OWhatAThrill
New Member
Hello all,
Haven't posted here before but if you are anything like the maxima.org group, I've come to the right place and I hope I picked the correct area. Saw the word coolant and after today, we realize it's part of the problem and we're hoping it's not the radiator.
History:
We've got a 1999 black convertible Cobra. Car has been running hot. We first noticed with air conditioner on but yesterday it stayed at normal temp with air on. I drove it the other day, before I pulled off, we noticed it was low on antifreeze and water in the radiator so we topped it off. I made two short stops, didn't turn on the air, no issues. I then drive across Nashville which took about 20 minutes and made another stop. Air still off, car temp still fine.
Then I drive to our small city about 30 minutes out of town. No issues. I then drove through our small downtown where there are 3 red lights. I decided to turn the air on and see what happened, since I was a mile from home. Made a stop and when coming back, got caught at two red lights and I noticed the temp gauge had finally moved to about the 3/4 of a way to hot, whereas it had been on the temp icon for the previous time. I had put the air on Max because I wanted to test it. When I noticed it running hot, I turned off the air and turned on the heat, as I've always heard that might help cool it back off. Not sure if it would have helped because I then arrived home.
So yesterday, he checks everything and noticed it needed more coolant, so he went and got some "STOP LEAK" to put in it. Lets the car run in the driveway with the air on. Ran it for 30 minutes, temp gauge never moved off the temp icon, and then he drove into Nashville, no issues.
Came down today and after he let it cool, he checked the coolant. LOW and needing some. He had first thought the fan wasn't kicking on but it is but he feels it's not running as fast as it used too, but this could just be a bad memory.
Sounds like a radiator leak somewhere to us. Anyone else have this problem and are there any tricks tips to finding the leak ourselves before we take it to our regular mechanic. We've just shelled out some cash on this car and the Max for some normal expensive repairs and are hoping we aren't looking at a new radiator. Any thoughts? Is the behavior of when it's cool and when it runs hot indicative of problems you have had in the past? Would appreciate them! Thanks!
Haven't posted here before but if you are anything like the maxima.org group, I've come to the right place and I hope I picked the correct area. Saw the word coolant and after today, we realize it's part of the problem and we're hoping it's not the radiator.
History:
We've got a 1999 black convertible Cobra. Car has been running hot. We first noticed with air conditioner on but yesterday it stayed at normal temp with air on. I drove it the other day, before I pulled off, we noticed it was low on antifreeze and water in the radiator so we topped it off. I made two short stops, didn't turn on the air, no issues. I then drive across Nashville which took about 20 minutes and made another stop. Air still off, car temp still fine.
Then I drive to our small city about 30 minutes out of town. No issues. I then drove through our small downtown where there are 3 red lights. I decided to turn the air on and see what happened, since I was a mile from home. Made a stop and when coming back, got caught at two red lights and I noticed the temp gauge had finally moved to about the 3/4 of a way to hot, whereas it had been on the temp icon for the previous time. I had put the air on Max because I wanted to test it. When I noticed it running hot, I turned off the air and turned on the heat, as I've always heard that might help cool it back off. Not sure if it would have helped because I then arrived home.
So yesterday, he checks everything and noticed it needed more coolant, so he went and got some "STOP LEAK" to put in it. Lets the car run in the driveway with the air on. Ran it for 30 minutes, temp gauge never moved off the temp icon, and then he drove into Nashville, no issues.
Came down today and after he let it cool, he checked the coolant. LOW and needing some. He had first thought the fan wasn't kicking on but it is but he feels it's not running as fast as it used too, but this could just be a bad memory.
Sounds like a radiator leak somewhere to us. Anyone else have this problem and are there any tricks tips to finding the leak ourselves before we take it to our regular mechanic. We've just shelled out some cash on this car and the Max for some normal expensive repairs and are hoping we aren't looking at a new radiator. Any thoughts? Is the behavior of when it's cool and when it runs hot indicative of problems you have had in the past? Would appreciate them! Thanks!