Advertisement [ ? ]
Site Links
- Lease Calculator
- Advertise on 3,600+ pages
- My Car ongoing Review
- Members' Chat
- Cars For Sale
- Car Dealers
- Honda "Fit" Manual
- Hyperflex Bushings
- For Sale
- Fix your Car
- Car Manuals
- other manuals - Reference Materials
- DIY Repairs
- Articles
- Video
- Link with Us
- Search Help
- Code your Mac!
- Fly, race, anything R/C
- DIY repair guides
- Z-Seven
- Mechanic's Blog
- Free Files
Camry temperature gauge pegs out in the red zone during normal operation.
Car: Toyota, Camry LE, 1999, 4 cyl. - Back to Fix-It - Toyota Repair Manuals
Q.1999 Camry LE temperature gauge pegs out in the red zone during normal operation. Gives the sensation that car is overheating. Replaced thermostat, temp. sending unit sensor & radiator, fan sensor switch at bottom of radiator and confirmed that water pump is completely operable. Speculate that sending unit sensor's ohm value is incorrect by checking with an ohmmeter after removal. Also temp. gauge is faulty. Can you confirm?
I already checked/done: replaced sensors, thermostat, radiator
More Info required Have you put a temp gauge on the radiator or a thermometer in the coolant when this happens to be sure that the car is not actually overheating?
Addition no, i haven't. Just judged by feel, did not have a thermometer at he time of diagnosis.
Chilton manual offers test methods that rely on feeling the temps of the top and bottom hoses.
More Info required Chiltons is a horrible guide in most cases, I need you to actually take a temperature reading when this is happening, just be careful not to burn yourself when removing the radiaotor cap.
Addition Okay, i will. Is there some kind of failsafe in the car that if it becomes too hot it will
shut down? What is the normal operating temperature range if the cooling system is working well?
Answer The only fail safe is when the engine melts down and stops running, you do not want to do that. The temperature is controled by the thermostat rating, you said you put a thermostat in already so read the temp rating on the box, it should be around 180 on these cars.
Addition Alright, thanks. I appreciate your input but, how can I be sure that the temp. Gauge and the operating temp. Is safe if it registers in the red almost as immediately as when the car is started?
More Info required How long does the car actually run before this gauge goes to red? I need a specific time frame here....
Addition Approximately 5-10 minutes.
Answer Yes this can very likely be a legitimate overheat then. You asked how to check to be sure the temp gauge is Acurate, checking the actual coolant temperature is the best way to do all this, there is absolutely no reason to spend hours chasing wires and removing an instrument cluster just to verify normal operation, the temp gauges in the clusters neer act up on these cars, if the coolant temperature sending unit was acting up you should also have some codes. The fact that from what you are telling me about the car right now scares me because I think you are having a genuine overheat issue here....these motors do NOT withstand running hot at all and there is a good chance you will need a new engine and a radiator here. Most likely you have a damaged head gasket at this point. Just my opinion from my many years of experience with this car, take it how you wish. Sorry.
Addition Okay, that's pretty sound advice. I respect your expert opinion. Thanks very much for your time.
Answer Thank you and good luck!
>>Contribute your Answer<< - Submit your Question