Why does my car tempature get hot when im in park but not when im driving.whats wrong?

Question

Why does my car tempature get hot when im in park but not when im driving.whats wrong?

Answer 1

Is your fan running ??  That is the ONLY air your engine gets when idling.  If the electric fan is out, that could be the culprit.  If it's a regular clutch fan, the clutch could be out and it's not spinning like it should be, even if moving.  I bet that's your problem, as most anything else (low coolant, belts, etc.) is going to be wrong whether you're still or you're moving.

Answer 2

The fan is probably not running. If you turn on the air conditioning, you should hear fan turn on, regardless of temperature. It will be loud and you won't hear the engine anymore. I will bet that it does not turn on.You should have a mechanic check the relays and fan motor to see if it is not working.

Answer 3

It is actually pretty simple. When you are sitting with the engine running, there is very little air flow through the radiator. Some manufactures have an auxiliary electric fan to help provide cooling air when the engine is at low RPM. You can lower the engine temperature if you turn the heater on full/high...good trick to know if you ever overheat the engine when you are driving up a long steep hill in the summer-time.

Answer 4

its because the water is not circulating so much and therefor, not cooling the engine.

try taking out the thermostat and that may help because if your thermostat is old and rusty it may have jammed shut so your water will not circulate. you could just replace it too.

Answer 5

Have you had your car recently worked on ?  I once saw a mechanic diagnose a similar problem.  The lady had had her car recently worked on (replaced water pump) and the vehicle was constantly overheating in idle, but maintained a satisfactory temperature when being driven at highway speeds.  The mechanic had accidentally installed the fan blades backwards.  At highway speeds the radiator was receiving sufficient air flow to cool the engine, but at idle speeds, because the fan blades were backwards, the engine was not receiving enough air flow, thereby overheating.

Answer 6

What Dawn1 said!  Yeah, smart cookie that Dawn.

Answer 7

Low coolent level, fan belt loose, water pump going bad,  system need flushed.....When you sit still not as much air goes through the radiator so any of the above things can make your car over heat.

Answer 8

there is probably nothing wrong with your car its just that when you sit in one spot at idle for to long then it will start to over heat the electric fan cant keep up with out air coming in while going down the road