My car seems to get hot in stop and go or traffic jams,I already replaced the thermostat and my mechanic told me that i need to replace the fan clutch too

 

only time mine has ever overheated was when my water pump belt broke....

i was going WOT at about 100 and looked down in time to seem the gauge going past the top hash mark, i put it in neutral an coasted to an autozone and fixed it


and more on-topic your water pump might be going out

 

well they looked at it for a while and said the flow of the radiator was good and its fine if im driving consistantly but if i have to stop at alot of traffic lights it gets hot and the mechanic could stop the fan at full speed with his hand so he thinks its the fan clutch

 

yeah, probably.


do you have underdriven pulleys?

 

i have no idea what that is

 

might also be the fan clutch, thats what was wrong with mine when that would happen

<l><l>

 

yeah thats what the mechanic said,he said the fan is not spinning fast enough and thats why its getting hot

 

I managed a radiator shop for many years. There could be several problems.

First, the fan clutch is definitely suspect. Warm the engine up, pop your hood and have someone shut off the engine while you watch the fan. It should stop in 1/2 to 1 1/2 rotations. Anything else is bad.

Second, air flow. Make sure that your fan shroud is not cracked or broken, and that the fins in the radiator are not blocked with bugs and junk. If you have A/C, then the same applies for your condensor, as it sits in front of the radiator.

Third, coolant flow. Before you warm up the engine, take off the radiator cap and then let the engine warm up - it make take a little longer because the system is not under pressure. Look down the neck of the radiator, the coolant should look like a miniature river flowing from the top intake hose to the other side of the radiator. If it isn't your radiator may be plugged.

The best solution is to replace it. A less expensive alternative is to have just the core replaced. The least expensive is to have a "rod job" done by a professional - but be advised that this often cannot be done without ruining the core, which would result in either replacing the core or the entire radiator. So don't have a rod job done unless you can afford to replace it.

 

well it seemed like when it was warm and i shut it off the fan would still spin for quite a while and the mechanic said the airflow is good and i have never even touched the shroud

 

i'm not running a thermostat ... and no, there is nothing wrong w/ that concept ... although i should; i was just thinking of cutting off the "bridge" (or the valve temp., not sure what specifically it's called) that regulates the flow of coolant so at least it's not entirely restrictive but @ the same time actually run a thermostat ----- > ghetto

 

Change the fan clutch. Some people like a flex fan and eliminate the clutch all together, but I prefer just replacing the clutch. It can seem like your fan is pulling air, but if it spins after shut off, that means fan shaft can also spin freely at any RPM, thus not pulling enough air to keep it cool.

 

i suspect that your car isnt a jap import model?

because i think that the jap models had a smaller / or no oil cooler

if not, ignore this post

 

my car seems to run much hotter at night when I have the lights on. Seems very weird as at night its much cooler. Any ideas why its doing this? Is it the alternator?

cheers,
heb.

ps: dont mean to hijack, but didnt want to start another post on the same topic.

 

My SE still ran a little hot @ Idle till i replaced the Clutch fan with an electric fan Do A search on electric fans I think one out of a taurs (spelling) fits well Good Luck

 

Dude what the hell are you talking about?

They are ALL "jap import models"

The ******* cars were made in Hiroshima (SP)

Wow some people need to think about what they are trying to say before they type

 

Any way

I had over heating problems that were not related to stop and go trafic. The car jsut plain ran hot. Had the Rad Flushed, and I replaced the thermostat and now everything is good

 

fan clutch

 

i never noticed mine overheating.

 

BTW what is normal temp? I have an aftermarket temp gauge and i need to know.
Thanks

 

It depends on the thermostat I guess, but 1/4 of the way up is normal 1/2 is too high

 

my 85 runs almost half way up. my 80 runs not even 1/4 of the way up and my SE runs below half unless it idles for quite some time, then the temp will slowly creep up. it depends on the condition of the cooling system and the condition of the engine. all vechiles are different, rotary and piston alike.

 

why does a car run hotter with the lights on?

 

haha, Im the only "yes"


but then again, Im not running a cooling fan at all right now! I just dont drive in traffic. (I live in a small town, and work less than a mile away from my home)

I really do need a fan though, now that its starting to warm up here...

 

Get a black magic fan, that thing keeps my engine insanely cool. One of the highest output fans for its size

 

I hear those black magic fans are really good, but I might end up spending all my money on a new car so I dont think Im going to get one just yet.