It has been 100 degree or more during the day at where I am.

If I let the engine run idle for, say, 20 minutes with the air on, the temperature on the gauge actually goes up , not bad enough to go into the red zone, but the needle is pointing like 10 to 11 oclock. As soon as I start to drive, the temp would drop back to 8 to 9 oclock. However, the car makes very noticeable rattling sound (click, click, click.......) when I hit gas. It would go away when the RPM hits 2K. I was told that is due to bad gas, but that would not happen when the engine is cold. And I am now running on 89 Shell gas.

One of the fan (the left one when you stand in front of the car) will turn on when the air is on. But even the temp went up that high while idle, the right one didn't get turned on. Will that fan be on when I put the gear into drive?

Thanks.....

 

This may seem obvious, but what does your coolant level look like? Can you tell if the coolant is moving through the cooling system properly?

I had a car do the same thing a few years back and it was water pump related. The blades of the pump actually rusted off a bit and the coolant would not circulate properly until I hit higher RPMS. And yes, both fans should be on. IIRC, they are on my max when it heats up.

 

Both of my fans spin while at idle in park... :\

 

Your fan is dead. Fix it and watch your temp needle chill out.

 

I added some coolant to let it reach "MAX" in the reservior a couple weeks back. The level is normal now.

Looks like the fan is dead for sure, plus I need to check the pump......

Thanks....

 

my question would be: Why the hell would you be idling with the AC on for 20 mins?

 

lol to burn gas lol

 

Gals never on time..... sigh~ I'd be pretty lucky that day if it's only 20.

 

lol, i know how that is man. But not only are you wasting gas, you're asking for overheating when you're standing still running the AC. (not to mention the cat-converter) Just do what i do, shut off the car, and hang around.

 

With a properly functioning cooling system, you could idle forever (given you had gas) without overheating.

And what about the converter? Please do mention it.

 

You're in PA, he's in Al. I can speak for most southern states when I say turning off your car is like living in hell. Oh wait, it is hell. Not having an AC sucks, so I would definitely get that fan checked out/replaced.

Actually, FL weather has been nice lately, mid 80s on avg for the highs, humidity is still high though.

 

yeah, well, just so you know, we've had 95 degree weather with 90% humidity, so lets not get too technical here. pmohr, i think i remember reading in the manual, that extended periods of "idling" put a lot of stress on the cat. Seeing how it is an older car, i wouldn't want to put extra stress on ANYTHING. But, to each is own.