Quick background.
I purchased the 03 in Jan 07 from a relative with 3,200 miles on it. It basically was in a garage from Oct 02 until then. I now have 26,300 miles on it.

I have never been happy with the way the Air Conditioning system has functioned. I some times have to turn the car off in order to get it to give cold air through the vents. I am not sure if the compressor is not going on or the doors to the vents are not opening properly. On two occasions over the last seven months the fan would not stop running after the car was turned off. The temperature gauge was in its normal position, just below the half way mark. I started the car raced the motor for 3-4 seconds turned off the car and the fan did not run after turn off. About two weeks ago this happened again so I restarted the car raced the engine turned off, but this time the fan still was running and the temp gauge was slightly past the midway point. I opened the hood and found the coolant level down about 1-2 inches. I purchased coolant and filled to the proper level. No problem until today. I was stuck in stop and go traffic and the air is not functioning as well as it should and all of a sudden while I am stopped the temperature gauge starts to rise much quicker than it should. After it got to the 3/4 mark I pull off onto the shoulder and put the car in neutral and race the engine at 2000 rpm for 10-15 seconds and the temp drops like a stone to normal just below the half mark.

I get back on the highway and finish the drive home now having cold air and a normal temperature. After the car cooled down 4 hours I checked to coolant level and it is full up to to black top of the tank.

Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be? When I first got the car and I had the air problem and described it to the service dept on the phone they said that I probably need to have the computer re-flashed. Does this make any sense ?

 

Check for coolant leaks, if any fix and add coolant, check the belt on the water pump, ensure it's good and snug.
If the belt checks out ok, you may need to replace the thermostat, with your car being a 2003 and only 26K miles on it, it's not being used/driven the way it should be. It probably wouldn't hurt to do a coolant flush while you're replacing the stat. When was the oil changed?

A side note, never race the engine if you suspect a cooling problem. Cracked heads, engine, seized bearings/piston are not cheap fixes.

 

Thank you, however you misread my post. In the past two years I have driven 23,000 miles.
As I also stated the coolant level is fine.

As to your point of not racing the engine while hot, you could not be more wrong. If the coolant level is correct that is the proper way to get the coolant moving through the radiator to cool it down, and if it is necessary you should also turn on the heater to dissipate more heat. In addition in my 46 years of doing minor repairs to my cars and my friends cars I have never seen a thermostat that was intermittently operating correctly. It either functions correctly or it does not, but that does not mean that one could could function correctly only some of the time.

I really would like it if someone that reads this thread has an answer for my problem and we do not start discussing side issues.

Thank you
Double Tap

 

Lol,
Ok, my apologies....

In your 46 years of doing minor maint, this should be a piece of cake for you....

best of luck...

 

Your apology is graciously accepted

 

Quick background.
I purchased the 03 in Jan 07 from a relative with 3,200 miles on it. It basically was in a garage from Oct 02 until then. I now have 26,300 miles on it.

I have never been happy with the way the Air Conditioning system has functioned. I some times have to turn the car off in order to get it to give cold air through the vents. I am not sure if the compressor is not going on or the doors to the vents are not opening properly. On two occasions over the last seven months the fan would not stop running after the car was turned off. The temperature gauge was in its normal position, just below the half way mark. I started the car raced the motor for 3-4 seconds turned off the car and the fan did not run after turn off. About two weeks ago this happened again so I restarted the car raced the engine turned off, but this time the fan still was running and the temp gauge was slightly past the midway point. I opened the hood and found the coolant level down about 1-2 inches. I purchased coolant and filled to the proper level. No problem until today. I was stuck in stop and go traffic and the air is not functioning as well as it should and all of a sudden while I am stopped the temperature gauge starts to rise much quicker than it should. After it got to the 3/4 mark I pull off onto the shoulder and put the car in neutral and race the engine at 2000 rpm for 10-15 seconds and the temp drops like a stone to normal just below the half mark.

I get back on the highway and finish the drive home now having cold air and a normal temperature. After the car cooled down 4 hours I checked to coolant level and it is full up to to black top of the tank.

Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be? When I first got the car and I had the air problem and described it to the service dept on the phone they said that I probably need to have the computer re-flashed. Does this make any sense ?

 

Well there are 82 views and two responses.
Does anyone have some idea of what the problem might be?

 

Love the reply racerx82 lol


I've had this problem happen to my car. It ended up being the fan was going bad on me which would answer why your car overheats in stop and go traffic in contrast when you are driving down the road. When you are driving down the road obviously cool air flow is being taken in the engine and keeping the car cool, as soon as you stop the engine starts to get hot. It caused hot air to blow from the A/C as well as the temp gauge shooting up to overheating. Get your fan checked. I had to have mine replaced and it works like a charm now.

 

YUP , happen to me 2 & i changed the fan now it works like a charm

 

It is looking like I am going to be replacing my fan controller here shortly. I am not having any overheat issues while driving (in town or on the highway), but I am getting the A/C to change temps when I am stopped. The A/C gets fairly warm when the car is moving slowly/stopped. So, guess I need to start looking around for a fan controller before my car suffers an overheat condition. Yeah. Not.