Car Overheats Intermittently

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sandiegan

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I've been borrowing my mother's 00 LS v6 manual for a few weeks. Yesterday it randomly overheated on the highway. I pulled off, waited for 25 minutes, everything cooled down, opened up the coolant, level was fine. All hoses appear fine, there is nothing blocking the radiator.

Is it most likely a sticky thermostat? My mom says it's done it before. I drove it away just fine after it cooled off, it did not overheat again.
 
Thermostats go out when they choose to go out. Not necessarily on the "it's been done before" train of thought. I had one go out within 2 months a few years back.
 
Most likely an air bubble in the cooling system. Try a proper bleed first. If that doesnt work, then replace the thermostat.
 
my car has been doing the same thing....except it is only after its first started...as soon as it warms the needle just keeps on going up...i pull over for about 10-15 mins let it cool...hear a gurguling sound then start it...then it wont happen again all day...its probably a sticking thermostat...i need to get it fixed...just havent made the time...kinda fits in my morning routine now...by the time it heats up i am pulling into the same gas station and getting my coffee.
 
lazydays. Right before the needle guage moves, you will hear the engine fan kick into high. Like a jet. As SOON as you hear that occur, turn your heat on full temp/full blast. Within 2 mins, the needle should start to go back to the middle. You can then turn the heat off, and proceed as normal for the rest of that drive.
 
i had the same problem on my 2000 ls it was a v8, and it would do the same stuff, kinda sucks if your in a traffic jam. my cooling system eventually went at the same time as the tranny so i got the new one now. my suggestion is to check the fan because i do believe it is an electric fan and there were lots of problems with it on the first gen's thats why they changed it for the second gens. i know the fan did come on, and you can def hear it but i found it did no use to cool the car in time, then it went into power saving mode or something.
get rid of it get a second gen. best decision i made without a doubt
 
it is true that the fan doesnt help when there is that air bubble in the cooling system. This is because the coolant either isnt flowing at all, or barely flowing. The fan isnt the root problem though. My issue is definitely an issue with air bubbles getting repeatedly re-introduced into the system, and I cant figure out why.
 
lseguy said:
Most likely an air bubble in the cooling system. Try a proper bleed first. If that doesnt work, then replace the thermostat.
Click to expand...

+1, Sounds exactly like what was happening to me before I bled the system. All is good now. How to is in the Tech Articles section up top. ^
 
Just an FYI in my situations.

EVERY time my LS attempted/attempts to overheat (I always catch it before the needle even gets to 3/4), it's within 5 minutes of me starting the car. (assuming the car was already started/warmed up previously that day). Almost as if the coolant never starts flowing properly from the get go. Once I get past the 5 minute mark, it has NEVER given me an issue. Before I figured out that turning the heat on full blast "burped" the bubble in the system, I would pull over, and restart the car. That worked 100% of the time as well.
 
UPdate: I got away without it happening for about a month, then it overheated again. This time I didn't catch it until it was pretty hot, it threw a CEL. But I turned the heater on full blast, and then the temperature came back down to normal. PepBoys pulled the codes, P1285 and P1299 - cylinder over temp. But everything seems to be running just fine.

So if I am able to get the car to stop overheating by putting the heater on full blast, it is not an air bubble. So is it most likely the thermostat?
 
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