So cruising on the highway temp gauge suddenly went from normal to pegged in the red in seconds and car started bucking and hesitating when trying to accelerate. Pulled over and shut the car off and everything looked normal under the hood. Felt the coolant hoses which felt hot but not abnormally so. Car started right back up and everything was normal again. All the gauges read normal and car drove fine. Then it happenned 3 more times over the next 50 miles or so until I got to my destination. I still do not see anything abnormal. Coolant level is fine and car does not appear to be actually overheating but it does seem to go into a limp type mode when to overheating indications come on. Any ideas? This also happenned to my wife about a year ago but its been fine since so we basically forgot about it. I have the common water leak by the passenger side footwell which I'm wondering if it has something to do with it. Any input/advise would be appreciated.

04 Xtype
107K mile, AT

 

dtom4, sounds like your coolant temp sensor is having issues and it is failing open. When it fails open, the computer will see it as a high temp. You may want to also look at the associated wiring (goes straight back to the ECU) and check that wiring for any damage (damaged insulation, wire making funny bends, etc). It could be the wiring having an issue and it is opening up. It will cause the same problem.

If you need more info, let me know.

 

Thanks Thermos. Makes sense and I'll replace it and see what happens. Hopefully thats all it is. Pretty scrary though when you see all the warnings come on and thinking you may have fried the engine. Thanks again.