Have a 02 Montero XLS with 122000 trouble free miles on it. My wife drives 76 miles each day to work and back. She called and about 2 miles from work the temp gague was on hot. Pulled to the side of interstate and waited for me. Took about 45 minits to get there, andno sign that it had been hot. I followed her about a mile and she pulled over and the gague was on H. But the engine was not hot, I could put my hand on the radiator hose and it was just warm. I ordered a sending unit , but it will not be in till next week. Anyone had this problem before. Thank You
JT

 

At least your wife reads the guages. The valves would be warped on mine, before the problem is detected!!! Sorry - my jab at women drivers... Do you have access to OBD software? It would be interesting to note what temps the ECU is seeing.

Also what about thermostat? Could it be stuck closed or partially closed? that would cause the water in the block from circulating and invalidate your "touch hose to see if hot" method.

What about the water pump? Has it stopped working? Not sure how that would happen but I understand that the monty water pump should be changed at 100 or 120k mile intervals - sounds like you are there...

In any case, better limit driving until you get this sorted out.

 

thermostat more than likely

 

I do not think it is getting hot at all. I was driving it last night the temp gage was normal, about mid way on the gague. In about 2 sec. it went to hot then down to three quarters before I could get out of the driveway. ( My drive way is about a quarter mile.) Shortly there after it was normal. Couldit be a wiring conection at the sending unit? Thank You
JT

 

I picked up a thermostat, O-ring, and antifreese this morning. Will get it changed and let you know. thank you for the info.
JT

 

Thank you . The new thermostat did the trick. I have hadthermostats go bad before, but never act like this one. tj90 my wife thanks you for the complement.She did alot of drag raceing back in the 60's, and could power shift a mincie 4 speed with the best, so she has alot of common sense about mechanics. Again thanks for the help.
JT

 

Glad it worked out and fortunately it was a cheap solution!

 

Those are the exact symptoms for a thermostat stuck closed.

Glad it got fixed before your engine went bad.

 

Glad to hear we could be of help.

Come back soon