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Engine running hot (or temp gauge showing it is)

Hello.

Okay so this started yesterday night. My wife and I were on vacation and had our 2001 Explorer parked over at a friend's house after being dropped off at the airport. We came back and it was covered with sawdust (my friend had been doing a little wood cutting).

So, we get in and drive home. About 1/4 home I notice that the temp gauge warning light comes on and the gauge itself it just about over as far as it can go. Now, I'm just about to look for a place to pull over when the thing starts dropping back down to the middle range.

Okay, that was weird. It stayed there the rest of the way home (about another 30 minutes or so). So, this morning I get up to drive to work and about 4 miles from home it begins it's climb again. This time I'm watching it pretty carefully, of course. It hits the same point and after staying there about a minute, drops back down to the middle and stays there for the rest of the trip to work.

It does climb a little when stopped at a light or something, so I'm guessing the wind from driving on the highway is cooling it a bit.

So, my question is: Why does it climb to the high point in the first place?

Sawdust? I'm guessing that's most likely the case and will clean it when I get home, but could the temp sensor?

Any ideas suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Reply to
TTU
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My 2003 with 58000 miles has been doing the exact same thing for about 3 months. I have yet to replace the engine coolant sensor but I suspect it is going bad. The climb to hot happens about the same time which is probably when the thermostat opens and the rush of hot water streams by. My 2003 also (most of the time) sounds the alarm on the message center of engine overtemp and shuts off the A/C compressor for a brief moment. Knowing I don't have an overheating problem, it's annoying at best.

Reply to
Andy Barkl

Reply to
kc10

Low on coolant or sticky t-stat

Reply to
JohanB

I'd replace the thermostat. It's probably sticking, and it is a cheap fix, basically.

Alan

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It's not that I think stupidity should be punishable by death. I just think we should take the warning labels off of everything and let the problem take care of itself.

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Reply to
Alan Moorman

Well, I washed the thing and the engine looked fine, so sawdust or anything other than a few bugs there. With the vehicle stopped and running I put my hand in front of the radiator and there was some pretty good suction going on there, so I'm guessing it's most likely the thermostat.

I picked one up and will install it this weekend when I have enough time. Will let everyone know how it goes.

Thanks for the help.

Reply to
TTU

Okay. I replaced the termostat and it works perfectly now. It took all of about 30-45 minutes. Nice.

Thanks for the help.

Reply to
TTU

Thanks for the reply. I'll replace mine next week after I get it back from the body shop. The wife was driving too close to someone last week when he stopped suddenly in rush hour traffic and she was fumbling with her purse . It will never be the same! $4000 worth of repairs and it didn't even touch the engine components. '03 EB

Reply to
Andy Barkl

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