High Temp.Gauge has turned into other problems.

[Vonhendon]

On 6/24/12 I noticed my Temp.Gauge reading 225 & 230 as I was sitting in Wally World parking lot waiting for my wife. The temp.outside was 90+ and I had the air on. After sitting awhile longer the gauge was reading about 3 tick's from 260 deg. the red line, so I turned the vehicle off and went inside to wait. A few days later and the gauge was still running higher then normal 230ish when stopped or slow traffic then around 215 when moving. I took it to a shop I trust on the 28th and told them that it was running hot and getting hotter a lot quicker, now I do understand that it has been crazy HOT here in Mo. with today being our 10th day in a row of 100+ temp. but these aren't the first high temp's I've seen and my gauge has always been in the middle. The shop checked my level of fluid and did a chemical test on it and it was good, also checked belts hoses and rad.cap. At this point they wanted to make sure there weren't any obstructions so they flow tested it and pressure checked it, pulled the frt.end off to clean condenser and rad. fins and they said a lot of debris was washed and blown out the fin's but wanted me to come back to the shop to show me a small leak from the Timing Cover Gasket and suggested I take care of this. So after spending a boat load of money I get my vehicle back and this is what I notice, The steering wheel is off center, loss of power especially going up long inclines, between 40 & 45mph. it seems to not be sure if it want's to upshift or down shift, gas mileage has dropped and I'm still have the high temp. readings.Before I had that gasket changed the only problem was the Temp. So I took it back to the shop Mon. and told them it's still running around 230,and instead of the temp. going down when I start moving again it goes up higher, also I told them it could be my ECT Sensor or T-Stat so they hooked a scan gauge up to it and drove it on the highway, in stop and go traffic and let it idle for along time and told me that it never went over 223deg. Now I do believe the cleaning off the condenser and rad fin's help some but this ain't normal no matter how hot it is outside. Pic.and Vid.of needle jumping around.

video-2012-07-05-20-21-40.mp4 video by vonhendon - Photobucket

 

[The_Roadie]

Did you ever get the PCM reflashed with the 2005 patch for increased fan clutch RPMs at idle?

Ever changed the fan clutch?

Did the shop check the data stream for Actual Fan RPM versus Commanded Fan RPM?

 

[Vonhendon]

Don't remember if I've every got a PCM reflash.
The clutch was replaced in May 2010.
I don't know if they checked the data stream for Actual Fan RPM versus Commanded Fan RPM or not, does the reflash take care of that?

 

[Joe]

The run in 100 degree temps with the scan gauge connected and the ECT sensor reported temp never exceeding 223 may point to a bad stepper motor on the gauge in the cluster.

 

[Vonhendon]

I'm going to have to stop BS and get me a scan gauge, but other then the temp.running high I had no other problem until they changed my Timing Change Gasket. I can feel it missing when I'm driving, I don't know what all is involved in changing the gasket but something isn't right.

 

[dougman]

They may have cracked the insulator on one of the spark plugs (the back two are really easy to do) doing the valve cover gasket. Do you have a check engine light? It should pick up a misfire quickly.

 

[Vonhendon]

They may have cracked the insulator on one of the spark plugs (the back two are really easy to do) doing the valve cover gasket. Do you have a check engine light? It should pick up a misfire quickly.

Timing Cover Gasket not Valve Cover Gasket.

 

[Vonhendon]

So my vehicle has been back to the shop again to figure out why its running hot and that missing feeling and drop in MPG. Everything on the scan gauge comes up fine, but when he drove it around for some miles he knows something isn't right. So as for as it running hotter then normal they changed the T-Stat (NAPA) without my approval because I wanted the OEM. now my gauge reads a 1.5 or 2 ticks to the left of straight up. They also checked my back pressure and said it was 4,how bad is that?

 

[CaptainXL]

At idle that's bad. Should be 1 psi or less. Clogged catalytic converter will overheat an engine.

 

[Vonhendon]

So my vehicle has been back to the shop again to figure out why its running hot and that missing feeling and drop in MPG. Everything on the scan gauge comes up fine, but when he drove it around for some miles he knows something isn't right. So as for as it running hotter then normal they changed the T-Stat (NAPA) without my approval because I wanted the OEM. now my gauge reads a 1.5 or 2 ticks to the left of straight up. They also checked my back pressure and said it was 4,how bad is that?

So my Cat could be the problem of the higher then normal Temp. Gauge readings the whole time, but other then that it was running fine until they changed my Timing Cover Gasket. 22MPG/16MPG. now it's terrible. Can't seem to find a Cat that's 3in.