The temperature gauge in my 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse acts up when I am stopped and in heavy traffic. The temperatue gauge goes from being comfortably in the middle, to quickly shooting up to the Hot level.

However, when traffic lets up, and I start moving, the needle goes back in the middle, and everything is fine.

The problem is that it doesn't do this very often. So when I bring my car in for an auto mechanic to look at it, they do a test drive, then tell me they can't get it to overheat. Therefore they can't fix a problem they don't see.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm very concerned about driving my car when it gets to the Hot level.

Thanks

Does the electric fan come on?

T
Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest Boston - USA
_________________________________________

http://www.autoacsystems.com/tomgreenleaf/

Tom,

Yes...electric fan does come on. I did have to add some coolant this week (not much, though).

Thanks

Fan working is good news. Now the coolant being even a little low concerns me. Make sure it's full at the radiator not just the recovery tank.

System is strained at stop after driving depending on its fan for air flow only and if it's been a while a flush of cooling system and new theremostat would be good maintenance. Flushing should show the flow rate of the radiator. Make sure anti-freeze concentration doesn't exceed -34F as strong mixures cause problems. Some high stress stuff will ask for less than the usual 50/50 or to set them to -20F for better heat transfer but you do lose corrosion protection so you would change it more often.

I had forgetten about the strong anti-freeze thing for the moment. Seriously - folks just add straight anti-freeze with slow leaks and that isn't good. Ignore the lie that it prevents boilovers as the small print says "assuming a 15lb radiator cap" which is an industry average which by itself raises boiling point to 257F with plain water! If system isn't holding pressure find out why. Without a seen leak it could be just the pressure cap itself - check that as that could cause the problem in conjunction with strong anti-freeze mix,

T
Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest Boston - USA
_________________________________________

http://www.autoacsystems.com/tomgreenleaf/

By any chance, is the A/C on when it overheats? If yes, make sure there are either 2 fans running or the high speed of the fan is working.




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(This post was edited by way2old on May 12, 2008, 6:58 PM)