cluster the other gauges would act up too. ?
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I have less than 7k miles on my new Silverado W/T. I haven't hauled anything heavy in it since I bought it, and have been using it just back and forth to work. Pretty light duty. I was parked the other night in a parking lot idling and listening to the radio when I noticed the transmission temp jumped up to 189 degrees! I also noticed the water gauge was a bit past it's mid-range temp. I immediately cranked up the heater core to try to cool things down and it worked for the main radiator water temp..but the tranny sender quickly went to 200 degrees so I shut the whole mess down.
Just before I did that, the transmission idiot light popped on. I left it there for several hours in 20 degree weather and came back to start the truck and head home..the tranny on start-up was still @ 70 degrees. I got up on the hiway and things came down to about 100 degrees at a legal speed on the hiway. Engine water temp was normal too. Drove for about 45 minutes that way. I tried sitting in my driveway a day or so later in park, and the tranny temp went from 120 degrees to 145 degrees in 35 degree weather fairly quickly.
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My engine is very slow to warm up when the temp is below 30 degrees. Engine will reach about 170 after about 5 miles. What should I check first? Is it hard to change the thermostat or is there something else that controls the engine temp?
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I have a 2002 Nissan Altima that has a hard time starting but runs fine once started. It is very difficult in the winter when the temp is below 25 degrees. Sometimes it take me 5 to 6 tries to get it started. I have had the vehicle checked by two mechanics and recently had the battery replaced. The mechanics said the car looks fine. Could this be a fuel injector problem or moisture in the fuel system?
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i have been told new car tires will not devolope a flat spot.. then the dealer told me that that do. can't have it both ways.. i get an extreme shimmy when the temp.goes to about 45 or lower degrees but goes away after about 10 miles of driving..
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My outside temp readout seems to be stuck at 61-64 degrees and that won't allow the auto select to come on if I have it set at say 72 degrees. It has been working really great up till about a week ago.
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I recently had some issues getting my 2000 Blazer LS started. It would act as though the battery was dying. But if I let it set a few moments, it would start right up. Then a couple days later, I needed a jump start to get it going. I took it to my local Auto Zone to have the alternator tested because the battery was only 3 years old. (It was a 5 year battery.)
They determined that it was the battery. So I went to Walmart and bought a 700 CCA battery. And today the gauge is fluctuating again.... Considering it is cold and snowing here, heat, wipers, and rear defrost tend to be essential. But if I try to run all of them, the gauge dumps. And causes everything to bog down. I do not have any aftermarket electronics installed in the truck. And until last Thursday, this was not an issue.
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