Have an 06 jetta that is overheating when the air cond is on and we are driving slow or just sitting there? Any ideas? I don’t think the cooling fan or fans are kickin in?
That seems likely. Simply open the hood when the car is hot and running. The fans should be on full time if the car is overheating. If they are not running, turn the car off and first check the fuse, which is the most likely problem. This is easily located by consulting your owner’s manual. In most new cars you can find the car’s fuses in a plastic box under the hood, at the front of the engine compartment.
Incidentally, running the air conditioner when the car is overheating is a bad idea. Conversely, running the heater full blast will help your car cool down if you have to get it home.
If the fuse is not the problem, but the fans are not working, you have an electrical problem. If the fans are working, you have a problem with your cooling system. Make sure first of all that you have enough radiator fluid in the system. While the engine is cool and the engine running, remove the radiator cap and see if there is fluid running over the metal perforated tubing. If the tubing is dry, add fluid until the metal is covered. Once the radiator is filled, make sure the fluid is flowing across the tubing and not just kind of bubbling a little or worse, just sitting there. The fluid should be clear looking, not brown and murky.
If you do not see clean looking, easily flowing fluid, take the car in and have the radiator flushed and refilled, and see what happens.
Do not put this off. Overheating will kill your engine almost as fast as running it with very low oil.
If the flush doesn’t work, (or if the radiator is full and the fluid clean and flowing) then you may have a weak water pump, a leak, a bad head-gasket, and the list goes on. Take it in and have it fixed by a reputable dealer or mechanic.
Hope this helps.
Just to reiterate as was previously said, don’t put this off. Also, it’s a bad idea to run an air conditioner when the car is overheating. Just out of curiosity, how do you know the car is overheating? Are there any symptoms or is this just by looking at the temperature gauge? In an emergency, you can cut on the heater at full blast to help cool the engine down, but you should still not be running the engine.
Also, just because I would worry if I didn’t say it. NEVER pop the radiator cap on a hot engine or a warm engine or an engine that might possibly be any of the above.
-Techniker
Thanks for the reply. I saw the temp gauge above its normal range.
kizwiki made an excellent post. Your car is too young to let die from overheating. (And if you need a further motivating factor to have it checked out, altered temperatures ruin gas mileage.)
-Techniker