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89 plymouth 2.2 reliant drives cold
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whatfeedsyou
New User
Dec 18, 2011, 1:15 PM
Post #1 of 5
(1757 views)
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89 plymouth 2.2 reliant drives cold
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280k miles. in idle my car goes to normal operating temp, once i start moving, it s temp drops dramatically
stock radiator. rad wouldnt hold pressure, even after new rad cap. now out of the blue the other day, it started holding pressure but car is running even colder (i removed someones band aid for the car, which broke upon removal)
replaced thermostat
replaced water pump
replaced my sensors
gauge works fine
blows hot air regularly
im currently driving with as little water in my rad as possible with a piece of cardboard in front of the rad. it helps a little. im losing like 8 mpg bc of it running cold. thank you to anyones ideas
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Dec 18, 2011, 1:36 PM
Post #2 of 5
(1747 views)
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Re: 89 plymouth 2.2 reliant drives cold
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What is the actual temperature at the temperature sender?
What brand thermostat and rating?
What do you mean the rad wasn't holding pressure? Did you see a leak?
What was the band aid that you removed?
You don't want to go over a 70% antifreeze concentration or you'll run into problems.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
(This post was edited by Discretesignals on Dec 18, 2011, 1:45 PM)
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whatfeedsyou
New User
Dec 18, 2011, 2:14 PM
Post #3 of 5
(1738 views)
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Re: 89 plymouth 2.2 reliant drives cold
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dont know the temp at the sender, unfortunately i dont have anything that could show me. reason why i say that i believe the engine gauge works is bc when i first began to get my engine to run semi warm because I was running minimal water and the gauge was as close to running temp as possible (aprox 40% on the gauge), I was getting about 28 mpg. when I topped off the coolant level and my car was running its "reg" temp at a topped off rad (aprox 15 - 20% on the gauge) I was getting about 20 mpg... and i commute about 70 miles a day lol blah.
brand and rating (temp setting for when it opens?) for the thermostat, I dont know. I requested what was considered to be stock for the temp setting. i dont recall the brand. i did not get the emergency stay open thermostats and i ve replaced it like 3 times in the last couple yrs out of frustration.
I could not find any obvious leak coming from the radiator or anyplace else for that matter. I could remove the radiator cap when my car said it was at operating temp from sitting in idle and no water would overflow and I would not even hear any kind of pressure release from turning the radiator cap to remove it.
the band aid from the previous owner, that im still unsure as to why it was there, was a 4-way connector for the two hoses that came from the firewall to the motor. when i took the 4-way out, my car began running even colder, but now i can remove my radiator cap, when my car says its at normal operating temp from sitting in idle, and coolant (currently water) will overflow from underneath the rad cap unlike how it was before.
currently running straight water for about a week now. i know its not good, but I just did the waterpump the other week and I didnt wanna blow $10 in coolant if for some reason i have to drain all of it again to try and figure out this problem. been spending a lot of money lately on cars including buying one with a bad transmission but thats a diff story (car had a blown motor that i was aware of, which was supposed to become my new commuter, swapped the motor and found out the trans was bad. ahh one thing after another)
thank you for trying to help me out with this
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Dec 18, 2011, 2:40 PM
Post #4 of 5
(1734 views)
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Re: 89 plymouth 2.2 reliant drives cold
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You would think that if the engine was running too cool you wouldn't have very good heater performance. You stated the air is hot coming out, so the thermostat seems to be regulating the temperature of the coolant in the engine.
You may need to swing into a shop or rent an inferred thermometer to see what the actual coolant temperature is at the sender. If you know anyone that has an enhanced scan tool that will interface the ECM, you can also watch the engine coolant temperature PID in the data stream.
Is the engine cooling fan running all the time?
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
(This post was edited by Discretesignals on Dec 18, 2011, 2:42 PM)
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whatfeedsyou
New User
Dec 18, 2011, 3:37 PM
Post #5 of 5
(1718 views)
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Re: 89 plymouth 2.2 reliant drives cold
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lol yea, heater works like a champ.
hmm didnt know i can do that with a scanner, i think i can get ahold of one, thank you.
i was wondering about that. it does not run constant when im not moving. when it reaches its operating temp while in an idle, it kicks on for a min, then turns off. if its running constant while im driving (which i cant really think of idea as to what could cause that), im not aware of it. the cardboard makes it easy to hear the fan right now and i havent heard anything while driving.
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