# Minivan overheats then won't start

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/minivan-overheats-then-wont-start/41929>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** mercury, monterey, start\
**Created:** [January 5, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/minivan-overheats-then-wont-start/41929 "2010-01-05T23:02:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![snowball74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@snowball74](https://community.cartalk.com/u/snowball74)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/minivan-overheats-then-wont-start/41929/1 "2010-01-05T23:02:33Z")

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Car starts, overheats and once shut off did not start again. Bought new bat. and same thing all over again. Did notice a hot plastic/electrical smell evening before issue began

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**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:** [January 5, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/minivan-overheats-then-wont-start/41929/2 "2010-01-05T23:31:50Z")

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You need to determine why it is overheating. Low coolant is the first place to look.

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**Author:** ![snowball74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@snowball74](https://community.cartalk.com/u/snowball74)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/minivan-overheats-then-wont-start/41929/3 "2010-01-06T00:51:40Z")

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Coolant is fine, 1st thing I checked.

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**Author:** ![hellokit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6a8cbe/32.png) [@hellokit](https://community.cartalk.com/u/hellokit)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 1:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/minivan-overheats-then-wont-start/41929/4 "2010-01-06T01:40:13Z")

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Electrical smell. Need mechanic check electrical wiring. Fix same.

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**Author:** ![snowball74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@snowball74](https://community.cartalk.com/u/snowball74)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/minivan-overheats-then-wont-start/41929/5 "2010-01-15T01:30:00Z")

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Just got word from the dealership, water in the PCM causing the issue. We bought used so no warranty so asked how much to fix. They said nothing, this part is covered 8 years or 80,000 miles and we are under both! Glad to have some good news!