Gonna drop off the Aztek to the shop to diagnosis an increasing temperature issue. The temp used to be rock solid, but yesterday it is climbing further up. Seems to be related to idling, but not always. Head gasket and intake gasket has been changed. No visual leaks, no water in oil, or oil in coolant, no bubbles in recovery tank, front fans kick on (no scanner to tell me what temp). Could be thermostat, water pump or even heater core (allowing air into the system - may be most likely). So... not really sure and I am not going to start changing parts without a proper diagnosis. At 180K, I am not sure I will fix it if the headgasket is going out. I understand the heater core is a real pain to get to also.

Assuming everything else is good on it AND you like the Aztek (I think they look cool but I've never driven one), it would be cheaper to spend the money to fix whatever's wrong than to have a car payment.

Sounds like it could be the thermostat or possibly low coolant level? In our Mazda I noted the same kind of thing, heating up higher than normal when sitting at idle and running a little hotter than normal for the most part other times. It ended up just being low on coolant. Topped the coolant off and it went back to normal. On the other hand, our Bonneville did the same kind of thing for a couple days before the thermostat failed.

I know it's probably not a option for long term, but if it is the heater core you could bypass it while you research how difficult it will be to replace it. I did that with a Trans Am we had at one point because replacement was... difficult. Of course luckily it was during summer and I was able to replace it before winter set in.

I have a Chevy Venture AWD, basically the van version of the Aztec. I bought it with blown head gaskets. Fixed that, then added a used air dam, new bleeder valves, low temp thermostat, temp sensor. Still, in hot weather, 94 and up especially when I was in town with the air on it would get very hot. The first clue is that it kept blowing the #2 fan Fuse. So I replaced the whole fan shroud assy and fans from a Buick Rendezvous. Same Mitsubishi part. Now it's fine.

quote Originally posted by Monkeyman: Assuming everything else is good on it AND you like the Aztek (I think they look cool but I've never driven one), it would be cheaper to spend the money to fix whatever's wrong than to have a car payment.

People saving me from typing so much.

I have my preferred car down with a coolant issue. My truck I just had fixed for a leaking front cover and now my Fairlane. The Fairlane engine has other issues so, I want desperately to upgrade it.