Very strange problem...

[ChrisB]

It started with the car saying it was over heating only 5 min not even 2 miles worth of driving, in the cold/hot didn't matter.
After sitting and letting the car cool down it could be started and driven the rest of the day fine.
I thought it was the thermostat and I planned on changing it over the weekend, but then on wed. it acted up, over heated, so I pulled over, turned it off, let it cool down, and the thing would not start.
I had it towed to a garage where they said the battery was drained and they charged it and checked a bunch of other stuff, the only thing they found wrong, besides the error codes (which they did/said nothing about) said a wire set up for an amp in the trunk could have caused a fire so they removed it. I drove it home and parked it, went to start it up on Sat. would not start. But it says strange codes after I tried jumping the battery, like check traction control, but the car won't start. I'm going to charge the batter fully or replace if I have to, and see what happens from there.
Any thoughts on this would help a lot. Thanks

I was thinking maybe it's a blown ECU from the wires in the trunk? Or a blown cell in the battery???

 

[NateRW21]

What year? V8, V6? What are the codes?

 

[EmpireSix]

I'm still not convinced that its not the thermostat. The battery may just be a coincidence. Winter is coming anyhow, you may want a fresh battery regardless.

 

[ChrisB]

Sorry, it's a 2000 V8, and as for the exact codes, I only know the warning messages.
Check traction control
Check Engine Temp
Engine power reduced

 

[CT Swagger]

ChrisB where u from in CT???

 

[97stscaddy]

The traction control is disabled when the battery gets too low. That could be the reason for that code.

The others have to do with the overheating. Change the thermostat and flush the coolant, and that should take care of it.

 

[milehighmikey]

Your car may have a possible engine coolant temperature sensor flaky connection issue. Although these vehicles come up to temperature quickly, 5 minutes seems rather extreme. You may want to carefully disconnect and reconnect the ECT connector a few times.

The 2000 model year shows its age as well, and it very well could be a bad thermostat. Mine failed lazy open, so last winter, I was unable to get hot air out of the heater. I confirmed low coolant temperature with an infrared thermometer. The thermostat housing measured around 150 degrees after a 30 mile highway drive while still running. Changing to a stock issue (192?) new thermostat, the observed housing temp was up to 175 under the same conditions, still fairly cold out. I guess if a thermostat has to go bad, it's better to have it not shut fully instead of not open at all.

One other possibility is air pockets in the engine! I just remembered that one. If air accumulates in the area of the ECT sensor, it can and will show a rapid overheat condition. The solution is to bleed the air out and if that fixes it due to really finding trapped air, then the problem should go away, and it would be wise to watch the system for recurrence, which could indicate a cracked head or leaking head gasket that would allow combustion chamber gases to enter the colling system.