Recently my car has been experiencing higher than normal coolant temperatures and I'm not exactly sure what is causing it. The temperature usually sits between 205º and 215º, but when I get on the highway (usually on the entrance ramp) the temperature starts to spike. In a few minutes the temp maxes out the gauge (goes past 260º) but less than thirty seconds later, it will read in the low 200's again. Whenever I stop to check the engine, while the gauge is scrolling "HI", there are no signs that anything is overheating.
The radiator and thermostat were put in last year, so the coolant isn't that old. I thought it might be the water pump, but I don't have any signs that the pump is bad (no leaks, no noise), and I can't see the temp dropping that fast with a bad pump. I pulled DTC's and didn't get any, so the computer hasn't registered that the engine overheated.
The only other thing I can think of is the radiator fan, and my manual doesn't give much information about it. With the engine still hot, I can spin the fan and get it to freewheel from one blade to the next. It seems loose to me, but the manual doesn't say how to test it when hot. The book says that with the engine cold, the fan should not freewheel any more than 5 turns, but that number seems somewhat relative. Does anyone know a more definitive way to test the clutch? I would also like to know how much of a pain it is to replace.
Any other ideas and suggestions would be welcomed.
The radiator and thermostat were put in last year, so the coolant isn't that old. I thought it might be the water pump, but I don't have any signs that the pump is bad (no leaks, no noise), and I can't see the temp dropping that fast with a bad pump. I pulled DTC's and didn't get any, so the computer hasn't registered that the engine overheated.
The only other thing I can think of is the radiator fan, and my manual doesn't give much information about it. With the engine still hot, I can spin the fan and get it to freewheel from one blade to the next. It seems loose to me, but the manual doesn't say how to test it when hot. The book says that with the engine cold, the fan should not freewheel any more than 5 turns, but that number seems somewhat relative. Does anyone know a more definitive way to test the clutch? I would also like to know how much of a pain it is to replace.
Any other ideas and suggestions would be welcomed.