Regular operating temp has increased

[smcintyre6492]

Originally Posted by antny

You also have a engine compartment fan that kicks on the driver side vent and sucks in cooler air into the compartment. See if you hear it kick on, on hot days. If it doesn't look into replacing the sensor. My fan was blocked by a mud wasp nest and it burnt the fan motor so I had to replace it. As long as it doesn't get to the next white harsh mark for me I don't worry about it.

Thanks Antny. Any idea how I can check whether the engine compartment fan is working correctly? When the car is at temp, I can hear the front fans on high - sounds like a Hoover under the front of my car - but I can't distinctly hear a fan in the engine compartment; or rather, I can't tell if the sound I hear is coming from the engine compartment or from the front fans.

Also, how concerned should I be that the temp spikes when idling? When I parked the car at work this morning, I got out to listen to the fans while the car was running, and in the couple of minutes I spent doing that, the temp gauge spiked from its 'new normal' to about midway between the fourth hash mark and the 250 mark.

I plan to clean the radiators this weekend. I'm not normally a DIYer when it comes to vehicles, but that seems doable.