Please help. My wifes car 98 Trans AM Ram AIR is over heating. The car has 57,000 miles on it. Water is not spilling but the temperature gauge raises to the red mark or almost all the way. She was on the freeway and pulled over and she was about 15 miles from home. She called me at work and I went to her and see what was going on. The fans are working, there is no water leaking out. I told her to drive my car home and I will drive hers just in case it stalls. I would let the needle go down a little and would drive it for about 2 - 5 miles till it would get to the little red mark and would stop and shut it down for like 5 minutes and the temp gauge would go down. and I would start it again till I got home. It did stall once at home like everyting died when the temperature gauge reached the red. I let it sit for about 5 minutes and started right back up. The car idles like new is just the gauge that is reading hot. WHat could it be..... No check engine light.... just the check gauges light...... how many temperature sensors does this car have..... I found 1 on the driver side of the engine towards the front. .... Please help... very low on money.......

 

Perhaps the thermostat is stuck ?

It is pretty easy to replace, and @ $17.00 or so from my local dealer not too hard on the old wallet !!

Oh, some auto parts places can pull engine codes, so it's worth a call or 2 to see if they can pull a check gauges code.

I'd also crawl underneath the car & make sure that a plastic bag or some other trash is not blocking the radiator's air flow.


Good Luck , and let us know.


Britt

 

I called AutoZone and they said the thermostat is $60.....

 

I bought one for my '99 T/A for around $ 17.00.

Did you look for any air obstructions ?

Oh, I know you said the fans are running , but did you confirm that they are actually moving air - what if something crazy happened, like a fan blade broke ??

(Certainly hope not, and you always look for the simplest solution first !)

Britt

 

Ok.. call me crazy(or Psycho).. but..
As I see it:
1- You do not know what is going on
2- You do not have much $$$

To me that would mean a dealership trip. I know, I know.. sounds like the expensive route.. This is my reasoning.

If you take it to the dealer and they fix it the parts they used are warrantied as is their work. So if you have to take it back its all on them..

If you start throwing parts at it you are eating every part. I cant tell you how many T-stats I have laying around.. They all work but I felt I shouldnt trust them.. Ohh well.. It may be a sensor that is freaking out.. but again without the $$ the cheapest solution is to have a dealer look at it. I would at least talk to a service manager and see what they can do for you.. Ask if there is a gaurantee. Ask the ball park figure. Ask what it would cost to take it in and have them diagnose the car.. Heck, ask if they offer free towing to the shop.

I used to use the smaller shops and my friends shops but the only difference was that I could buy the parts myself and that they had all of the right tools to fix my car. No real warranties ya know?

Thats why I got my new car.. Warranty.. I suggest looking into a warranty if you dont have one any more.. about $1000 and worth every penny.

 

Thermostat would be the most obvious place to start. Replace that and then take it to the dealer if thats not it. Would put money on the thermostat though.

 

I think AutoZone sells the Hypertech Thermo for the car. And it includes the housing. Try the dealer the OEM thermo should not cost that much.

 

thanks, guys for all your help.... do the thermostats go bad often.. she only has 57,000 on her and all of our friends are also sayin start with the thermostat. thanks again for everyones help. .... I think I can manage putting it on myself,....any tips on how to do it right.... ..

 

http://www.installuniversity.com/

Is the place to go !!




Install Documents , then Cooling Systems , then 160 Degree install - you are there, dude !!



Later !


Britt

 

I am not totally shocked that a thermo might go bad in 57k. As far as installing you should have no problem at all. Check out www.installuniversity.com and they have some good directions though if you need them.

 

Before you go spending money, take your t-stat out, place a pan of water on the stove with a candy thermometer in it. Let the water get hot place the t-stat in it with a string attached, as the water temp rises pick the t-stat out and see if it is opening. This can save you some money, or atleast make sure your spending money on the right part. ( I'm not sure where the stock t-stat should start opening but about 200 degrees is a good bet).

 

go to a little shop and let them check it out...... alot of times a place like that wont carge you alot at all and they will fix whatever it is cheap....... alomost any shop warrenties there parts when they install then to save their ***...... that is why parts are marked up....

try the stat i know water pumps go bad on ls1's alot from what i hear...

 

remember this for the future, it could save your engine!

If your engine is overheating and you need to drive it, turn the heater on full heat! If it's a faulty cooling fan or perhaps even a stuck thermostat, it will cool the engine enough to drive normally.

 

I'm with everyone else ... t-stat or something blocking the air flow.


As for the heater trick ... yes ... that's a great way to help pull heat from the motor. (I did that last night at the track ... if I wasn't about to stage, I had the heater on full with the windows down)

 

thanks for all your help guys.... it was the thermostat that was stuck shut.... changed it out and everything is fine now....