Low on coolant or sticky t-stat


"TTU" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hello.
>
> Okay so this started yesterday night. My wife and I were on vacation
> and had our 2001 Explorer parked over at a friend's house after being
> dropped off at the airport. We came back and it was covered with
> sawdust (my friend had been doing a little wood cutting).
>
> So, we get in and drive home. About 1/4 home I notice that the temp
> gauge warning light comes on and the gauge itself it just about over as
> far as it can go. Now, I'm just about to look for a place to pull over
> when the thing starts dropping back down to the middle range.
>
> Okay, that was weird. It stayed there the rest of the way home (about
> another 30 minutes or so). So, this morning I get up to drive to work
> and about 4 miles from home it begins it's climb again. This time I'm
> watching it pretty carefully, of course. It hits the same point and
> after staying there about a minute, drops back down to the middle and
> stays there for the rest of the trip to work.
>
> It does climb a little when stopped at a light or something, so I'm
> guessing the wind from driving on the highway is cooling it a bit.
>
> So, my question is: Why does it climb to the high point in the first
> place?
>
> Sawdust? I'm guessing that's most likely the case and will clean it
> when I get home, but could the temp sensor?
>
> Any ideas suggestions are greatly appreciated.
>
> Thank you.
>