[drivemusicnow]

Soo. Since I've been through every coolant fix in the world... Here's some SVX knowledge:

A) A/C compresser is shut down by the ECU when the engine temp is hot (not sure the exact temp
B) If you're not loosing coolant, you're getting extra heat in the system somehow. An SVX has a quite exceptional coolant system and can keep a well functioning car at temp with less than 2/3rds of the coolant capacity.

C) It's your headgasket.

Sucks I know, I'm about to replace mine on my SVX, but apparantly it's pretty common on high mileage SVXes. Failure mode is to allow combustion gasses into the cylinder, without any coolant in the exhaust, or oil coolant mixture.


My car started with the same symptoms. Never all the way to red, increasing RPM would decrease temp. It would be once every few months that it acted up. Then once a week. Then every time the car for longer than an hour. Then every time I drove the car for more than a half hour... My problem got significantly worse when I blew that crap plastic endtank up on the radiator and the temp gauge spiked.

One of the reasons I think this problem is hard to diagnose is that you if you pressure test the coolant system cold, it will typically test fine. I even had a "block tester" kit from Napa test negative (tests for exhaust gasses present in the coolant) when this problem was just starting.


Easy way to tell: Completely remove the thermostat, beat on the car, see if it still overheats.

(by the way, all of this is assuming that you can tell if your loosing coolant, know how to properly bleed the coolant system, know how to check if the fans are operating correctly, and all other basics. sometimes its something easy. I replaced every component of my cooling system including the water pump, which looks fairly indestructible, to the radiator hoses..)