update on My car keeps overheating (94 Dodge spirit)?

Question

i have a 1994 dodge spirit has around 50k miles recently my temp meter keeps rising to the H i so i had a local mechanic check it out he said it was the thermostat so i gues he replaced and and it was fine for about a week or 2 then it started again like this only takes about 10-15 min to start after turning on the car but when i turn on the heat it sumtimes jumps back to normal but other times it doesnt ive looked at it my self no leaks, plenty of coolent i have a remote start that i use every day before i go to work and the car is left on for 10-15mins before i actually take off i dont know if this could have sumthing to do with it

Additional Details

3 minutes ago
well today i made a couple check like to see if the oil was grey or silver and i notice that it was oil was way below the min line so i checked when was the last i got an oil change and it was 200 miles past its next recomended oil change so i gave it a oil change i thought it was maybe because of that but it was still over heating so a buddy of mine told me to start the car and pop the hood and check to see when the radiator fan kicks on and it was on when i first turned on the car when the meter was on th C line but after when the meter started getting close to the H line i checked the fan and it was'nt on so im thinking its the temp sensor, or the fan wiring and the mechanic did replace the thermostat he said it was broken

Answer 1

Some people may read this and get mad at me so be prepared. It is hardly ever the thermostat that goes bad on a vehicle. The thermostat is such a simple device that it will seldom fail. The thermostat allows the car to warm up faster because it doesn't allow the coolant to circulate through the radiator. People may get mad because... you really don't even need a thermostat. True it regulates engine temps somewhat and your car will take longer to warm up, but after the engine is warmed up that becomes insignificant. It also aids in emissions but post-warm up hardly significant. If you were to remove a bad thermostat and not replace it you would hardly notice any difference.



Now adressing your problem finally... definitely change the temp sensor if your fan wasn't coming on at the correct time. You can test the fan operation by running a direct line to the battery if you suspect the fan itself is bad. If your vehicle has 2 fans then turn on the A.C. and the other fan should operate. If you don't want to buy a temp sensor, you could wire the fan to stay on all the time. (Hey I had money problems a few years back, hope this made someone laugh). P.S. be careful about the burning or leaking oil... keep an eye on it to avoid future repairs.

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
update on My car keeps overheating (94 Dodge spirit)?
i have a 1994 dodge spirit has around 50k miles recently my temp meter keeps rising to the H i so i had a local mechanic check it out he said it was the thermostat so i gues he replaced and and it was fine for about a week or 2 then it started again like this only takes about 10-15 min to start...

Answer 3

If your thermostat was broken, it would have caused the fan to run all the time, then the fan or the relay for the fan might have burned out. Check the resistance on the two terminals going into the fan while it's disconnected. If you have 0 Ohms or No Load, The fan is burnt out. If it's got a normal range of resistance, like 30-200 Ohms, it's ok, so go for the relay. I think in your car, the thermostat acts as the temperature switch/sensor to the relay. If not, check your Water temperature sender and your oil Temperature sender. In fact, just go ahead and replace the water one... it's right next to your throttle and it's usually easy to change. But in most cars, the temperature sensors work together to tell the computer the temperatures, and thewater one sends the signal to your gauge on the dash. They won't have anything to do with the cooling switches.

Answer 4

It's almost never the thermostat. People just say that because they heard the word somewhere. The radiator is probably half clogged at that age. The low miles actually make it worse since it sits without being driven so much. Flushing probably won't help and is liable to make it leak by circulating water to places that haven't seen it in years.
The fan doesn't really do much when you're on the road. It's mainly to pull air through when you're stopped or going very slow.
A new radiator is only $100 or so and isn't too hard to put in.

Answer 5

It sounds like it's a problem with the fan thermostat (that turns the fan on) and that isn't unusual, especially with some cars. Replace it and see if that fixes things. One test for that is to see if the temp stays normal when you're cruising along, because then the fan isn't needed to push air through the radiator. If it only overheats when the car is sitting and idling, it's in the fan circuit.

Answer 6

i own a repair shop,and there's two things that helps this fan come on,,it has a fan switch,,and a relay switch also,,the fan switch is usually located by the thermostat housing,,or on the radiator its self,,and the relay for them is located on the firewall,that's the only two things other than a blown fuse that will stop it from coming on,,other than it being bad,,and i doubt that its bad,,you may need a good repair manual to locate it,,but right off id say its the relay,,they go bad every few years on these cars my wife used to drive one of them,even if you have to replace both ot them there less then 40 bucks for both of them,,and id replace both of them if it were me,,this way i know it would all work right,,but that's probably whats wrong with it,,its not hard job,,not an expensive one either,,good luck with it,hope this help,s.happy new years also.

Answer 7

Seems like a good fire would serve you best...good luck