doughboy78758

Yesterday I changed my oil, filter (myself as always) and switched over from Dino oil to Synthetic. I let the car run idle for 10 minutes to verify there were no leaks and shut it down. Didn't give it a test run.

This morning I drove the car around for a few miles with AC on and after reaching the house I noticed the temp bar on my AP1 showed 4 instead of the usual 3. It did drop back down to 3 bars after parking the car in the garage.

I thought it was weird so I took the car back out and gave it a spin around the neighborhood. At the first stop sign the car showed 4 bars again but dropped to 3 after taking off.

It never showed 4 bars again after giving it a drive around the block. Tomorrow will be the real test since I will drive about 20 miles but it looks like it was only temporary (I hope).

Am I going crazy or has this happened to anyone else out there?

Thanks.

s2kmiami69

maybe your thermostat just happens to be going bad?

xviper

Rather than "testing" it by driving it around, have you considered checking the coolant level both under the rad cap and in the coolant tank when cold?

doughboy78758

I added more coolant to the tank so that it was at the max line.

The drive to work this morning it did hit 4 bars again but dropped back to 3 within a minute and never came back.

Weird but closing in on 200k miles I'm sure some repairs are in the works.

xviper

Now that you've told us that the car has 200K on it, has the coolant service been done as per the schedule? It is possible and maybe even likely that the coolant passages in the radiator and in the motor has enough buildup to partially block the flow. It may be necessary to not only flush the system but to de-scale and clean it out. The water pump may also be on the "tired" side, especially if coolant system maintenance has not been done when it should. Additionally, how does the radiator fins look? Are there lots of bugs embedded in the front? Are there lots of bent fins? Any other impediments to the radiator airflow? Those front bumper meshes reduce airflow by about 15% - not a big deal for a newer car but can certainly be a detriment to one that has 200K.
Filling the coolant tank may not be the only thing needed. If there is a break or leak anywhere in the line between the radiator neck and the coolant tank, coolant may be able to flow into the tank but not be able to be drawn back into the system during cool down. A cold check of the radiator is in order. The tank may be full but the radiator may be down (it should be right to the bottom of the rad cap, with little to no air space there). If this is the case, you have a break in the coolant tank line.

S2KIrishman

honestly sounds like a thermostat starting to stick

xviper

Yup, that too. Also, the rad cap may not be holding pressure.

doughboy78758

Thanks for the feedback.

I'll most likely put together a list and address all coolant needs.

- Mashimoto Radiator
- Water Pump
- Thermostat
- Hoses

Going to own this car til' the wheels fall off.

SgtB

Check the end tank for white spider cracks. Our cars are getting old, and the radiators are about ready to pop. Mine let go at 140k.

doughboy78758

WOW!

Parts replaced, the job wasn't hard just time consuming because of "difficulties/annoyances".

That upper radiator hose being underneath the intake manifold killed most of my time.

There is still a Swear cloud above the house from this weekend.

A few pictures to assist others.

Went with the FULL BLOWN RADIATOR. LJ from FB was very helpful. Here are the size differences

http://www.flickr.com/photos/81346647@N08/7721940296/http://www.flickr.com/photos/81346647@N08/7721940296/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/81346647@N08/, on Flickr

Passenger side Fan mounting holes didn't line up to well but it's a known problem with aftermarket radiators. The bottom tabs had to bent to accommodate.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/81346647@N08/7722088138/http://www.flickr.com/photos/81346647@N08/7722088138/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/81346647@N08/, on Flickr

Getting to the thermostat from underneath was easy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/81346647@N08/7722043036/http://www.flickr.com/photos/81346647@N08/7722043036/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/81346647@N08/, on Flickr



Radiator Burper I bought for this project worked great. Helped bleed the air out of system BIG TIME.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/81346647@N08/7722126964/http://www.flickr.com/photos/81346647@N08/7722126964/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/81346647@N08/, on Flickr

Finished product.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/81346647@N08/7722143680/http://www.flickr.com/photos/81346647@N08/7722143680/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/81346647@N08/, on Flickr