Hey im new to the forum here but anyways i seem to have a problem with my 2002 Stratus 2.4L coupe. It seems that whenever i am at idle the temperature gauge seems to rise up. It does not rise all the way up to hot but i would say it goes 3/4 of the way to the top. When i start to drive when it rises it just drops back down to the middle between hot and cold. I have been having this problem for months and have yet to fix it. In February 2010 i got my radiator replaced along with new hoses and a coolant flush to try and fix the problem but no luck. Couple days ago i went in to see if my coolant was internally leaking into the head gasket but that was a no go. The dealership recommended me replacing my water pump. I ordered the part and got the water pump and a new timing belt replaced but the water pump did not fix the problem. I hate putting all this money into my car just to figure out why my temperature gauge rises at idle. If anyone here has had this problem or has any suggestions please let me know, i'd greatly appreciate it. This car also has a manual transmission if that makes a difference.

 

Wow that really sucks you've spent a lot of money trying to fix that problem it seems. Let me ask you a stupid question have you taken out the thermostat to see how it runs without it? Try taking out the thermostat and filling the system through the opening were the thermostat sits when the car is completely cold. I believe there is a small valve just underneath the thermostat housing. Open the valve attach a clear hose to it and fill the system with coolant until coolant comes out the clear tube. Also out of curiosity if you can you tell me what happens when you turn the heat on blast when the car begins to over heat. Does the temperature drop? Also what are your RPMs doing when it begins to rise? How many miles on your car to? Are you using the orange coolant on your car? Let us know...

 

well yesterday i got the timing belt and water pump replaced, they also pushed new coolant through it, its the red/orange colored coolant. Ill have to check what it does when i blast the heat but the car does not completely over heat, it just goes 3/4 of the way up to hot. Also about 10 minutes ago i just got home from a 230 mile trip back to school and during the trip the temp needle was completely set at the middle but once i hopped off the interstate and stopped at some stoplights, it started to rise again. I noticed also that before i left the coolant was basically full and now after the trip it has gone down significantly. But like i said earlier i got a diagnostics at the local dealership around here to see if the coolant was leaking into the head gasket and they said that it wasn't and was probably the water pump. It seems that at idle when the temp rises that my RPM's tend to go pretty low, and i have noticed that for a while now. I'll have to check out that thermostat like you said but in february when i got my radiator and hoses replaced, the dealership mentioned that they damaged my previous thermostat when removing it and placed a new one in there for me at no cost.

also if it makes a difference or not, the only modification i made under the hood was putting in an aem short ram intake.

 

i also just took out my car for another spin, started to notice that when im in a low gear and high rpm's the temp seems to go down towards cold below the middle point. I have 86,000 miles on the car and have been the owner for about 2 and 1/2 years and started noticing this problem this past winter. When i blast the heat it tends to go below the middle point as well.

Here is when the temp goes up:
http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...r/IMG_0072.jpg
http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...r/IMG_0074.jpg

Here is when the temp goes low when the heat was on:
http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...r/IMG_0076.jpg

 

You know if you just didn't do the water pump I would be suspecting the water pump. Have you taken a good look under the car to see if you have any coolant dripping? I think the significant thing here though is that the coolant is disappearing! It has to be going some where! Any chance you can drain the oil and tell us what color it is is? Take a good look at it and see if it looks like chocolate milk. Also I would fill the reservoir back up and take notice of the fill level and start her up. Turn the AC on to increase the load and take her for a good spin. Come back to were you can park her and with a good light take a look underneath her and see if you notice any water dripping. Also take notice of how much coolant was lost. One last thing. What does your exhaust look like? Are you smoking? If so what color is your smoke? Do this before we go any further. Good luck but definitely let us know...

 

Its normal for the temperature gauge to rise when sitting idle, especially if the ambient temp is warm.
Silly question, but did you check to see if the FANS are coming on at all when you're idle? Where I'm lead to that conclusion, is that when you are moving, you are pushing air through your grille, when you're idle your not (unless the fan is doing that for you). The radiator works by cooling the antifreeze with air via the heatsinks (the small fins on the radiator). You may be chasing something simple here...

 

ok well i will be needing an oil change within the next couple hundred miles so i can check that out sometime soon and report back here. Right now my car has been parked for about 8 hours but i will check it in the morning. I park my car in an underground garage which is always lit up. I'll check to see if there are any external leaks but i know i check that about 2 weeks ago before going to the local dealership to see if it was an internal leak into the head gasket. But what happens is that when my car is stopped the temp will initially be right in the middle but after about 30 seconds it starts to rise towards hot. In the pictures i posted above, when it hits that top peak my fans kick on and will bring the temp down to the middle once again. After the fans kick off, give it another 30 seconds and it repeats that process. I had the radiator, all the hoses and the coolant flushed on Feb 19 2010 so I'm pretty sure the radiator and the fans are working properly. But yea like you said castlenut, I'm still puzzled that before i left on that 230 mile trip (max speed hit was around 80mph), which was strictly all interstate, i had nearly a full coolant reservoir and now after the trip it has gone down significantly. Also i have not noticed any smoke coming from my exhaust since the spring weather has arrived but during the winter there was some type of smoke coming out of the exhaust but i dont remember the color and it really only happened when the car was first turned on before it warmed up.

 

sorry its been a while but ive been busy with school and work. my car is still doing the same thing as its been doing, and the coolant just keeps draining somewhere but it is not an external leak. i am going to be done with school in 2 weeks so i will be going to get it checked out again but does anyone here have any suggestions on what i should have checked out instead of going in empty handed?

 

Could it be leaking out through a crack in the block by the exhaust manifold? Have your buddy start the car and see what the exhaust looks like and smells like when he starts it...