[blueshoes]

hi friends

i have a 2004 impala 3.8 and i noticed yesterday sitting at the traffic lights my temp gauge was climbing while i was at idle and once i started driving again the temp would decrease back to normal. would this be the thermostat sticking or a sensor issue?
thanks

 

[wedebrook]

that would be a "no air flowing around the engine to cool it" issue. :biggrin:

when you are driving, the cool air around you is scooped up into the engine bay via the front air dam and cools the engine. when stopped, there is no cool air, so your temp rises. :wink: nothing to worry about.

 

[blueshoes]

true sir but the temp shouldnt just start rising like that to over 220' that means there is a cooling issue.

 

[wedebrook]

how long are you sitting in traffic? if you are only there for 15 seconds and it goes that high, then yes, you may have a problem. if you are there for a few minutes or more, i'm fairly certain its normal. if it makes you feel better, change out the thermostat and see what happens. its only a $10 part and its fairly easy to do on the 3800. i have the 180* t-stat installed in my 3400 and it does the same exact thing. it runs cooler when driving, but if i let it sit for a few minutes with no air circulation, it gets hot. i will research some more and see if i can find anything that may lead me to believe otherwise.

 

[wedebrook]

Are your fans engaging at all?

EDIT: see this thread http://www.naioa.com/v2/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=7893&highlight=overheating

 

[blueshoes]

ill change the thermostat and let you know
thank you

 

[luke_fairs]

I have the same problem, after I've driven for a while and I leave it to idle it starts to get hot and just goes over half way and the fans come on and it cools down a bit then slowly heats back up again to just over half way

 

[wedebrook]

^^^ thats the way its supposed to happen. your fans dont kick on until a certain temp. once they cool it down so far, they shut off, then kick on again when it hits that magic number again.

 

[wedebrook]

^^^ thats the way its supposed to happen. your fans dont kick on until a certain temp. once they cool it down so far, they shut off, then kick on again when it hits that magic number again.

EDIT: the fans kick on normal speed at 217* and 212*, for the 3400 and the 3800 respectively. the also kick on at high speed at 230* and 221* respectively. please keep in mind that your temp gauge on your cluster may be off by a few degrees, so its not exactly accurate but will be in the general neighborhood.

 

[PeterMeridingo76]

yeah that happens to me , once the needle goes to the next notch past the half way mark the fans kick in then it goes back to the half way point again , yeah its normal especially in the city where most of the time your sitting in traffic . oh yeah if you guys expierence that the needle went to far than the usual mark your fans aint working it happened to me , for some apparent reason i opened the hood started messing with the fan relays , the only thing i did was make sure they where pushed in and poof the fans came back on. for some reason the relays get loose and loose there connection , so i took them out spread the prongs a little put them back in and i never had the problem again. sorry about the long story just trying to help you guys that might have this problem.

 

[minofmusic]

My Impala is doing the same thing

When i crank my Impala up the temp gauge rises up real high, then once i start driving the guage levels off to the middle and then it rises and falls constantly

 

[wedebrook]

When i crank my Impala up the temp gauge rises up real high, then once i start driving the guage levels off to the middle and then it rises and falls constantly

please elaborate. it sounds like you have a problem.

 

[minofmusic]

Temp gauge rising

After i put some green coolant in this morning, when i crank up the car the temp gauge goes to about half as im driving it stays steady but when i come to stop light it rises towards the red. after i go through the light the gauge goes back down.

 

[wedebrook]

could be the thermostat sticking or could be the coolant temp sensor, which is located in the LIM on your engine.

 

[blusail]

After i put some green coolant in this morning, when i crank up the car the temp gauge goes to about half as im driving it stays steady but when i come to stop light it rises towards the red. after i go through the light the gauge goes back down.

You should have put Dexcool in and not green coolant.

 

[luke_fairs]

Yeah needs to be orange not green

 

[minofmusic]

guage rising at idle

Hey guys i got it checked out and it was my water pump that was leaking, i had the green stuff drained out and put the dex cool(orange stuff in) so far its running good

 

[blusail]

Good to hear the problem is resolved

 

[bigred1]

im having a similar problem, but mine is that the low coolant light comes on and the temp needle rise to the halfway mark when idled then drops down to a lower temp once i start back driving. Does anybody know whats wrong

 

[wedebrook]

either you are low on coolant for some reason or your coolant level sensor is jacked up.