Yes, call me crazy. I might be driving my ole car 800 miles

[89ARIES]

In two weeks from today, I might be taking the risk of driving my car 800 miles. I am somewhat scared to do that becuase of the computer seizures. Can someone here please tell me how I can reset the codes, or basically reset the computer every week? This will lessen my chance of a stall as I now know that its when the computer has more than three codes that things get hairy and the seizure can happen.

[88 aries]

why not just use a different car...800 miles in a somewhat less maintained K-car? not a very good idea...with very little mechanical knowledge...now for me I would have no problem taking mine on a long trip, the only reason I don't is because they are showroom new....Plus keeping up with traffic with a 3 speed automatic and 4 cylinder eh...kinda hard on the motor...the 81 has never seen an interstate in my ownership....

[MyDodgeDip]

you're asking for trouble. Keeping up with traffic is no problem in a K, the record that Guys car has is the main problem.

[89ARIES]

Well, I may have no choice. Its my only transportation. Yes, I am probably asking for trouble, but its gotten me to 200,000. The engine still seems to be acting normal
and it doesn't buck. Maybe if I just baby it, no I never floor it up the Grapevine, just get a good oil change, check fluids, check tires, and add some fuel cleaner, and its all
highway mileage, I should be okay. But, I am still a little nervous. At least I have Triple AAA Premium in case something does happen. I have actually made this huge trip 6 times
before without incident, except the first time when dumbo mechanic decided not to fix the coolant leak properly, which led to the demise of my headgasket a year later. These Chryslers
simply were not well designed in the cooling department.

[MyDodgeDip]

They were designed just fine in the cooling department. You let the coolant leak out on any car and it overheats...

[89ARIES]

Well, my fear is not knowing how the cooling system is supposed to work, or is it inherently flawed. One of our members says the 2.5 does not cool properly, and so he installed another fan and
a dual cord radiator. Bottomline, I get nervous when I am at idle, watching that needle creep up to 2/3rds, before that fan kicks in to bring it down. I was also nervous when last summer, in 93 F, I was going uphill on the freeway. The needle kept creeping up to 2/3rds, with no ac on, full wind being blown through the grill, and I have no idea if the fan had kicked on, would it be enough to overcome the heat generated
by going uphill, this being able to drop the needle to half while going up hill. On a cold or cool day, at highway speeds, it is not uncommon for me to see my gauge go down to 1/4ths. So, despite how many times
I have had my cooling flushed and two headgasket jobs, the damn temp gauge never stays in one place. It is very unnerving and on a warm day, I think watch temp gauge. If it is 110 F outside, I think REALLY watch temp guage. And even 30 degrees difference in air temp outside affects the freaken temp guage. So, would someone tell me what the exact placement of the temp gauge should be on a 1989 2.5? I know my car would overheat in Death Valley on level driving and I will NEVER take my K-car there. K-cars overheat ALL THE TIME. It is a fact. When I went up the grapevine three years ago, where my gauge crept up to almost 4/5ths, making me nervous, there were four Dodge Caravans on the side of the road, overheated. One was from the 80s and the other three early 90s. No BS. We have to fix this issue.

[Pete in NH]

Guy,

My experience with daily driving in my 84 Aries for almost 20 years was that the cooling systems in these cars are just fine and well up to the task if properly maintained. So, far no issues with my 86 Reliant either. One thing that can happen on high milage cars, particularly here in the northeast with all the road salt is that after 100 k miles the cooling fins between the radiator water tubes rot away reducing the effectiveness of the radiator. This is easy to cure, radiators for these cars are relatively inexpensive and easy to change.

It is normal for the temperature gauge to move around. As long as it stays between 1/3 and 2/3 of the scale all is well. These gauges are relative indicators and not directly calibrated and marked with actual tempertures. If you are really concerned with actual temperatures in degrees you might what to consider installing a separate aftermarket gauge that is calibrated and marked in actual degrees. That way you can see where the engine temps are actually going. These cars have 190 degree thermostats so if the actual temperatures never go much above 200-210 degrees there really is no problem.

[K-CAR_WAGON]

The cooling systems on the 2.5 liter are adequate if they are working ok - but they don't have alot of margin if you have something in poor condition like a clogged radiator core or corroded cooling fins or a pressure cap that is not holding proper pressure.

You could probably also try running with a slightly lower temp thermostat.

If you think the car is trending to overheat try running at a slighly lower top speed - it can make a significant difference with engine temperature. You can also try opening up the windows and turning on the heater to max with the blower motor on high - if you can stand the heat. The heater core will act as an additional radiator core.

[Butch]

The cooling systems work fine when they're NOT all full of crud ( block that is ) like Guy's is. Cooling sys maintance is a once a yr practice on my car. The rad was recored in 2005 ( just for GP )and still looks like new in my car.