Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Temperature

hey everybody. I'm new to this site...just found it tonight. Anyways, I have a 96 2.5L auto ...and I have temp problems. Actually, I bought the car about 5 months ago...and the car's temp was always crazy...it's all over the place. Just about few weeks ago, i had to change the water pump. One day when i was driving it, car just overheated. It never leaked the coolant, nor i was missing it. I thought it was the thermo, and I changed it...but the car kept overheating. I took it to the dealer, and they said it was the stupid pump. After I changed it, it seemed to me that temp was constantly the same...but no...it still goes UP On the gauge, it goes up to M on NORMAL! My uncle has the same car...little bit less km on it...he's got about 60-70,000km...i have 117,000 (still, that's not a big difference for 6 cyl) and his temp is always between O and R...never goes up or down. Mine is like, on N...and then, if i let it sit for a while, it goes up to M, and never goes down until i start driving it..and that takes a while too, to cool it down...and onces it cooles it down, it stays between O and R. I was wondering how other people have their gauges showing. Is this how it's supposed to be?? To me it doesn't make sense...I like the car, but that temp is bothering me.
Any help is appricated!

Thanks, and sorry for the long post.

mine is always on the upper end of normal and ive never had to change the pump of thermo but i probally should

Well i have the same kinda car you do...96 2.5 auto lx..and mine is either below the n...on the n...or the o....one time it got to the r, but the fan just didn't kick on...it has been fine ever since...i have had mine for 6 months and this is how it has been for me the whole time. Haven't had to change the wp yet.

alicia
:p

As long as the high-speed fan kicks in before the temp. gauge needle passes, say, the L, and then the temp. reading comes back down, sounds fine to me. Temperature should go up while idling after being driven because the water pump is turning slower and airflow over the radiator is reduced. Once you get going again, the temp. should come back down to its regular value. As long as the needle sits in the NORMAL range whilst driving, you ought to be fine. The gauge is not a precision instrument, and there's a separate sensor for telling the engine management computer when the higher fan speed is needed.

It's also conceivable you're still purging the air from your coolant system (it needs to "burp"). In such a case, you'd see periodic upward "spikes" in the gauge reading.

Anyway, you're keeping an eye on your temperature, which is certainly a good thing. I presume you're watching your coolant level, checking for puddles beneath the car, etc. If something does indeed go wrong, you'll catch it quickly.

Several people have complained about the variations in the gauge readings from on evehicle to the next.

I think the consensus is that they can vary greatly from one vehicle to the next.

However, I agree with Garrick that as long as you keep an eye on it, and it remains consistant (once it's finished burping itself,) you shoul dbe fine; unless it's consistant in the RED ZONE.

Good Luck,
david

Have it flushed completely. Perhaps some of the broken impeller blades are clogging passageways and causing a blockage of coolant flow, which can lead to overheating.

Thanks guys...i know it's ok as long as it sits in NORMAL range. I was just wondering how the temp i showing on other ppl's cars. yeah, i always keep an eye on temp...last night it went to M..stayed there for a while, and when i started driving again, after about 4-5km driving, it went back down. Again, I know it's all good when it's in NORMAL zone...but i'm just used to jap and euro cars...where it stays in one place...no matter how you drive. I like the car, but i was dissapointed when: after i got it...second day it woudln't start.problem - range sensor. after about a month after...oxygen sensor. couple of weeks after i changed that, i got a check engine light, and i said screw it...i'm not fixin' it again. and just about a few weeks ago i had to replace the w-pump...and no check engine light since. what's the next problem? hopfully it'll stay without problems from now on.
thanks again

yeah..
one more thing i was wonder...since you guys know your cars well. I was wondering what kind of computer does 2.5 have? my 2.8L beretta has OBD-I i believe, and i can check for the codes myself...using the paper-clip method. Is that possible with contour?
Thanks for all your help

'96 and later models have OBD-2, which you'll need a scanner for. I'm working on making my own, but so far I haven't had the time to mess with it.

Mine always stays on the N and sometimes it gores to the O but my fan ALWAYS TURNS ON, I wonder if something is wrong but I'de rather not know that I have yet another problem with my car!