Troubleshooting Overheating Issue
On Sunday, I bought a 2013 Dodge Charger SXT Plus TorRed with 44k miles from the 2nd owner According to them, the car was overheating and had been taken to a shop where they had replaced the thermostat, radiator, and done a coolant flush and refill. However, the shop had diagnosed it with a blown head-gasket since the car kept overheating. When I inspected the car, I couldn't find any signs of a blown head gasket - there was no coolant mixed with oil or oil on the reservoir, no smoke from the exhaust, and no lack of power. It was clear that the diagnosis was incorrect and that the problem lay elsewhere.
Despite the issue, I decided to purchase the car for my sister. On my drive home, I noticed that the car ran perfectly at 208F while on the highway, but as soon as I got to the city and left the car idle, the temperature quickly rose to 240F. I suspected that the fan wasn't pulling enough air to cool the engine properly.
To troubleshoot the issue, I started by swapping the relays on the fuse box for the cooling fan. Unfortunately, that didn't solve the problem, so I tried a different approach. I took the fan from my other Charger and installed it on the overheating car. With this new fan in place, I let the car idle for a while, and the temperature maxed at 210F, even though it was a sweltering 90F outside in South Florida.
So, now I had one Charger that was running perfectly fine and another one that was still overheating. I was determined to fix the issue and went through all of my spare car parts to find a solution. After some digging, I found the relay of a 300 cooling fan and plugged it into the broken cooling fan, and installed it on my car. Much to my relief, it worked like a charm, and the overheating issue was resolved.
In the end, I got a 2013 Dodge Charger SXT with only 44k miles for just $1850, all because it misdiagnosed by a technician. The vehicle has a ding on the left quarter panel and a broken center console arm rest. Other than that it was a great purchase, planning to fix those little things, re-tint it and a good wash.
![Wheel Tire Car Vehicle Grille]()
Despite the issue, I decided to purchase the car for my sister. On my drive home, I noticed that the car ran perfectly at 208F while on the highway, but as soon as I got to the city and left the car idle, the temperature quickly rose to 240F. I suspected that the fan wasn't pulling enough air to cool the engine properly.
To troubleshoot the issue, I started by swapping the relays on the fuse box for the cooling fan. Unfortunately, that didn't solve the problem, so I tried a different approach. I took the fan from my other Charger and installed it on the overheating car. With this new fan in place, I let the car idle for a while, and the temperature maxed at 210F, even though it was a sweltering 90F outside in South Florida.
So, now I had one Charger that was running perfectly fine and another one that was still overheating. I was determined to fix the issue and went through all of my spare car parts to find a solution. After some digging, I found the relay of a 300 cooling fan and plugged it into the broken cooling fan, and installed it on my car. Much to my relief, it worked like a charm, and the overheating issue was resolved.
In the end, I got a 2013 Dodge Charger SXT with only 44k miles for just $1850, all because it misdiagnosed by a technician. The vehicle has a ding on the left quarter panel and a broken center console arm rest. Other than that it was a great purchase, planning to fix those little things, re-tint it and a good wash.
