Why is it when I drive my car under normal conditions my temp guage is where it supposed to be (a little less than half). But if i turn my air conditioner on and let it run for a little bit the temp guage goes up!!!!! Someone please help!!!!!

 

Check your condenser fan and radiator fan. Make sure the fan in front of the condenser comes on when the A/C is on. Plus check the radiator fan, this radiator fan used hydraulic pump from the Power steeing pump. If the connector at the power steering pump is disconnected the radiator fan will run only one speed.

 

HAVE SOMEONE LOOK AT IT IMMEDIATELY!!!

I was having the same problem, my lex was acting "*****y" and on some days it would overheat badly and i would have to turn the heat allllll the way up and put the windows down just to keep the temp under the red danger zone area. It started out happening with just the AC, but then it was starting to happen on random days. then one day coming back from a week in virginia (i live in philadelphia) the car was overheating again and we stopped and waited to cool it. we put more coolant in (cause it was burning coolant and oil because of the overheating) and then we started to drive again. we made it 3 miles to the next exit and it shot up way above the red danger zone. the coolant actually started boiling and had blew the little plastic cap off of the coolant tank in the engine compartment. the little cap thing blew off and spewed coolant all over the engine (which then burnt instantly in this great smelling smoke). We filled it up with more coolant and a little more oil and started to drive again (after a long wait to cool down). we made it, no lie, a quarter of a mile and then we heard a bang and the temp gauge shot up drastically. more smoke and smells occurred. we pulled onto the shoulder and coasted at like 15 mph to the next exit where we parked it at a car repair shop (conveniently at the bottom of the off-ramp) and assessed the situation.

the radiator had blown an 8 inch crack across the top of it, from the car's front right corner all the way to the radiator cap. the crack was more like a gap, about a quarter of an inch across. that was speweing coolant and steam all over the engine (again) but this time it was dead. I had the car towed to a private garage and a few days later they put in a new radiator (after we took the train back to philly).

the tech said he also checked all the hoses on the cooling system and that one of the primary feed hoses from the tank to the radiator was completely blocked, resulting in the same coolant sitting in the engine without any circulation and causing the buildup of so much pressure in the radiator that it blew. he also said that the radiator had a lot of "sludge" kind of stuff in the bottom of it, just debris (he said some debris was normal, but that this was so much it was causing clogs).

so the moral of the story: don't screw with the cooling system, cause it can really leave you screwed in the long run. if nothing else, i'd have a radiator specialist just diagnose your system, cause you don't wanna be stranded somewhere.

good luck -

-matt

 

embelo - Out of curiosity and caution, did you have the red Toyota Long Life Coolant or standard yellow/green antifreeze? The '02 I bought has the long life stuff and it is my first experience with it. I am used to the yellow/green stuff and have always done a complete flush/replacement every two years or 25K (whichever came first).

I am at the mercy of suggested flush routines (instead of my experience) on this new stuff.

steviej

 

I have had the green stuff. However a 97 es 300 that I had it had the redish purple stuff in it. Do the newer cars come with the red stuff?

 

haha wow i just noticed this thread and i saw that my engine coolant was past the low mark. i have the redish purplish stuff in my tank. it's a '93, but it had a major accident in the front a while back. so the fluid had to be new. i should really fill that before anything bad happens.