I have a 97 Chrysler Sebring convertible. Recently I had a tune up and got new tires. The day i picked the car up it started overheating. The past couple of days it overheated (in the red zone) on my way home from work, about 8 miles or 15 minutes. The outside temp was 63. Could something the shop did when replacing the spark plugs cause this? Now, I have a bad head gasket from the overheating. The shop also did a “summer inspection” which I assumed would be to check belts, hoses and fluid levels. I find it odd that this only started after the service was done.
Impossible to say really. I would assume that they topped up fluids, instead of draining fluids.
This should probably be in the IMHO forum.
What is involved in a “tune up”? Does your engine check light come on?
Have you checked your fluid levels? Coolant? Oil?
More info required.
Do you have a bad head gasket from overheating or do you have overheating from a bad head gasket?
If they set the timing incorrectly, that could cause overheating. Also putting the spark plug wires back on in the wrong order. However in both cases you should feel, and maybe hear, problems with the engine running poorly. And it probably would take more than 15 minutes to cause overheating.
How are the fluid levels especially the radiator? Don’t just check the overflow reservoir, but open the cap on the radiator.
There’s a good chance that it’s a big coincidence. Seems to me that the head gasket blew causing the overheating instead of the other way around.
If it’s a 4-cylinder engine, you might get off a little cheaper with the repair than with a V-6. Still I wouldn’t be surprised if the cost is about $800 and more if the head was cracked. Something to consider before repairing a 16 YO vehicle.
The fluid levels are fine. The car only has 62,000 miles on it so that’s why I got the tune up (new spark plugs) and new tires. I would be happy if it only cost $800!
Take it back to the place that did the work and very politely explain the set of circumstances, without directly blaming them: you have no proof.
You might be able to barter a good deal on having them diagnose the problem and change the head gasket.
Apart from that, I don’t know what else you could do. As soon as it started overheating you really should have pulled over and let it cool back down.
I don’t believe you can adjust the timing on this car, and if the plugs were out of sequence you would most certainly have noticed a performance issue. 62,000 miles is nothing these days. It sounds like a stuck thermostat, and I can’t think of any reason other than total coincidence that it happened after a simple plug change and fluid top-up.
ETA: I wonder if the thermostat could get damaged if the radiator cap was removed hot and the coolant over-boiled?
ETA Again: Is the fan electric and is it working? Could they have unplugged the harness or cut a wire while fiddling around under there?
I missed the edit window to add that I’ll almost bet this is what has happened. I Googled the car and it does indeed have an electric fan.
If someone made the mistake of checking the coolant level by removing the radiator cap when the engine was still warm, it could have lost enough coolant to overheat. This is a really stupid thing to do, but I’ve seen cases where the poorly trained help at chain operations didn’t know any better.
Whatever the cause, the driver has a responsibility to be aware of the gauges and warning lights and stop the engine if overheating or low oil pressure is indicated. Usually this will prevent serious damage from occurring. It’s inconvenient and the tow to a shop to check it out costs money, but it’s a hell of a lot more inconvenient and costs a lot more money to have to get major engine repairs done.
whenever the needle approached the red zone I turned the engine off. Sometimes, if it was rising and i revved the engine it would go back down. When it didn’t, I turned it off.
The fluid levels are all fine and the fan works.
"Phone rings:
“Dad, the oil light came on in my car, what should I do?”
“Stay right there, I’ll come to you. Where are you?”
“Oh, I’m home, it was only 4 miles from the store.”
Head splodes…
If I’m reading Gary’s response correctly (and he’s a mechanic) he’s saying that the damage could have occurred from opening the radiator hot and losing the coolant. Topping the coolant back up afterwards is a moot point: the damage has been done.
I think that’s what he’s trying to get across.
Thank you for clarifying, I appreciate it. Maybe. Guess I’ll never know for sure unless someone cops to doing something, which I doubt. I went back to the shop and they gave me the run-around talking in circles. Oh, well…
Some things that give me pause about the head gasket diagnosis:
- A blown head gasket is usually a result, not a cause - that is overheating causes a head gasket to blow, not vice versa (As a rule. Stranger things have happened.)
- The coolant level is fine. If the head gasket were the issue, the car would be losing coolant.
- If the issue were a head gasket revving the engine would not bring the temp down, in fact it would do the opposite.
Just from what the OP posted I would suspect either an airpocket or obstruction somewhere in the cooling system. Does the heater work?
It is very easy to diagnose your problem and find out why it is overheating. I would make that my first step and if they did do something at the shop you will have a better idea. I don’t feel confident by your posts that you have properly checked your coolant level. You need to look in the radiator when it is cool, not the reservoir. I ran a truck shop for well over 30 years, if something went wrong in my shop the most common thing was that the mechanic did not run the engine long enough after refilling the coolant to make sure the thermostat was open. This will leave you very low on coolant and will over heat in about 15 min as you described.
Could it be a water pump failure? If the impeller has come loose from the shaft it would cause overheating, while sometimes if you rev the engine it will catch in a certain way and circulate the coolant for awhile. This would then overheat the car and blow your head gasket.
Well, I’ve never heard of a water pump failing this way, although anything’s possible I guess. Usually the bearing seal starts to weep.
I don’t know about the heater, will have to check tomorrow. How would I know if there were something blocking it or an air pocket?
Which engine do you have?