# Car running hot after it warms up -- **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** sl, saturn\ **Created:** [December 3, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-running-hot-after-it-warms-up/58235 "2010-12-03T04:06:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saturn4eva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Saturn4eva](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Saturn4eva)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-running-hot-after-it-warms-up/58235/1 "2010-12-03T04:06:28Z")
Saturn mystery 99 Saturn SL1 with 146k miles. A few weeks ago during my daily commute, the service light came on. A few moments later the light came on again for a few moments and went off again. The temp gauge started climbing – i could see it rising. I pulled off, checked all my fluid levels and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. I have replaced the thermostat and the EGR in this car before. (3-4 yrs ago) On driving home from work one day, the service light came on and as I sat in stop-and-go traffic the temperature started to creep up and up until I turned the heater on full blast. I have noticed that the service light only comes on when the RPM are at 2700 or higher for longer than 1 minute. After the engine cycles back down to a lower RPM the service light turns off again. The heat issue is still presenting itself. Could it be a faulty thermostat? ---
**Author:** ![mcparadise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mcparadise/32/32_2.png) [@mcparadise](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mcparadise)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 11:52am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-running-hot-after-it-warms-up/58235/2 "2010-12-03T11:52:32Z")
Yes,it could be the thermostat, or it could be inoperative radiator fans. Are the fans working? ---
**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-running-hot-after-it-warms-up/58235/3 "2010-12-03T23:31:33Z")
I wonder if it any of those Saturn’s run hot before they warm up? ? BTW I agree with mcparadise. ---
**Author:** ![waterboy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/waterboy/32/764_2.png) [@waterboy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/waterboy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-running-hot-after-it-warms-up/58235/4 "2010-12-03T23:44:08Z")
It might be a lack of coolant or pressure in the system inoperative fans(thanks mc), ie not the level of fluid in the reserve tank. It might be a sticking thermostat, It might be air in the system, it might be a bad sensor. If all is correct it will work correctly. ---
**Author:** ![oblivion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3ab097/32.png) [@oblivion](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oblivion)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-running-hot-after-it-warms-up/58235/5 "2010-12-04T13:29:43Z")
Check the simple things first. But I have to mention the elephant in the room: Aren’t these years of Saturns known for head gasket problems?