Overheating problem 2000 SOHC
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Overheating problem 2000 SOHC
My 2000 4.0 SOHC has a heating problem. While normal driving it does fine, but when going up a hill that requires the transmission to go to a lower gear the temperature gauge starts climbing. I haven't driven it more than about 20-30 minutes at one time, so I don't know if it will heat on a longer trip. It goes to about the 3/4 mark when it does start overheating. At that point I turn the heater on and the engine cools to around the 1/2 mark. I have tried flushing the coolant and adding a new thermostat. After reading a few threads on this subject, I read that the small hole in the thermostat should be in the 12 o'clock position, something I didn't know when I was installing the thermostat. Any ideas?
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The fan clutch seems to be working okay (it does not freely spin when the engine is cold, it has some resistance to it). It's not loosing any coolant and does not overheat while at idle. I am thinking the radiator must be clogged somewhere. Can the radiator be rodded out, or will it need to be replaced?
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I can't imagine a six year old radiator needing rodding out.
That's no test if the fan clutch is working.
With cold engine, open hood, start her up, idle should be elevated, standing there you should hear a roar of air, stand there for a few moments whereby the roar goes away.
Now that's a test.
That's no test if the fan clutch is working.
With cold engine, open hood, start her up, idle should be elevated, standing there you should hear a roar of air, stand there for a few moments whereby the roar goes away.
Now that's a test.
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According to that the fan is okay. The vehicle does have 105,000 miles on it. I bought it about a year and a half ago, and I just had the coolant flushed about a week ago. I am not sure if it had ever been done before. I am hoping the water pump is okay, and since it cools down when you turn the heater on that should be a good sign the coolant is flowing. I drove it to work this morning (20 minute drive and about 65 degrees outside), and everything was normal. But, like I said earlier, it's when you hit a hill it starts heating up.
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Maybe a wheel is dragging for whatever reason. I would jack each wheel up and see if they'll turn (discs drag some). You'll need nuetral gear to do the rear. Block the other three wheels.
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I've seen debris get trapped between the A/C condensor and the radiator, nicely reducing airflow and resulting in higher than desired operating temps. I would also verify that you have fully purged all air from the cooling system.
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I just replaced my radiator on my 2000 sohc expl...mine was because of a leak but you should've seen all the crap that was stuck in the radiator when I pulled it out...there was definately some restriction of airflow. If yours isn't leaking you might want to see if you can take a garden hose sprayer to the back side of your radiator to try and blow that stuff foreward to try and clean it...or if you want it wouldn't hurt to replace hoses/thermostat as well...depending on your mileage you may be getting close to that point anyways...
hth
Doug
hth
Doug
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I have driven it for the past couple of days with no problem. Maybe it was just air in the cooling system. Hot weather is supposed to return this weekend, so I will see then. Thanks for everyone's help!!
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Well, it got hot again!! I have the radiator at the radiator shop. It looked pretty nasty on the outside(the radiator, not the shop!) which is probably my problem, but I am going to get them to clean it and rod it out. This will hopefully do the trick!
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I just got it back from the radiator shop. It was stopped up pretty good. The mechanic said he had a hard time getting the radiator clean. It had some sort of white calcium-like deposit that had hardend up inside of it. I noticed the white particles in my coolant when I drained it yesterday. I will try to get the radiator put back in today or tomorrow and I will post with my results.
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