01 overheating & a/c not very cold

[Candace]

That's the problem this time.
A little background;
3 months ago, we changed the timming belt,tennsioner, water pump, & thermastat due to the mileage.100k.tough job too!!!! (y'all were a big help)
Everything was fine. Last week we changed the oil & trans fluid.John (hubby) also checked coolant level. There was none in the coolant box. I bought some Peak coolant, added it, drove it a week and alls good. Went on a 150mi trip,all good, stayed 4- 6 hrs. Return trip,engine light came on. Stopped, checked fluids and gave it a looksy, all looked good.

A few days later, battery wouldn't start car. I put the bat charger on it, started it, drove to AZ, bought battery, the clerk(he seemed to b knowledeable) insisted on putting it in for me( cause I'm a girl) LOL, thenhe noticed a cracked
Battery end, put a new one on.engine of was not on that morn and has not been on since. Sold me some Lucas injector cleaner and added it, I only had 1/4 tnk gas,
but I was going across the st to fill up. I did, as soon as I got over there, it red lined !! Never O/H before. Sooo, I let it cool down,took it home.


I noticed on the drive home it would cool dn while driving & heat up while stopped, So I first put a jumper wire on the fan, it came on. Coolant was fine.changed the hi and lo speed relay and other relay (rad relay ) can't remember the name , fan still don't come on. I noticed when I run the ac, it would blow warm intermittedly, the engine shutters and shimmys and makes a weird low hum sound when I turn ac on. Ac is blowing warm today. I changed the cap this morning. I bougt an ETC sensor, but they sold me the wrong one, taking it back in a few min.

Is there any advice / suggestions out there? I can figure my way around an engine, have a Hayes manual, but Im not too good with elec and ac and heating problems. I appreciAte any help. thanks
Ps, my truck was wrecked this summer by a texting teen & tottaled, so I NEED this car for morning school comute! Thanks so much to anyone with advice!

Candace

[Candace]

Also checks fuse inside the cars inside panel, it's ok too engine of went and not come back on . Another thing, when I turn the ignotion key, the cluster panel icons lite up, but not the temp icon. It did come on the first time it o/h but haven't noticed it since yet. Also, radiator is warm to the touch, I read somewhere here'd to check if it was cool when running.its not.

Ok, I think that explains most of it.

[Candace]

That's supposed to read , engine lite went off and has not come back on since...
Typing on an iPhone , sorry bout the typos.

[Knotsobright1]

Its possible the radiator is clogged. Once the car cools down try opening the drain plug slowly on the bottom of radiator. If you open it and fluid comes out its ok if not its clogged.

Also if it just started doing this after the battery was changed try disconnecting the negative terminal from the battery, leave it off a couple minutes then reconnect. It is possible the computer just freaked.

[Candace]

Would this cause the fan to not come in?

[Hooligan]

I thought Chrysler used a specific kind of coolant, not sure if Peak is compatible with it. It shouldn't have any effect on the operation of the fan.

[Knotsobright1]

Originally Posted by Candace

Would this cause the fan to not come in?

If the ECU went dumb it would.

[Knotsobright1]

Originally Posted by Hooligan

I thought Chrysler used a specific kind of coolant, not sure if Peak is compatible with it. It shouldn't have any effect on the operation of the fan.

Chrysler recommends Zerex but as long as you do a good flush you can use anything except dexcool.

[Knotsobright1]

Originally Posted by Hooligan

I thought Chrysler used a specific kind of coolant, not sure if Peak is compatible with it. It shouldn't have any effect on the operation of the fan.

Chrysler recommends Zerex but as long as you do a good flush you can use anything except dexcool. But as you stated this would not cause the fans to not come on.

[Candace]

Sorry about all the mis spelling. I'm using a cell phone to type& it changed my words when I hit enter to what it thinks they Should be