when i first bought my car, i had problems with overheating, and it turns out that I had to replace a bad water pump and fix a coolant leak, and had the coolant flushed (1995 3.4l, the green stuff.) that was about 3 months ago, and the car has ran fine since with no overheating problems. i have a stock thermostat also, btw.

but today, while doing an photo assignment for my class, i was driving on a very bumpy road about 5mph the whole time for about 20 minutes while periodically stopping my car to get out and take pictures, so it would sit in park for a few minutes at a time while i took the pictures. near the end of the road, i got back in the car, and my engine temperature was almost in the red danger zone, above 3/4 of the way. it never goes this high and doesnt usually pass the 3/4 mark. after a few minutes of driving with the heat on full blast, the temperature instantly went down under halfway in a matter of 10 seconds overall. it fluctuated a little after that, but never passed the 3/4 mark again, although coming close. after about 10 minutes, it seemed steady around halfway on the temp meter.

what im wondering is, is this normal? after all, the car was sitting for minutes at a time and i was driving very slow, so is it normal for the car to sometimes heat up that much on occasion? or is this something i should worry about? i know its not really normal when the temperature is almost in the red zone...

thanks in advance for any help.

 

Check the water level in your radiator. I have the same problem with mine and i need to add about a gallon of water/radiator fluid a month to my radiator to keep it steady at 180. My radiator doesn't leak or anything but i lose about a gallon a month, after i started adding a gallon or so a month it has never been above 180.

 

i poured some of a gallon jug of water in there and it only held about 1/4-1/3 of the jug before it overflowed..

 

Have you ever had that tested to see where it is leaking? Losing a gallon of coolant a month is not healthy at all.....

- Justin

 

if youre loosing coolant it could be leaking into the oil system.
It could be a blown headgasket or intake gaskets.
I just replaced my intake gaskets cause it was leaking.
You could spin a bearing.