The Chrysler Minivan Fan Club Forums banner

Post from the Roadside: Van Nearly Overheated

8K views 32 replies 11 participants last post by  Chrysler1924 
#1 ·
So, I'm currently sitting on the side of CT Route 8 North waiting for USAA to send me a flatbed. I was cruising along just fine when I hear (((CHIME!))) (((CHIME!)))(((CHIME!))) and see the temp gauge at "H".

What's odd is there is no indication of overheating. No fluid, no steam, not any hotter than usual under the hood... The belt didn't fly off and the coolant reserve tank still has stuff in it.

Just waiting for a flatbed... I should have legit never gotten a newer van.

UGH!

#att3gcoverage
 
#2 ·
This is irratating. It almost makes me wonder if the temp sensor failed and told the BCM "Aieeeeee! ARMAGEDDON!" ... when the van is fine. But I have no way of knowing that from the side of the highway. It's not like it's even hot ouside to encourage this. High sixties in a strong breeze.
 
#7 ·
But I have no way of knowing that from the side of the highway. It's not like it's even hot ouside to encourage this. High sixties in a strong breeze.
Feel the rad hoses. There is a sure difference between the normal ~200* and overheating 240*+ that is noticeable by hand. Plus you can squeeze the top hose to make sure coolant is flowing through and you don't have a bad pump or tstat, the water will make a rumbling feel when you restrict the flow.

Good luck with the van.:)
 
#3 · (Edited)
Oh man.

I feel for ya fella. Good thing you have towing service.
That is like my worst nightmare....to get a few hundred miles from home and have a problem like that.
Please advise what the cause turns out to be.

I was planning to take my laser temp gun with me next trip....for the fun of it mostly....but now you've given me the PERFECT reason to do so.

Are you north or south of Torrington ?

Wait a minute....didn't you take the van to the dealer yesterday ?
 
#9 ·
It happened in Thomaston on Route 8 N, which is south of Torrington by about 15 minutes.

And thank God for wonderful **free** tow service from USAA. They will forever have my business instead of that deplorable AAA.

And yes, I did take the van to the dealer yesterday, but by mid-afternoon they'd finished looking it over.
 
#6 ·
thermostat?
 
#11 ·
USAA is excellent. I don't care if I could get insurance for HALF of what USAA charges, USAA will have my business forever I believe. They have our house mortgage and our checking account also. They're a fantastic company.
 
#12 ·
Good to hear that there is a company out there with such reportedly high integrity and customer loyalty. :thumb:
 
#13 ·
Most of us may not qualify for their programs....darn!

From their website......

Who is eligible?

* Active, retired and honorably separated officers and enlisted personnel of the U.S. military.
* Officer candidates in commissioning programs (Academy, ROTC, OCS/OTS).
* Adult children whose eligible parents have or had a USAA auto or property insurance product.1
* Widows and widowers of USAA members who have or had a USAA auto or property insurance policy.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Here's What Happened...

Yesterday, I was on my way from southern CT to Great Barrington, Mass ( a drive of about 75 miles). You go east on CT I-84 until you hit Waterbury then catch CT Route-8 most of the way up to the border. The van was doing wonderfully, no issues, drove great all the way up Interstate 84, through Waterbury, and even part of the way up Route 8. Right around exit 39 in the area of Thomaston, CT the highway narrows to one lane due to construction, which is when I noticed the fast-pace dashboard chiming and the temp gauge on "HOT."

I immediately shut the engine off and coasted over to the shoulder. I turned the key to the ACC position and turned both blowers on high so I could assist in venting the hot air from the engine compartment. A few things I noticed though, the air coming through the vents was warm, but it certainly wasn't suicidal-engine block hot. When I got out and opened the hood, the hood really didn't feel hot at all, just warm. Opening the hood there was no blast of hot air, the engine compartment seemed just as hot as it normally is after running for a bit. There was no steam, no smoke, I couldn't hear anything sizzling or leaking, there was no fluid on the ground that I could see. Yet apparently the van was on the brink of over-heating.

So I sat there for a while after I called USAA and they sent a flatbed to come pick me up. Since I had made it 45 miles away from my home in CT, I wasn't aware of any good shops, and so USAA recommended one. The flat-bed took the van and I to A to Z Driveline on Migeon Avenue in Torrington, CT. A very small, hole in the wall type outfit with a bunch of late-model cars packed in front of it.

However, Matt, the mechanic I worked with was wonderful. By the time the flatbed got us to the shop the engine had pretty much cooled completely, so he started it up and drove it down off the flatbed and over in front of his garage. He found exactly what I found- the coolant reserve bottle was half full, so at first, he thought the level in the system was fine. But to be sure he put a pressure tester on the radiator and pressure tested the cooling system.

To my dismay... NOTHING leaked. At all, and the system held pressure. There were four of us sitting on the ground staring intently waiting for a drop to drip, but nothing happened. So when he took the pressure tester off he looked down inside the radiator and found that it was a little low. Puzzling since there seemed to be a good amount of fluid in the overflow bottle, and no leaks to speak of. He ended up having to add 2 full gallons of coolant into the radiator. :blink: At which point he pressure tested the system again to be sure we all hadn't collectively lost our minds.

Still, nothing leaked. When he went to dump excess fluid in the coolant overflow bottle, suddenly fluid went everywhere. :Wow1: Stunned, we realized that the **** plastic bottle has a leak in it, but half-way up and not at the bottom. The overflow bottle is part of the cooling system cycle and the system pushes fluid IN when it doesn't need it and takes OUT when it needs it. Apparently over the course of months and months, every time the cooling system pushed fluid IN to the bottle, if it got filled above a certain point, the fluid just leaked out. This happened enough times until the system purged itself of 2 gallons of coolant. Which would explain why it seemed like my radiator fans have been running a bit more lately.

The coolant bottle is extremely deceiving. Because if the level of coolant in the radiator gets TOO low, it can no longer even pull any fluid from the overflow bottle. Which is why the overflow bottle still had fluid in it even when the radiator actually needed it.

I started the engine and we sat there for nearly 45 minutes while the engine just idled to make sure the engine didn't overheat again, also making sure the water pump wasn't leaking when it was turning. But with 2 more gallons of coolant, the van got up to operating temperature, halfway between HOT and COLD and stayed there as it should. The fans kicked on and off as they should and nothing leaked.

So, 5 hours of my life and $140 was wasted all because some **** plastic bottle has a dumb crack in it somewhere. I keep thinking how on earth that plastic bottle got damaged. The only thing I can think of is the fluid in it froze when I was in Colorado last winter up in the mountains. We had temperatures that would often exceed -10. Which would cause it to split the plastic. He was able to figure out somehow though that the coolant that WAS in the system was -25 degrees rated, which he said was really good. But I've always been taught to mix coolant with water. Something I will NEVER do again. Because it must've been the water that froze and screwed the bottle over.

So, all in all- I'm thankful that the problem isn't worse, bad hoses, or a bad radiator, thermostat, etc. But I'm not happy that I had to get a flat-bed, miss a few appointments, dump $140, and have a really stressful midnight-drive back to southern CT.... ALL because of a stupid bottle that cost $0.05 to make.

The van made the 75 mile drive home perfectly fine, but that's because it would take a drive a lot longer than that to leak enough coolant back out of the blasted bottle. Now I get to go BACK to my parts guy and buy a new bottle. Guess the e-brake replacement's going to have to wait.

/facepalm.
 
#16 ·
Suggest you use Seal-All on your reservoir as a temporary measure. I always keep that product handy. In the past have used it on radiators and gas tanks with success. Sticks to your fingers real good too. Replace your reservoir later after you do your other work.

Don't know why the Mechanic wouldn't have looked in the radiator first off before doing any pressure testing. Can't depend on the reservoir to tell the level of coolant in the system.
 
#18 ·
Then again, I could've bought scores of those dinky plastic bottles for $140. :angry:
 
#20 ·
Hey Chrysler,

You gotta take a look at this as a BIG positive....

1). The sensors worked and alerted you to a developing problem...thereby potentially saving the motor. That would have been a real bummer.

2). You never know, could have been 1/2 mile farther down the road a drunk driver was going to blow an intersection...with you being the tackle.

3). You have just contributed an amazing piece of information that will be helping others (and yourself) for a LONG time.

Thank you for the VERY useful info :thumb:
 
#21 ·
Yes, it was a cut but you didn't lose much blood. In fact you could still drive your vehicle safely to get where you were going. What a Van!! High five the wheels. :thumb:
 
#22 ·
oh, one foot note Chrysler....

You mentioned that you never had any seat of the pants indications of over heating yet now you know the system was low on coolant, enough so that it probably "should" have felt hot.

I'll bet the cool air temp outside helped.

Kinda cool that even though the motor probably was getting hot, the sensor alerted you even though you were not perceiving the condition developing.

Just a thought.
 
#23 ·
I'd say the tempature gauge went to hot due to an air bubble in the cooling system. When that hot air pocket hit the tempature sender, the gauge pegged out. I may be wrong, but that is my guess...
 
#24 ·
I was thinking the same thing - steam.
 
#25 ·
Well I'm going to have to start checking the engine compartment several times a week now for things leaking and such... as who knows IF/how badly the engine block cracked/warped from being overheated.
 
#26 ·
Maybe nothing bad happened. Very worst case scenario....replace head gaskets.

Remember that it didn't feel excessively hot so that is a GOOD sign that it may be ok.

Hang in there bud! Cmon down, I'll help ya change them gaskets if necessary....... my girlfriend says it's ok. :beerchug:
 
#27 ·
Nice that it was no big problem. I have no idea how I picked up my habit of always checking the radiator level along with the overflow bottle to be sure it is full. May be from the gto as it has no overflow bottle.
 
#29 ·
I just spent more than I will ever care to admit on ordering a new coolant reserve bottle and the hoses to and from. I took the bottle out of the van, plugged the bottom and filled it with water to see where it's leaking from. Of course, now it won't leak.

So I've surmised that the leaking is probably happening at one of the hose junctures. So I bought a new bottle, hoses and camps.

Yes, I realize I could sit here and patch up the bottle, and possibly just duct-tape the hoses... but I really don't have the luxury of time to chase this issue more.
 
#31 ·
I just spent more than I will ever care to admit on ordering a new coolant reserve bottle and the hoses to and from. I took the bottle out of the van, plugged the bottom and filled it with water to see where it's leaking from. Of course, now it won't leak.
Try hot water. You gotta know where the leak originated or you will be expecting it to happen again. Correction - I would have to know where the leak originated to put conclusion to it, but that's me. :thumb:
 
#30 ·
I wouldn't use PURE antifreeze, as it will gel in colder temperatures and not flow when you need it to. You can buy the pre-mixed stuff and just dump it in and be good, or mix distilled water and pure antifreeze to get a good low-temp. strength. Maybe the water/antifreeze mix in the bottle wasn't mixed in the correct ratio, or not mixed well enough? Anyway, sounds like you got the parts to fix it once, and fix it right. :) The engine will probably be okay. I've overheated a couple of my Supras to the point of making steam, temp gauge in the red zone, and no problems with the engines after fixing the causes (usually a blown coolant hose). In fact, I've probably put over 50,000 miles on one of them since overheating, and it still doesn't burn any oil (with 210k on it!). Thanks for bringing a seemingly insignificant part of the cooling system to our attention!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top