ok heres my problem....just started. when i first start my car after it has been sitting for a couple hours the car will warm up and not stop warming and continue to overheat. initially i turned the car off for 15-20 minutes and started it back up and the temp would drop back down to normal temp and i could drive like normal with no overheating. this has happened several times. then today while driving home from work the same thing was going to happen, the car was overheating and i was at a light...i killed it on accident and when i restarted it the temp dropped back to normal and stayed that way. what the heck is going on?? anyone have any experience with this strange phenomenon?

 

my guess would be a faulty gauge or sender, could find out for sure by getting an infrared thermometer (have them at radio shack for like $25) and check it when the gauge says its over heating.

 

Can you give us more details? What have you checked? If the cooling system components are working and the car isn't overheating, yes, it could very well be a gauge acting up.

 

Sticky thermostat? Just a thought.
If you don't have an infrared thermometer, put a meat thermometer between the cooling fins on the radiator. That'll tell you whether the hot water makes it to the rad and how hot it is in fact.

Hope this helps.
Lou

 

I had the same thing just start happening to me about 4 weeks ago. I changed the thermostat thinking that was the problem but it had no affect. Then about 2 weeks after the problem started, my heater core went out and I replace it, and since then, no more overheating problems what so ever. Yeah, kinda seemed weird to me too.


Tom