Title says it all, but an anecdote might help too. My latest experience with this issue was a couple nights ago. It seems to be triggered by drastic weather change, but can happen at random. After 11 minutes of attempts, some of them consecutive and others spaced out, the engine finally turned over. This was after a day's worth of driving a 30 minute commute each way to work and another 15 to my mom's house where this happened. Of course, after this, the check engine light turned on. I know how to retrieve the error code, but the problem is, the check engine light itself is intermittent. I guess the couple times I've tried for the code, it wasn't flagged internally that the light was on. Bummer.

When I drive first thing in the morning, I get different but related symptoms. Just a block or two away from my apartment, my check engine and check gauges light will both turn on. The engine temperature gauge gets "stuck." However, when I leave for lunch, it works, and the check gauges light disappears. If I sit for long enough (which thankfully I've been able to avoid) my gauge will reach the halfway mark or just a bit over. I grew up in an older Grand Cherokee that overheated too. My mechanic told me halfway isn't technically overheating, which is fair. Usually it does not run this hot though. I watch the dial closely because of what happened in that older car. That said, I've learned one solution is to blast the heat. However...

The worst problem of all in the wintertime is that no matter how long I idle, the heat does not get warm. The only way to produce warm heat is to move the car. I also cannot use my remote start due to the check engine light being on. This has resulted in many foggy, frosty mornings that I don't want to have across from a school.

I'm an IT person but not a cars person. I'll follow your logic, but probably not the acronyms.

 

Make sure your temperature sending unit, that turns off/on your electric fan is good. Also sounds like a thermostat problem, it may be stuck open, and with the fan not working it slowly gets hot due to no restriction of the coolant through the system. As you drive it cools and heats up when idling. Just a thought.

 

Thank you. I have had the thermostat and fan replaced within the last 2-3 years. The coolant is topped off. The only thing I am unsure about is the temperature sending unit. That's definitely something I can have checked.

Could there be a malfunctioning part near the fan and thermostat that is causing heat, friction, or other types of damage that creates this problem?

 

If you have a mechanical fan on it also, check the fan clutch, they are prone to going bad. It would also be a good idea to have the system flushed and refilled. The heater core is also something to look at. Just flush it, it can hurt anything. It could be partially clogged or not at all. If you need assistance with doing these things, YouTube is full of instructional videos.