what does it mean your car overheats while city driving but temp drop on freeway at high speed?

Question

when i freeway drive temp stabilizes but the speed and rpms drop it heats up to the point were it nearly overheats, could it be do the thermostat, put in rebuilt radiator new hoses let me know whats da deal

Answer 1

Sounds to me like a radiator fan is not coming on... or you could have a water pump going bad that is not pushing the water at low engine speed. The ford pumps are known for rusting the impeller off when the coolant is not changed at regular intervals.

Your best idea would be to go to a dealership and them diagnose it for you. You could have something simple wrong...

Good Luck

Answer 2

If it is a rear wheel drive then check the fan clutch by trying to turn it. It should have some resistance. If it is a front wheel drive then possibly the electric fan is not turning on after getting hot. You can observe this when engine to see if the fan in front of the radiator is on. If all checks ok then I would change the thermostat. Last would be the water pump. When your car is moving air is keeping it cool and when it is stopped in traffic the fan should keep air moving and keeping it cool as long as the radiator is at full capacity.

Answer 3

depends on if you have electric fan or a clutch fan the clutch may be worn to check after car is hot if fan spins more than 3 or 4 times its bad and needs to be replaced if the car has electric fan and is overheating and fan does not come on its bad or you have temp sensor problem. When ac is on electric fan should come on automatically. Of course while driving at high speeds the wind cools car at stps and city driving there is zero wind and if the fans are not working it will overheat

Answer 4

My Benz was doing the same thing the other day. When a car is in motion, it cools down, but when I was sitting in traffic it overheaded. I would take your car into a mechanic ASAP if you can because my radiator ending up blowing, ruining my thermostat and some other things. There can be a chain reaction when a car overheats, or very little damage.

Answer 5

That means you have a bad fan clutch, your fan isn't working properly, or it's just too darned hot and you will need to turn off your a/c to eliminate the load on the engine. That is the biggest problem with older cars in very high summer temps in the city. Good luck.

Answer 6

The most important thing is to make sure that all of your fluids are filled to the right level. The fluids help to cool your engine and make it run better.

Less air circulates across your radiator when you are driving slower, so the engine coolant does not get cooled by the air. On the highway, more air moved across the radiator, better cooling the fluid inside.

Answer 7

depending on model of car , it may have a electric cooling fan that may not be working, or you could have a thermostat sticking. these would be the most likely causes but there are many more contributing factors such as fuel mixture or temp sensor or clogged exhaust system, or head gasket problem. post the make and model of your car i may can give you some other advice to help

Answer 8

On the freeway your car keeps moving. In the city you have a lot of stop and go traffic, which makes a lot of cars overheat. Mine does the same thing.

Answer 9

Could be a lot of things... Thermostat, Fan clutch, Fan (if electric), Temp sensor, computer glitch.. etc..etc..etc. Take it to a shop to get it diagnosed. My sisters car is having similar problems. After 4 trips to the shop we are just going to sell it instead.

Answer 10

Your fan is not working, so it is not cooling the radiator fluid in the radiator while you are sitting at stoplights and such. Driving on the freeway forces air through the radiator, cooling the fluid, cooling the engine.