bad coolent temp sensor?? car over heating at idle/not blowing hot air unless moving

[mitsubishimanic]

ok as stated my car just started over heating at an idle today and the fans are not kicking on this leads me to believe the coolent temp sensor took a crap. the other weird thing is that my heater will not blow hot air unless i am moving. it just blow cold air when at an idle and my temp spikes. i just got home so i need to let the car cool down before i see if i lost any coolent. just looking for some ideas.

 

[Mischif]

A heater blowing cold air and over heating usually points to the coolant system being low on fluid.

 

[mitsubishimanic]

ok ya so it was low on coolent must have lost some when it over heated im going to get some more antifreeze right now ill let u know if it changes any thing.
but the fans not turning still says coolent temp sensor.

 

[jones1989]

Make sure your getting power to your fans and test to see what voltage the temp sensor is reading, to see if its accurate with the actual temp. Id also check your thermostat, make sure its working.

 

[mitsubishimanic]

ok so i went out too fill coolent and noticed small puddle of coolent where the coolent drain plug is. checked it and it wasnt really lose got it to turn about an 1/16 of a turn. obviously the coolent was low about a third galon. filled it up and and let it idle till it got warm. the fans kicked on right when they should and didnt over heat. just realized i didnt check the heater but im sure it was just cus of the low coolent. but any way has any one had problem with the coolent drain plug leaking? and does any one have a suggestion to fix it. i hope no one was trying to mess with my car as it has never come loose before.

 

[mikemustbebored]

good idea to check your heater-core too.

 

[mitsubishimanic]

ok like i said fixed the problem some how the coolent drain plug came loose and i lost enough coolent to where my fan switch was not seeing coolent temp so they never kicked on. i tighted the drain plug refilled coolent and now problem solved thanks for the imput though.