Okay here's the deal. My wife's mini van overheats in stop and go trafic. If its moving at a regular pace it's fine. Othrwise it over heats.

When I got home the temp gauge was all the way up and the idiot light came on. When I shut off the van, the fan wasn't runing. It should have been right? I checked the fuzes of everything that said blower or fan (the relay I replaced with another one with all the same #s on it) nothing.

What could it be? loose wires? Thermostat? I am already down to one car and I don't need this, as I must get to work everyday (83 miles away).

It's a '99 plymouth Voyager. Any help would be appreciated.

Man, you have the worst luck with vehicles.

Was the starter the culprit on the van?

REPLACE

Replace the stat w 180deg, flush and refill the system!!! Good luck!!!

Yes it was. 500$ in La Crosse. Included a new water pump. Just did a flush and fill about a week ago, Can I just do the stat? Where is the stat?

Thanks for the help

on top of the motor where the radiator hose goes into the block

I assume the temp gauge and idiot light have a temp sensor and would not be controled by the stat right?

Thanks Buzzy! That's right were they took the hse off to do the flush and fill. They also failed to put the clamp on right so all the cooant came out. That was right before the water pump went bad and was replaced.

if it's an electric fan, chances are that your motor needs to be replaced. while you're moving, you don't really need the fan, but it's crucial that it work in stop and go traffic. it's not uncommon for those motors to go bad. i had to replace one in a cavalier my wife had. do this as soon as you can. if you smoke check your motor, that gets really expensive. you could be looking at new heads or even worse -- a cracked block. replace the fan motor. it's easy and it's cheaper than the alternative.

how can you be sure that's the problem? well, let the car idle and warm up with the hood up. you should hear a click when the relay engages to turn on the fan. if the fan doesn't move, try to get it started with a stick or something and make sure you don't get a hand or a finger caught by the blade. that could get expensive too. if the fan starts with your help, you know you have a bad motor. replace it immediately. if the fan is not electric, you probably have a clogged cooling system that could be caused by a bad thermostat. i'd have an expert look at it then just because that exceeds my experience with cooling systems.

Thanks lofty. I was leaving to get a new stat. Now I'm on way way to the class 6 for a bottle of jim beam...

I second the bottle of Jim Beam. I feel your pain.

My "Check Engine" came on yesterday in my VW. Time to go to the dealership for maintenance!

i would have the radiator flushed and checked. i had similar problems with mt truck.

Thanks 9. Sorry to hear about your morning. Glad all are fine. Cool name btw, my uncle used to call me that before he died. Same as William, Yes?

yes, or bill, like my pop. everything is getting better-thanx

nine

rug, i sent heather an email with my phone #. give me a call if you have any other questions about the fan motor.

Must agree with lofty... the symptoms you describe point to a fan motor. I do not advocate changing your thermostat to a 180 degree one.

The engineers that designed your vehicles engine know more about it than any dude on a cigar board. They know what temperature it will perform optimally at and that's why they chose the thermostat they chose. Your not racing a minivan.

Again, lofty has a point... the fan usually doesn't come on while driving at freeway speed, the wind is enough. It's when you stop that it has to come on to cool down the radiator.

Sounds like your fan is bad.

Rug,

I dont know a lot about cars, but its amazing what a $2.00 little electrical tester can do. You can test to see if certian things are getting power.

ie. if our fan motor is getting power. I once replaced a perfectly good fan motor thinking it was bad. I would test the motor, make sure its getting power. 9 times out of 10 its not the motor..but simply somthing is not telling it to come on correctly.

I have had POS cars most of the time and there is always something going wrong.

good luck my friend!!!

v

If your fan motor tests good you should change your thermostat.

You just mentioned that you just had a flush and fill. Was this to remedy the overheating problem that you already had or just preventive maintenance?

If your problem started after the flush and fill I would bet that your thermostat is trashed. When hooking up the pump that is commonly used for the flush 'n fill it's very easy to hook it up in a reverse flow mode. Then what happens is all of the sludge from your cooling system is washed right over your thermostat, fouling it up. Then it can't open and close properly according to your coolant temperature as it is supposed to do.

1st, try turning on the Air Conditioning. All cars run the fan full time when the air is on. If the fan runs with the air on, you know the fan motor is good. And it's probably the fan temp sensor.

If it doesnt run with the air on, test for voltage at the fan. If you have power there, the fan motor is bad. If there isnt voltage, and the fuse is good, then it's the temp sensor, a short or an open circuit.

It's not the thermostat if you are cool while moving. It's very common to have a bad temp sensor though. I suspect that more than anything.

If the fan runs while the air is on, drive it with the air on until you find the problem. That way you wont damage the motor. Just adjust the heater temp up if it's cold in the morning, so you dont freeze your ass off.

If you need more advise e-mail me. We can get you fixed up pretty easily unless it's a wierd problem.