I was in line at the drive-thru about to pick up some burgers when my temp gauge shot way up. When I got my food I parked it in the lot and turned the motor off. After 10 minutes I tried turning it on again, and it didn’t even crank. The dash lights were functioning, so no battery issue. I waited another 10 minutes and tried again, and it started, idled low, but went back to normal. Looked under the hood, nothing unusual.

Here’s some recent things I’ve done before this happened that might factor in. Mine is a ‘97 SD.

-Fan and clutch replacement. (old fan had a broken blade, new one came from a different D1)

-new spark plugs (Champion Coppers)

-Magnecor 8mm plug wires

-new coolant (Peak European blue HOAT), new hoses, 180 degree thermostat

-new air filter

Maybe I need a new radiator?

 

Did you by chance recall what the temp was before shutting it off?

 

are you sure you have all the air bubbles out of the cooling system?

 

That was my thought.
Get the front passenger side up high as possible.

 

The gauge fluctuated between being slightly above the mid-point all the way to the top line. First time it’s gone above the middle in 4 months of owning.

I kind of suspected air bubbles in the system, but it doesn’t make sense to me because I’ve driven it for a week running hot air every day, and even driving up steep inclines which should have given bubbles a chance to escape. I’ll try lifting it.
Just don’t understand why I couldn’t start it up for a awhile.

 

When waiting in the drive thru the clutch fan would not have been spinning.

 

check the front electric fans, make sure they are working. Also I would suspect air bubble in cooling system. They can be a real pain to get out.
driving up a steep inline only works if the air bubble has somewhere to go. You should be filling at the plug on top of the radiator, and get a brass one with a new seal. the plastic ones will fail.

 

Just checked. I don’t think they are. Can’t get them to move no matter the settings. Fuse is still good. I’ll check if their connection is good but probably time for new ones.

 

are you using only the dash temp gauge to monitor coolant temps?

if so, you should look into getting an OBD2 port dongle and a free app like Torque Lite to monitor real time coolant temps.

personally, i prefer the UltraGauge as it has plenty of other gauge options and can monitor other things like the O2 sensors.

 

I purchased a pair from Amazon and they fit/worked perfectly. they are now listed as out of stock and don't know when they will be available. I used the part number from the motor manufacturer. (VDO PM9115)