Started last week car was running 20 mins to warm up while I got ready for work... Went to leave and needle didnt really move and no heat. Got maybe a mile from my house needle goes from cold to overheating still no heat... Kept driving it it went down too just under the overheating line. Fast forward to work, antifreeze all down the pasener side of the car from boiling out the overflow tank. After work i went and got some antifreeze filled her back up and started it up to see what happens runs for like 5 mins and needle goes right uo to overheating again (still no heat). So I take the thermostat out in the parking lot to get it home, drive home needle never gets off of cold now this was last thursday. Today I went out to put a new thermostat in and get it going all goes well and start it up maybe 10 mins in and goes right up to overheating again??? Cant figure it out. Still no heat, radiator hoses are getting hot, hoses to heater core the hose on the right is hot the one on the left is warm. Cant figure it out look in the radiator and can see the fluid flowing so im imagining the water pump is working. Could it just be a bad new thermostat or am I missing something? Also dont know if this has anything to do with it but car seems to be spitting out more white smoke than usual doesnt appear to be anything unusual in the oil (head gasket?). not really cold here so im at a loss... Any suggestions would be appreciated sorry this is so long......
if you can, have the radiator pressure tested, and flushed. you could also have a collapsing hose.
i've seen new thermostats that were bad a couple of times. whered you buy it from? possible it could be a head gasket. white smoke come out the back all the time, or only when its hot /cold? it can also push exhaust into the coolant causing an air pocket in the thermostat causing the tempature to go up and down eradicly. you notice air bubbles in the coolant looking in the radiator?
Too late now ill check on those things tomorrow and check back...
I have a sort of similiar problem on my 87 5.0. It doesn't overheat, but the needle tethers the red line. I'm thinking maybe a collasped hose, they are old. Please post what you find, I'm interested. :)
Can one tell if a hose is collapsed by visually looking at it?
Quit a few years ago my 85 3.8 Cougar would overheat (indicated) all the time. Never boiled over. It turned out to be the dash voltage regulator.
Your's is actually overheating. If in fact you have a blown head gasket you could be pumping cylinder pressure in to the water jacket.
Also check by running the car with the radiator cap off. Of course do this with a cold engine. If you get a lot of bubbles/air in the radiator you may have a bad head gasket. You may also see steam/water out the tail pipe as well.
Yes mine is overheating but did not overheat when I pulled the thermostat out and drove it for 2 days w/o one.. The white smoke I just noticed once two days ago havent started it since.. No real bubbles in the radiator while car is running.. If it is a collapsed hose how would I know which it is? Like jpc said is it visibly noticable?
if it's cold out you'll always get a little white smoke from the tailpipe, atleast every ford I've had does.
since I have to ask, was the thermostat you bought a "stant" brand one? did you test it before you put it in, or installed it backwards?
im notsaying your dumb but I've seen it happen, more than I want to believe it does.
you mentioned your heater core hose was cold also, you might want to check that out for being clogged.
have you checked the other parts of your cooling system(fan clutch,clogged rad,ect.) out yet?
If the car is overheating and boiling out water then you should be getting heat through the heater vents. If it's not blowing hot air then your heater core isn't getting hot which means there is a circulation problem. It's either the thermostat, hoses, waterpump, or the heater core is just plain clogged and everything else is good.
+2
If you replaced the thermostat and you see fluid flowing than it sounds like the heater core is leaking or clogged. I would pressure test the system to check for a leak. You could make a piece that would bypass the heater core using tubing and/or another hose. If that fixes the overheating its your heater core.
I'm interested to see what you find...sounds like a similar problem I had with my old Cougar...ended up warping the heads...every spark plug was green. Replaced heads, intake, t-stat, radiator, water pump and every hose on the thing...let it idle all day, no problem...drive it for 3-4 mins, puke antifreeze out of the overflow...shut it off, pull off the "pressure release" radiator cap(known good), start it back up, top it off and cap it and it was good to go for awhile...
I ended up gutting that poor car because of all the problems I had with it.
Good luck,
Don
Havent checked anything yet have been too busy and driving the expedition to work... It dont overheat with thermostat out. thermostat in it overheats I tested thermostat and apears to be working.. my next move is to flush the system if that dont work imma bypass the heater core put the thermostat back in and see where that leads me.
Take a pot of water and put it on the stove. Boil it. Stick thermostat in.
Does it open?
FWIW -- I check every thermostat like this. In fact I use a thermometer I clip on the pot so I can see exactly what temp it opens at and what temp it's open FULLY. I check them new. That way I'm not changing it twice.
I hope for your sake that the heater core is good because those are a complete pain in the rear to change.
Still no change I havent gotten into it yet... I cant see how its not the heater core. Did the pot test and it opens didnt have a thermometer to see what tepmerature but it opens... It overheats with the thermostat in does not with it out and I have no heat at anytime. Also sounds like some gurgling under the dash with the car running. ill figure it out when the weather gets nicer. Just think its saving the car from driving thru all the snow and salt...
This is true, but its not hard. 5-6 hours for me and it was done and running.
Ive done it once before on my old cougar.. Bit of a PITA but not impossible.
Follow the Coolcats directions and you'll have it done in under 4 hours without taking breaks ;)
yeah I had planned on printing em out and following them I have seen some on here say they work. When it finally stops snowing here I might be able to figure out whats wrong with her..
If it is the heater core, it's not that bad...2-3hrs if you're mechanically inclined and have some basic tools...the first time I did it, I read through the instructions like 5 times to familiarize myself with them...then kept them by my side when I was actually doing it...took me around 3hrs with frequent smoke breaks...the second time(a few short weeks later, because most parts house cores are junk) it took about 2.5 hrs.
Good luck,
Don
Its gotta be the thermostat or a bad/clogged radiator if I had to take a guess.
If the car is blowing a little more smoke...it could be the head gasket, cracked or warped head. I would run a compression test once the weather clears up. Is the coolant in the radiator foaming? Is it disappearing slowly? Is the engine running a little rough? Does it sound like it's missing?
Ok finally got a day to look into things... First I figured ive owned the car almost two years and havent flushed the system so I flushed out the coolant waited till fluid ran clear than replaced with 50/50 coolant. Put the new thermostat back in and started it... Here is the smoke I was talking about:
(http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z14/cougar1car/th_0310091720.jpg) (http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z14/cougar1car/?action=view¤t=0310091720.flv)
At this point the gauge says the car is warm its kinda cold outside around 30ish.
Now I am gonna throw out what im thinking and let me know if I am completely wrong or not. The coolant system flushed out so the water pump must be working? Again it flushed through so the heater core can not be clogged?? It ran for about 30 mins needle never got to the red but came close a few times it seems when you have the heat on high it goes down slightly but than goes right up again. Still baffling me that the car is getting to the point of overheating but no heat at all is coming out of the vents??? I was thinking about replacing the fan clutch and getting another thermostat tomorrow and replacing them but still leaves me wondering why no heat??? Another question is is the AC compressor supposed to kick on so much? Below is maybe a 30ish second video and it kicked on 3 or so times???
(http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z14/cougar1car/th_0310091755.jpg) (http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z14/cougar1car/?action=view¤t=0310091755.flv)
I am at a loss the overheating part I think I can handle but the fact that the car is almost overheating but still has no heat is killing me...
Head gasket... That much white smoke is not normal unless your at wide open throttle when its first warming up. I would do a compression test asap. It only takes a couple of minutes if you only do the drivers side. I know the passenger side sucks to get to.
Do 88 v-6's have map sensors? That is what my car looked like when the hose came off of it.
The A/C compressor shouldn't kick on at all, (*I'm pretty sure*) unless you're running A/C. I would look into checking you're climate control controls and make sure they are not screwed up somehow. They could be backwards and that would explain why the A/C is clutch is kicking on. The 20th i had in high school overheated when the A/C was on.
The A/C compressor will also kick on if you have the defrost on.
Im sure I could search it but how do I do a compression test??
I did have the defroster on...
Im sure I could search it but how do I do a compression test??
Youll need a compression tester......looks like a gauge with a hose connected
first you need to trip the fuel pump shut off swtch in the trunk., and releive the fuel pressure by depressing the tire looking valve on your fuel rail
second, you take out all your spark plugs
third, one by one you screw in the comp. tester, where there was a spark plug, and turn the motor over three times... youll see the gauge bounce, and i belive the 3.8 was 170psi, but im not 100% on that.......
if they all are pretty close to each other, they should be fine, or theyre alll blown........but i doubt they all are...
its late so im going to bed, anybody else can chime in...............
Well I figured it out it was the fan clutch... Replaced yesterday and runs fine now no overheating and have plenty of heat again...
that much smoke,, you got another problem.
Continue on with the compression test.
you dont have to relief any fuel presure either, just either of the following ...
unplug the fuel pump relay on the pass side trunk,
unplug the inertia switch
unplug the injector wire harness main connector
or
unplug the coil and distributor and tps
I am still planning on the compression test I was saying the overheating problem was fixed... Quick question if the headgasket was bad wouldnt I be losing antifreeze??
:burnout: Glad to see you got it all taken care of:burnout:
the color of the smoke,,(based on what i can see) looks to be more of a rich / oily condition.
you would know best.
Headgakets are kinda fickle and eventually lead to water exits of one or more of the following: in the oil or out the tail pipe or on the ground.
if that is the continuous look of the exhaust, your not running correctly.
If your just adding oil once in a while, then its obvious what the issue is.
The way I crank the engine is to pull the little Red/blue wire off the start relay. Attach a jumper wire with an alligator clip to the start relay where wire was.
Touch the other end of the wire to the positive battery terminal to run the starter motor.
This way you can leave the ignition switch off and not have to worry about running the fuel pump, the injectors or turning on the ignition.