2000 protege runs hot when a/c is on
 

Just bought a 2000 Protege the other day from a used car lot. Car was running fine until the 4th day. When I drive with the a/c on the car starts climbing to the Hot on the temp gauge. If I turn the A/c off it will go down but does go down faster if I also turn the heater on full blast. Finally, the car runs cool with the a/c on if im sitting still. This seems odd to me since every other car ive had with temp problems would run cooler if moving and would overheat if it was sitting still. This seems a bit backwards to me. Also when I turn the car on only the driver side fan comes on. The passenger side fan only seems to come on when I turn the a/c on but I have not watched it long enough to actually see if it comes on and off and certain times. Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Coolant
 

Still having the problem? Did you check the coolant level? I had the same problem today and discovered that the coolant was about 2 quarts low. Filled the radiator up and the problem went away.


I think the engine doesn't tend to overheat when idling like some cars just because it is so small and efficient and the radiator fan is fairly powerful.

--Bill