Freak Overheating.....

I did a search and read a few threads on the subject. Mine seems to be a bit stranger. The car is a DD, 06 A4, 13k, wife says it has started overheating in the past few days. It drives fine and at the normal temp, or according to the gauge. It did it first when she stopped to check the mail. When she got back in the car is was chiming and temp was climbing. I checked the coolant with the dipstick and it was good and checked for leaks. Now the second time it did it, it was in park, but when she put it in gear the temp would drop. I have limited access to the car so Im thinking about checking the coolant in the radiator. Just wondering what Im up against taking it to the dealer. Something I noticed before but didnt put much thought into it, car can be warmed up, turn the heat on and the air is cold if the car is sitting still, but warms up when moving. T-stat? Sensor? Computer gone wacko? Only mods done to the car is axlebacks, which were done a week ago.

T-stat, waterpump, belt slipping or low on coolant are all speculative things that could be wrong. Until you get your hands on the car, you'll never know.

could be possible any one goturgoat said.

Possible air in the lines or mad computer glitch. not sure since i can;t see your car.

I see you have an 06, any chance you still under warranty? if so just swing by the dealership and see they can take a quick look. mite as well take advantage as long as you have it.

If there's no physical symptoms, my first bet would be a bad sensor. I thought the gage cluster freak-out was limited to 04s, but if not it could be that one too.

Look at the overflow tube. If it's really overheated there should be some coolant at the end or smell of coolant. Guess you could taste it...

Mine did this too, but only once about 8 months ago.

We were doing a SoCal GTO cruise, and at one point we were all stopped on the way into Julian waiting for some of the stragglers to catch up to the main pack.

We had been gunning the cars through the twisties towards Julian for about an hour or so prior, and then as we were idling in the long convoy, my conversation with my friend in the passenger seat was interrupted by mad chiming on the dash and the temperature gauge climbing quickly towards the overheat danger zone.

I quickly shut the ignition off, and let it sit until the entire convoy was ready to get moving again. We probably sat for another 3 minutes, and when I fired it back up to get moving, everything was fine. The "glitch" never came back again, so I never paid too much thought to it. Always thought it was the engine just getting way too hot from the abuse and then idling for 5 minutes in 100+ degree heat.

I'd take yours to the dealer if you're under warranty. Overheating is not something to take lightly, and as well as you know, the heat can kill an engine in no time at all.







--Setherial

Yea i have had a little freak think like that too. Idk what it was and it went away but i was getting back to work from about a 40 min drive on the freeway and suddenly the temp gauge pinned itself in the red and then went back down and hasnt happend since.

Quote: Originally Posted by BlueFlyingGoat... If there's no physical symptoms, my first bet would be a bad sensor. I thought the gage cluster freak-out was limited to 04s, but if not it could be that one too. Look at the overflow tube. If it's really overheated there should be some coolant at the end or smell of coolant. Guess you could taste it...

i have a 05 and it was the gauge cluster problem. had to change it out . have a mechanic with a thermal gun measure the temp during the event. it will give you the true temp.

If it won't blow warm when sitting at idle after the car warms up I'd say you're either low on coolant or have air in the system.

belt tensor,belt

Check t- stat
check tem sensor/coolant tem sensor
Water pump.

usually t stat or low coolant. if the air temp is cold when sitting and warms up when driving its possible t stat is stuck open. the coolant is constantly flowing through system and not having enough time to heat up. when more load on engine coolant gets a little bit hotter hense you have heat. starting with t stat is a good start. check belts and tension first though

I'd bet it's the freak cluster issue most of the 04's have, as it's been noticed on 05's and 06's in more limited instances. If it spikes suddenly, then comes right back down... or if you turn the car off and immediately turn it back on and suddenly it's normal then it's probably the cluster issue.

If that's the case, good luck duplicating the problem for a tech.... mine does it in groups of 3 about once a year.

Just read your last statement.... not sure what to make of that. If the car is up to temp it should blow hot air whether you are moving or not!!! Sounds like it could be something more as long as you are sure the car really is up to temp.

Did you ever figure this out? My ´05 suddenly started showing over heat. It just spikes, the needle gets pegged, the fans come on, but in a matter of seconds it drops back down to normal.

take it to a dealer and let them check it out, if anything if it doesnt happed for them it will be documented so if you damage something later they have to fix it

Sounds like a sensor or gauge cluster but take it in and let the Geniuses at Pontiac fix you up

I hate seeing threads like this. It hasn't happened to me yet but I'll be sweating and wondering whenever it does.

Bill3508

Yeah My goat started overheating when it's just sitting at idle, fans come on temp drops, but now it stays hot, spikes, lights come on and all that great stuff.. I got home from work today and shut it off and opened up my hood real quick and heard the water moving, gurgling and thought it weird. any ideas what it can be. Maybe My water pump. or that damn unicorn I've been hearing about from the dealer.

Bringing back from the dead again

I just noticed a similar issue a few times.
I got in the car one cold day last week. I let it run outside for like 15 minutes before i went out to the car. I had the heat cranking full blast (which is techinically cold air but i figured it would turn into heat in a few minutes) I went to leave and realized the car is still freezing i looked down to see how close it was to being up to temp and it was well over halfway around the 2nd to last line. I Thought this was strange and just kind of drove off. I wasnt exactly sure were on the guage was normal so i just made note of it at that time. Similar scenario last night, no heat yet overheating engine.
Then today i just had the car running in the garage... maybe 5-6 mintues while i put the vaccum and stuff away i hear this extremly loud fan that i dont think ive ever heard come on in this car.. pretty obnoxiously loud for the most part... thought to myself thats strange i never noticed that before... got in the car to back out and noticed the temp was spiking pretty high.. not in the red but well over halfway.
I backed out of the driveway and put it in first got to about 5mph and the temp dropped to normal.

Anyone goto the dealer and get a solution? Does this sound like a cluster issue? that would suck because i dont know how often this happens so as meantiond earlier would suck at a dealership.
Should i start with the therm and see if it happens again?

after driving around the block i let it sit in my driveway for like 10-20 mintues...
shut it off, turned it back on let it sit a little longer.
This fan never came back on or showed any signs of overheating. Ive never noticed it at any redlights.. just seemed to be at idle on the first startup of the day ( i will be looking for it alot more though because if i can get it to happen a bunch of times in a row i can prove it)
Although my dealership did fix my retarted pedal sensor issue were my car went into safety mode (every now and then) and i ve have to turn it on and off 100 times to get it to go away. The car barely made it up hills at 5 grand it was terrible might be good as a snow mode though lol.

Thermostats easy to change on this car?

also when checking my coolant my dipstick just doesnt seem right. Im gonna take a picture of it and see if you guys can tell me if its normal. It kind of looks like its cut at the bottom. Im not sure if its normal or not. I got a very little bit of coolant on the dipstick when i pull it out. Just enough to fill the first hole in my dipstick.

edit:
Heres my dipstick as i said. My coolant level is at the first circle on my dipstick is that within the operating range? It doesnt say anything about operating range on the dipstick. Probably does in my manual though havent looked recently.

Quote: Originally Posted by sporaclic... also when checking my coolant my dipstick just doesnt seem right. Im gonna take a picture of it and see if you guys can tell me if its normal. It kind of looks like its cut at the bottom. Im not sure if its normal or not. I got a very little bit of coolant on the dipstick when i pull it out. Just enough to fill the first hole in my dipstick. edit: Heres my dipstick as i said. My coolant level is at the first circle on my dipstick is that within the operating range? It doesnt say anything about operating range on the dipstick. Probably does in my manual though havent looked recently.

Dipstick looks just like mine, this is actually the coolant overflow tank, but it should have be filled at the recommended mark. Make sure you check the actual Radiator and make sure its filled. I hope Im on the right track.
WoW! I can believe now Im part of this thread. My can did the strange Spike on the temp gauge. I was at McD and car suddenly chimed. Look down and killed the car immediately. Could not figure it out since it was less than 45 degrees outside. Car was sitting at the drive through max 3-4 minutes. After killing it, I drove home normally and when I got home sat in the car for 3-5 mins and no duplication of problem.

I have checked all fluid levels and they are fine. I had the radiator replaced under warranty few months back because it was cracked, bu the space monkeys forgot to fill the overflow tank, I had to rectify that with them.