QuestionI have a 1996 Chrysler LHS eith a 3.5 liter engine. It recently started overheating. Yesterday a cousin borrowed the car and drove it about 10 miles on the freeway. When he exited the freeway he noticed the engine was getting hot.
I checked the car out later that night. I pulled the thermostat and the car still overheated. I ran water across the radiator which did not help. Does the water pump on these models fail in this way?
I am out of ideas.
Tim
AnswerHi Tim,
Did you have anyother indication of overheating, such as steam or coolant blowing out of the overflow bottle? I ask because it might be the temp gauge is not accurate. Have you tried to measure the temp of the coolant in the overflow bottle with a high temp thermometer (such as a candy themometer from the kitchen?)
Assuming it is running hotter than it should you may have a problem with air trapped in the thermostat housing or other area of the system. There is a special procedure you need to follow to refill the system to avoid that, so if your recently drained and refilled the system that may be the cause. I can xerox and postal mail the procedure for that.
The radiator tubes could be narrowed or blocked so the coolant is not flowing freely across the core. Have you tried flushing the system with a strong cleaner? If there is not good cross flow in the radiator it doesn't matter if you run water over the outside of it.
Do the fans come on when the gauge reads hot? If not, that may be the problem.
On the waterpump: the 3.5L pump is driven by the timing belt so if you don't need a timing belt change out it would be wise to only get into that issue when you have tried the other approaches first. It is a fairly big/expensive job to change the pump, so that is why most people recommend doing that only when the timing belt is showing sign of wear out and then you change the pump regardless of its condition.
I have not heard any unusual issues with the pump.
So those are my observations. Let me know if I can give you further direction.
Roland
