My wife’s 1999 Volkswagen beetle (66,000 miles) is starting to overheat?
It happens when she is in stop and go traffic or at a drive through but as soon as she's been driving at an uninterrupted pace the red overheating light goes off. After the overheating light started appearing we tested it on the interstate and drove it for 40min without a problem. The next day we turned it on and let it run for while in the middle of the day it was about 83 degrees outside and in about 15 min the overheating light turned on. I took the car and started to drive with no traffic on the roads and the light went off in about 4min. I've checked the fluids and there ok what could be the problem?
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The first place I would look is to see if the fuse for the thermostatically controlled fan is OK. Very often this is blown and the overheating problem does not become evident when you are driving at an uninterrupted pace (enough air blowing over the radiator to cool it).
Next (if the fuse is ok) I would look and see if the fan does kick in. If not, good be a faulty fan, thermostatic controller etc.
If this is OK then look at waterpump impeller that has sheared off.
My money is on the first solution I proposed.
Chances are it's 1 of 3 things, Your Radiator Fan Motor, It's relay, or it's Switch. It sounds like the water cooling system is working fine, as it cools down once air starts moving through the radiator, you'd have a constant high temperature problem if your coolant wasn't moving(whether the car was in motion or not).
Edit:
I talked to a professional about your car problem.
He mentioned that if the belt that drives the generator is defective and doesn't pull the generator around as it should, then that also affects the fan and it too will not be pulled around as it should.
So please check these systems.
If the fan doesn't turn properly then the engine overheats. Of course, there is also the problem of where you live. If the summer heat is really high the air cooling system is less effective than a water cooled engine.
The first thing I would check is the thermostat. After the car has been running for a bit and the coolant is at normal operating temperature check the lower radiator hose. If it feels cool then that is the problem. If that is the case, when you drain the coolant to replace it look for any plastic pieces/shards and that would tell you that the pump should be replaced too.
66K miles in a VW is about the average time before the water pump needs to be replaced. It should also get a major servicing at this time (belts, etc.). It's the right thing to do if you want the car to last. They may also do the timing belt - which you definitely want to keep in good condition.
Water pump. Plastic impeller is failing. Very common problem on original VW water pumps.
It could be your fan thats not pulling/pushing enough air thru your radiator...... good luck