I recently noticed that when I stop at a light, my temp gauge goes all the way up to the red mark, but the moment I step on the gas, it goes down to about the middle. What could it be, and how urgently might it need to be fixed?
Thanks!
It sounds like your cooling fan is not operating. That could be as simple as a fuse or frayed wire, but also may be a dead fan motor.
I would not continue to drive like this since overheating can quickly kill and engine. That doesn’t mean call a tow truck - just don’t ignore it, and until you get it fixed don’t sit at idle for a long time since driving is likely the only way you have right now for moving air through the radiator.
If you want to just do the simple checks immediately, first, just take a quick look in the manual and find out where the fuse for the fan is and check it. Next pop the hood and find the fan plug/wires and make sure the plug didn’t just come loose or break a wire. BUT its best to do that when the van is completely cool - a) you won’t burn yourself, and b) the fan won’t unexpectedly turn on if it does happen to be working. If you don’t find either bad fuse or wire, and don’t know what to do next take it to a mechanic. If it is the fan its a pretty simple and routine thing.