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Red Temperature Light comes on intermittently

41K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  tutti57 
#1 ·
Hey all...new to the forum, and there aren't many questions posed about the engine temperature warning lights.

I've got a 2007 SL with CVT, and driving the other day in Denver the outside temp was in the high 90's. On the highway, going around 70, the red temp light comes on and I can tell the A/C stops working. Still blowing, but not A/C cold. Then about a minute or two later, the light goes off, and the A/C blows cold again. The car did this for about 15 miles: red light on, A/C off; red light off, A/C on again...

Anyone had any problems like this? I was originally thinking thermostat, but don't those just stay stuck closed, or stuck open? There's not much out there that I could find on thermostat replacement; some for the Sentra and Maxima, but none for the Versa. And from what I understand, there's two thermostats?

Any help would be much appreciated. Come to Denver and I'll buy you a beer!

Thanks,
 
#2 ·
I say either your fan is not turning on or a pulley is seizing. Any other weird issues like brake and abs light coming on? Or dim lights?
 
#4 ·
does it ever do it with the A/C off?

If no, I would look at the aux fan, fan switch, or A/C pump/pulley. If the pulley is seizing you'll want to get that taken care of before your accessory belt snaps.

If you get the same issue with the A/C off, I'd look towards the main fan, fan switch, water pump, temp sensor, and also do a check of the coolant. If it's contaminated (brown) or gritty, you have an issue.

It's process of elimination at this point.

You can check for proper coolant flow by letting the car warm up and touching the top and bottom radiator hoses (CAREFULLY). They should both be hot (upper will be hotter). If the lower hose is cold, then you aren't getting proper coolant flow, likely due to low fluid, a stuck thermostat, or bad water pump.
 
#6 ·
Keep in mind it takes a long time for the main thermostat to open, i would drive it as usual then after feel the rad hoses. This avoids unecessary gas wasted on idling just to see if it opens. Do you have plenty of heat? Are the hoses to the heater core hot? There is a secondary thermostat in the tranny side of the block (right above the tranny in fact) that opens at a lower temp than the conventional/main thermostat, 83 degrees Celsius if i'm not mistaken. The main one opens up at around boiling (100C).

The fans should remain on when the AC is off depending on engine temp. The PCM may disengage the AC compressor clutch after a certain overheating temp is reached to reduce thermal load on the rad/cooling system. However at highway speeds usually a fan is not needed. Are the condenser and rad fins clean? If you're still getting adequate AC performance then that would tell me the fins are clean, usually if the condenser fins get plugged up then you will get poor AC performance from the condenser not being able to release the refrigerants latent heat capacity.
 
#7 ·
for a minute there I thought you were giving yourself advice? The screen names are so close LOL.

Silly 1.8's with two tstats :D. JK but I do think the 1.6's just use the single tstat in case anyone later on reads this.
 
#8 ·
Great minds must think alike...nice name for sure!

Thanks for the input. It looks like the fans are clean, the friend I got this from took pretty good care of it.

How tough of a job is it to replace the tstats on this? It seems pretty straight forward and easy and I can pick both of them up at NAPA for under $40. Does that sound about right? I can't find any write-ups or videos online that show the process. Would it be worthwhile to just swap them out if it's an easy job? The car as 130,000 on it, and I don't think they've been done before.

Thanks again...
 
#9 ·
the hardest part will be refilling with fresh fluid and burping the system. Not hard, just time.

Do a feeler test first, check to make sure all the hoses are hot after going for a drive. No sense replacing the Tstats if it's not warranted.
 
#11 ·
Hi all. Also new to this forum.
Had kind of the same issue as the originator of this thread. Started the car. All fine. Temps here in Florida today were in the 80's and rainy. Car ran fine. Stopped to get something to eat. On way to dentist the red temperature warning light came on for like 2 second then off again. Car was driving fine. A/C was running fine but noticed a pattern. When I was stopped at a light no issues. When I started to take off again the light would turn on for a few seconds then back off again. Turned around and came back home. Stopped at gas station a minute. While parked there with the car on in park, the light came on and stayed on until I drove off again. Any thoughts on this? I will check the fan, etc. as proposed in this thread but this seems to weird for me.

Thanks.
 
#12 ·
Hey all...new to the forum, and there aren't many questions posed about the engine temperature warning lights.

I've got a 2007 SL with CVT, and driving the other day in Denver the outside temp was in the high 90's. On the highway, going around 70, the red temp light comes on and I can tell the A/C stops working. Still blowing, but not A/C cold. Then about a minute or two later, the light goes off, and the A/C blows cold again. The car did this for about 15 miles: red light on, A/C off; red light off, A/C on again...

Anyone had any problems like this? I was originally thinking thermostat, but don't those just stay stuck closed, or stuck open? There's not much out there that I could find on thermostat replacement; some for the Sentra and Maxima, but none for the Versa. And from what I understand, there's two thermostats?

Any help would be much appreciated. Come to Denver and I'll buy you a beer!

Thanks,
Did you find the solution to this?
 
#14 ·
Hey all...new to the forum, and there aren't many questions posed about the engine temperature warning lights.

I've got a 2007 SL with CVT, and driving the other day in Denver the outside temp was in the high 90's. On the highway, going around 70, the red temp light comes on and I can tell the A/C stops working. Still blowing, but not A/C cold. Then about a minute or two later, the light goes off, and the A/C blows cold again. The car did this for about 15 miles: red light on, A/C off; red light off, A/C on again...

Anyone had any problems like this? I was originally thinking thermostat, but don't those just stay stuck closed, or stuck open? There's not much out there that I could find on thermostat replacement; some for the Sentra and Maxima, but none for the Versa. And from what I understand, there's two thermostats?

Any help would be much appreciated. Come to Denver and I'll buy you a beer!

Thanks,
Any luck with your issue, I’m having the exact same problem. my over temp light comes on for a minute or two blows hot air turns off then I have cold air again. Let me know what you find out and I’ll do the same if I figure out the issue . Good luck
 
#15 ·
Does the car have proper coolant level? The AC will turn off to help cool the overheating engine. You have to determine what is causing the overheating. Coolant, thermostat, missing fan shroud, coolant temp sensor, head gasket, etc. Hotter than blazes here with ridiculous humidity and I can idle mine all day with the AC on, so something is causing it to overheat, not just the environmental conditions.
 
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