cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board  

Go Back   cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board > non-Sports > Home Improvement and Real Estate

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-08-2007, 01:41 PM   #1
Brian
Senior Member
 
Brian's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Oak Ridge, TN
Posts: 1,308
Brian has a little shameless behaviour in the past
Default car question

last night while driving home from lowes (which involves a pretty good drive up a hill: elevation difference ~1800 ft), i noticed that my engine temp was getting on the high side. It wasn't out of the band, but it was up on the edge.
This morning, I checked the radiator and it was full. However, the one odd thing I have noticed is that within the last 2 weeks or so, the heater sometimes just blows cold air. So when I need heat, I turn it on, then off, what a few minutes and try again for warm. Usually in 5 mins or so I get warm air.
Are the sensors/etc involved in both processes connected? Any ideas?
__________________
e^(i * pi) + 1 = 0
5 great numbers in one little equation.
Brian is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-08-2007, 01:43 PM   #2
MikeWaters
Demiurge
 
MikeWaters's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 36,363
MikeWaters is an unknown quantity at this point
Default

have you tried calling Car Talk?
MikeWaters is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-08-2007, 02:16 PM   #3
Brian
Senior Member
 
Brian's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Oak Ridge, TN
Posts: 1,308
Brian has a little shameless behaviour in the past
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeWaters View Post
have you tried calling Car Talk?
is that the click and clack radio show?
__________________
e^(i * pi) + 1 = 0
5 great numbers in one little equation.
Brian is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-08-2007, 02:23 PM   #4
MikeWaters
Demiurge
 
MikeWaters's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 36,363
MikeWaters is an unknown quantity at this point
Default

yes it is. if you tell them about your leno appearance, I think you are more likely to get on the air.
MikeWaters is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-08-2007, 02:31 PM   #5
hyrum
Senior Member
 
hyrum's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 860
hyrum is on a distinguished road
Default thermostat? clog?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian View Post
last night while driving home from lowes (which involves a pretty good drive up a hill: elevation difference ~1800 ft), i noticed that my engine temp was getting on the high side. It wasn't out of the band, but it was up on the edge.
This morning, I checked the radiator and it was full. However, the one odd thing I have noticed is that within the last 2 weeks or so, the heater sometimes just blows cold air. So when I need heat, I turn it on, then off, what a few minutes and try again for warm. Usually in 5 mins or so I get warm air.
Are the sensors/etc involved in both processes connected? Any ideas?
How old is the car and when is the last time you had your radiator flushed? Could be that your thermostat is not working (so the coolant water is circulating just within the engine) or there is a clog in your system due to deposit of scale/gunk/whatever. I once had a car where the engine temp was plenty warm but the heater didn't heat well, turned out the lines had a bunch of gunk accumulated which was resolved by flushing the system -- I went so far as to remove a number of the hoses and clean them separately.
hyrum is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-08-2007, 02:49 PM   #6
YOhio
AKA SeattleNewt
 
YOhio's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,055
YOhio is an unknown quantity at this point
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeWaters View Post
yes it is. if you tell them about your leno appearance, I think you are more likely to get on the air.
Brian, can you upload that Leno appearance on Youtube? I missed it the first time and would like to see it.
YOhio is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-08-2007, 02:49 PM   #7
Brian
Senior Member
 
Brian's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Oak Ridge, TN
Posts: 1,308
Brian has a little shameless behaviour in the past
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by hyrum View Post
How old is the car and when is the last time you had your radiator flushed? Could be that your thermostat is not working (so the coolant water is circulating just within the engine) or there is a clog in your system due to deposit of scale/gunk/whatever. I once had a car where the engine temp was plenty warm but the heater didn't heat well, turned out the lines had a bunch of gunk accumulated which was resolved by flushing the system -- I went so far as to remove a number of the hoses and clean them separately.
It's a 99 Nissan Frontier truck. 80K miles. I've never had the radiator flushed.
__________________
e^(i * pi) + 1 = 0
5 great numbers in one little equation.
Brian is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-08-2007, 03:08 PM   #8
myboynoah
Senior Member
 
myboynoah's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Memphis freakin' Tennessee!!!!!
Posts: 4,530
myboynoah is an unknown quantity at this point
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by hyrum View Post
How old is the car and when is the last time you had your radiator flushed? Could be that your thermostat is not working (so the coolant water is circulating just within the engine) or there is a clog in your system due to deposit of scale/gunk/whatever. I once had a car where the engine temp was plenty warm but the heater didn't heat well, turned out the lines had a bunch of gunk accumulated which was resolved by flushing the system -- I went so far as to remove a number of the hoses and clean them separately.
I bet this solves it. We had a cold air blowing heater (in a Nissan in fact) and it was the thermostat.

I once had Jetta that would vapor lock and the hot engine light and buzzer would come on. Drove it across the nation that way. It only vapor locked once, outside of Grand Junction. Eventually, a new fuel pump solved the vapor locking, but the hot engine light and buzzer continued to come on. Beating the dashboard was the only solution I found. I was born in Idaho.
__________________
Give 'em Hell, Cougars!!!

Religion rises inevitably from our apprehension of our own death. To give meaning to meaninglessness is the endless quest of all religion. When death becomes the center of our consciousness, then religion authentically begins. Of all religions that I know, the one that most vehemently and persuasively defies and denies the reality of death is the original Mormonism of the Prophet, Seer and Revelator, Joseph Smith.
myboynoah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-09-2007, 05:20 AM   #9
Surfah
Master
 
Surfah's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: F'burg, VA
Posts: 3,211
Surfah is an unknown quantity at this point
Send a message via AIM to Surfah Send a message via MSN to Surfah
Default

Sounds like your thermostat is sticking to me. I'd start there.
__________________
Ernie Johnson: "Auburn is a pretty good school. To graduate from there I suppose you really need to work hard and put forth maximum effort."

Charles Barkley: "20 pts and 10 rebounds will get you through also!"
Surfah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-09-2007, 06:20 PM   #10
Brian
Senior Member
 
Brian's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Oak Ridge, TN
Posts: 1,308
Brian has a little shameless behaviour in the past
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by surfah33 View Post
Sounds like your thermostat is sticking to me. I'd start there.
is that generally easy to fix?
I'm trying to teach myself how to do basic repair.

i sure wish i would have taken auto mechanics in HS. it would have saved me more money in life than that karate class.
__________________
e^(i * pi) + 1 = 0
5 great numbers in one little equation.
Brian is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 01:17 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.