Engine overheat w/ AC use?????
 

Any help appreciated. I just bought a 98 4 door and had the a/c serviced. My engine steadily gets warmer and warmer until the temp is well into 200s which seems too hot to me. I flushed system and replaced themostat and engine stays at exactly 195 no problem. With the air on though the temp slowly gets hotter and hotter until I chicken out and turn it off around 230F, this takes about 10 minutes. My fan clutch seems fine and the radiator and condensor seem clean. Any thoughts appreciated.

RE: Engine overheat w/ AC use?????
 

I got a similar problem, when A/C is on my temp goes up to 100/110 'C celsius (which is about 210/230 F)... is it correct?

RE: Engine overheat w/ AC use?????
 

This is pretty normal for most cars just keep an eye on the temp. The temp will go up a little on just about every car with even a few years on it.

RE: Engine overheat w/ AC use?????
 

the motors working a lot harder to turn the ac compressor. when you're sitting at a stop light and the moors working that hard, its gonna heat up more 'cause you arn't getting any more airflow through the radiator, as opposed to driving down the freeway where there is a lot of air flowing through. just make sure your condenser and radiator dont have any dirt or anything restricting airflow through the fins.

RE: Engine overheat w/ AC use?????
 

And the a/c condenser that sits in front of the radiator gets hot too, so there's now two "radiators" that the fan has to cool down. A bad fan clutch will cause this problem also.

as long as your radiator hoses stay pressurized the boiling temp is around 265, non pressurized coolant will boil at 212. i too have this issue with mine, when i turn the ac off at 230F and rev the motor or drive it it returns to the 200F which im fine with. this can be caused by a couple things. bad compressor (ac), bad fan clutch, going bad waterpump, insufficient air flow (idle is still a bad airflow you can neutral and rev to 1k and see if it drops).

If you live in a hot climate and expect to use the AC quite a bit, it might be worth installing electric fans as others have reported that doing so can very much increase the cooling.

Also, you did not say if your radiator fan shroud is in place. If it is not or part of it is missing, the ability of the fan to draw air through the radiator will be greatly dimished.

Last Thursday, my 2003 did this same thing. Now I had just installed a new, not reman., water pump and thermostat 6 months ago. I had not replaced the upper and lower rad. shroud. This day was hot and I was on a short 60 mile trip. Coming back, first I noticed was the A/C wasn't working and the temp gauge immediately shot up to the 3/4 mark. But as soon as I got on the interstate, the temp.gauge went down to normal, but the A/C was still not working. The next morning , I recharged the A/C and hoped it would cure the 'no A/C' problem. I was hoping it wasn't a compressor seizing causing the over heating issue. I have driven it several times since that day, both in town and on the hwy, and the A/C works great and the temp. gauge is at the normal----less than the 210* mark---in all instances. Very happy and surprised. Yes, I do plan on installing the rad. shrouds soon. I have just gotten the M6 nut clips and M6x1.0 screws with washers from NAPA ! Waiting for the perfect cool day ---ironically--- to do this job. I will post the NAPA part no.s and the sizes soon.

Also check both radiators if they are clean, passages between fins are not blocked by dust, or from mudding. No animal has nested between the radiators. Leaves, dirt, debris, etc. and for bent fins.

Then for proper fill level and quality of the coolant additive (Dexcool or whatever is prescribed for your year's truck).