Hey!
I’m a broke college student in desperate need of assistance with my car. My “Check Engine” light came on last week so I took it to a mechanic. He charged me $550 to change the ignition coil, wire sets, spark plugs, and thermostat.
The check engine light doesn’t come on anymore, but the engine still overheats. The mechanic said it might be the coolant temp sensor which he could fix for $120. I need my car for work and school, but I can’t keep paying money to not fix the problem.
Is there anything else that might be causing this?
Please help!!
Sounds like you need a repair manual and a $15 OBD2 reader. The temp sensor is likley a $20 part and generally easy to DIY. As for your $550 tune up, that is pretty expensive in my opinion. That is likely about $50-$100 in parts and generally easy to DIY.
Year and miles on your Eclipse? Losing any coolant? If so, how much, say, per week.
Under what conditions does your car overheat? Are the cooling fans coming on?
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Go to an Autozone car parts store and ask them if they would try to read your codes. There may be a pending code even if the check engine light isn’t on. And, in the future, if your CEL does come on, go there first, and then post your code(s) here - they will be in the form of P1234. It might save a trip to a mechanic, or at least educate you as to what he might need to do.
Is your engine overheating (steam/smoke/bad noises), or is your temperature gauge saying it’s overheating?
The latter might be why the mechanic wants to change the sensor.
If it is overheating, the new thermostat might be sticking, there may still be air in the system which the mechanic didn’t get rid of, could be blockage in the radiator or heater core…
Why do you think it is overheating? B/c the dash temp gauge indicates so? If so, where does the needle point when this is happening?
A replacement coolant temp sensor won’t stop it from overheating, but it might make the gauge read accurate. Faults w/the thermostat and/or the radiator cooling fan control switches or air bubbles in the cooling system are the most common reasons for overheating incidents. I’m guessing when your shop replaced the thermostat they didn’t get all the air out of the cooling system. Take it back and have them check. You may be able to find the manufacturer’s air bleed procedure using Google. If so, print it and take it w/you.