Dodge Challenger coolant temperature spiking in traffic, fans not kicking in

Author : Jemima Topham | Published On : 02 Jul 2026

My 2017 Challenger RT has been running hotter than normal in stop and go traffic, the temperature gauge creeps up past the halfway mark toward the red zone and only comes back down once I get moving at highway speeds again. Sitting at a long signal yesterday it got uncomfortably close to the red and I had to blast the heater to pull some heat out of the engine, which in Dubai summer is basically torture. I've noticed the radiator fans don't seem to be coming on when they should, or maybe they're coming on at low speed only and not ramping up to high speed when the temperature demands it. Could be the fan relay, the fan control module, or the fans themselves, I'd rather not start replacing everything blindly. Need a Dodge express repair service that can diagnose the cooling system properly, test the fan circuits and make sure it's not something more serious like a failing water pump or a partially blocked radiator. Dynostar seems to know their way around Challengers and they list cooling system diagnostics as a service. Anyone else with a similar year Challenger or Charger dealt with overheating in traffic that turned out to be a fan issue rather than something internal to the engine, what was the actual faulty component and was it a quick fix? I'm supposed to drive to Abu Dhabi this weekend and I'm not comfortable taking the car anywhere longer than my commute until this is sorted. Also curious if the factory thermostat tends to fail on these engines, some people have recommended upgrading to a lower temperature thermostat but I'm not sure if that just masks a different problem.