I need over heating help!

lizwithfries · Nov 18, 2011

MadStang said:
regardless it's not even a certainty the water pump is an issue so she'd be spending money where she doesn't need to. She needs diagnostic help not someone telling her to throw parts at her car when it's not for certain it's the true cause of her overheating....

I completely agree with this. One of the first things we learned in class is to not be parts changers. Replacing parts because that might be the cause. If you wanna convince me I need a new water pump, let me know how to check if it's gone bad...

The car is my daily driver and it gets driven hard, a lot. The last time I flushed the coolant was about 6 months ago. The coolant level is never low, even though it over heats to the point where the car shuts off. I'm gonna recheck my fan, even at full speed it seems like it's going slower than it should be and when the cars hot it doesn't kick into the higher speed. I didn't realize Ford used the same shitty fan for the v6's, gt's and cobras. I really think thats where the problem is. It over heats with the a/c on, stop and go traffic or if it idles (this all happens in warm weather). I've never seen any smoke from under my hood, ever. It does smoke out the dumps but its burning oil. I'm also gonna check the ect sensor (I think thats what its called). Sometimes it makes me wonder if the car is really over heating, because its NEVER low on coolant, or if the car just thinks it is. But then why would it only think it was over heating at certain times. Ugh, I've thought about this so long that it makes my head hurt.

MadStang · Nov 18, 2011

lizwithfries said:
I completely agree with this. One of the first things we learned in class is to not be parts changers. Replacing parts because that might be the cause. If you wanna convince me I need a new water pump, let me know how to check if it's gone bad...

The car is my daily driver and it gets driven hard, a lot. The last time I flushed the coolant was about 6 months ago. The coolant level is never low, even though it over heats to the point where the car shuts off. I'm gonna recheck my fan, even at full speed it seems like it's going slower than it should be and when the cars hot it doesn't kick into the higher speed. I didn't realize Ford used the same shitty fan for the v6's, gt's and cobras. I really think thats where the problem is. It over heats with the a/c on, stop and go traffic or if it idles (this all happens in warm weather). I've never seen any smoke from under my hood, ever. It does smoke out the dumps but its burning oil. I'm also gonna check the ect sensor (I think thats what its called). Sometimes it makes me wonder if the car is really over heating, because its NEVER low on coolant, or if the car just thinks it is. But then why would it only think it was over heating at certain times. Ugh, I've thought about this so long that it makes my head hurt.

If the fan is not kicking on high speed when temps go up thats your problem. I know my 4.6 the low speed fan kicks on at 195 degrees and high speed kicks on at 205 degrees. Test both the high and low speed circuits for power, you should be able to find your answer there, if not, check the coolant temperature sensor it may be malfunctioning.

massacre · Nov 18, 2011

lizwithfries said:
I completely agree with this. One of the first things we learned in class is to not be parts changers. Replacing parts because that might be the cause. If you wanna convince me I need a new water pump, let me know how to check if it's gone bad...

Dude if you have eleven billion miles on your motor, IMHO the water pump should be changed ANYWAYS, for the 20 bucks and 5 minutes it takes to change it.
That's all I'm saying. I'm not telling you to blindly replace multiple expensive engine parts in order to completely solve your problem.
Sorry for any confusion.

Either way I hope you get it solved

lizwithfries · Apr 11, 2012

So, it took me a year and a half of owning my car to finally solve this super annoying, pita problem. But, I did it. We discovered the car was not overheating, the issue was completely unrelated to temp or the cooling system. The temp gauge is messed up which is why it starts reading high, yet the car never over heats. The car shut off because the fuel pump wasn't put on properly by whatever retard that did it, in fact the filter was at the bottom of the gas tank. New pump and filter = problem solved. My car has many problems.

Anchor-Room · Apr 11, 2012

lizwithfries said:
So, it took me a year and a half of owning my car to finally solve this super annoying, pita problem. But, I did it. We discovered the car was not overheating, the issue was completely unrelated to temp or the cooling system. The temp gauge is messed up which is why it starts reading high, yet the car never over heats. The car shut off because the fuel pump wasn't put on properly by whatever retard that did it, in fact the filter was at the bottom of the gas tank. New pump and filter = problem solved. My car has many problems.

Well, what matters is that you solved the problem! I found some pictures in my phone that I found somewhat related and wanted to share - these finally helped us fix an overheating problem.

From Left to right (picture 1 - Reverse order for second picture)

1) an expensive($50) 170* degree thermostat
2) The stock thermostat that came in the car that was replaced by #1
3) The thermostat that we received when we asked for an OEM replacement.

We had them double and triple check the numbers - Our conclusion was that Ford realized a flow problem and fixed it, yet never told anyone about it.

boston2k4 · Apr 11, 2012

thats interesting find on the thermostats
good job on figuring it out!

silverv6 · Apr 11, 2012

My car had an over heating problem on the way to tampa in the middle of a highway in bumper to bumper traffic -.-

After looking at it for a while i found out it was my temp. sensor ( which is nearly impossible to replace on an 01-04) that cracked which caused my fan not to come on which caused my coolant to boil which caused it to pop pin holes in my radiator which eventually led to a failure of the radiator and i lost all my coolant on the highway..

i replaced the T stat, radiator, sensor, cap and it was fine but also check the water pump and typically if your head gasket is blown you will blow smoke as well due to burning off coolant that seeps in the cylinders.