still running hot over $2000 later...

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bkviking - 20 Mar 2007 22:03 GMT

I had posted a discussion about my 2001 Focus ZTS about overheating
earlier in the month. Perhaps after a months worth of problems, my
experience can be a lesson and perhaps additional advice becaue
ultimately my problem is still not resolved.

Briefly, I brought car for maintenance which included coolant change.
After picking up car, temp showed it getting hot 80% of the way near
end of safe zone. This problem has occurred after about 20-30 mintutes
of driving and gets hotter the faster I go, especially above 55mph,
but will receded back to normal temperature after I've stopped (with
fan screaming ) and just as i take off about 100 feet it drops all the
way down.
I checked fluid, mechanic said it was air pocket. I also asked whether
his adding green fluid to car when it had orange stuff. He said it was
just a color.
Brought car to him, he "burped" it. Drove car, same problem.
Brought back to him: he said it was cracked water pump impeller,
showed me fan cut up (also replaced thermostat at this repair).
Same problem when i drove.
Brought back to him. He said he borrowed part from Ford that removed
fluid from car and created vacuum to remove air pockets. He said he
heard air being sucked in from a cylinder head housing. So he changed
that along with radiator hose. Drove away, same f*^%ing problem.
Now, brought car to Ford, where after 4 days running diagnostics they
can't pinpoint a problem, other than mechanic put hand in front of fan
and noticed one part blowing cold air and the other hot, indicating
partially clogged radiator. Or, he said, it could be faulty temperture
gauge. Either way, he said Ford had already putserious diagnostic time
on car, including mounting temp sensors around cylnders and everythign
was normal, including fan operation. Nonetheless, he still didn't see
the car hot when I see it commuting. The sense is that: the mechanic
mixed some green and orange, and possibly gooed the radiator, or the
coolant change stirred up stuff. Either way, 15 days without a car the
past 30 days is intolerable and I will now decide my options. Any
advice at this point would be appreciated..

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Steve - 20 Mar 2007 22:28 GMT

> I had posted a discussion about my 2001 Focus ZTS about overheating
> earlier in the month. Perhaps after a months worth of problems, my
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> past 30 days is intolerable and I will now decide my options. Any
> advice at this point would be appreciated..

Mixing "green" and "orange" seems odd, since a modern Ford should
require G-05 which is yellow ;-p

And even though mixing coolant technologies is a horrible idea, it won't
immediately "goo" anything. The damage, if any, will be long-term
corrosion.

FWIW, green coolant is generally conventional silicone-silicate, orange
is generally DexCool, and yellow is G-05 except for Mopar-branded G-05
which, for some reason is orange. There are others- VW has some type
that is Toilet Duck blue, and some HD coolants are red or even purple.
But when it comes to domestic cars, there are only 3 basic types.

But back to the problem. In summary you say:

1) The problem started after a coolant change
2) Its been checked for air pockets
3) it has a new water pump, fan, thermostat and head gasket (if I read
some obscure sentences correctly)
4) the problem occurs at high speed only.

OK, a few questions-

- Has ANYBODY bothered to check and see if the engine is *really*
overheating or if its a bogus gauge reading?

-Does the heater blow warm air when the problem occurs? What about when
it ISN'T occurring? Absence of heat from the heater while the engine is
indicating "hot" frequently indicates an air pocket which is preventing
proper coolant flow.

-Does turning the heater on FULL HOT and HIGH FAN while the engine is
overheated cause the coolant temperature to start dropping, which would
indicate that it is a radiator capacity problem (partially clogged
radiator).

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HLS@nospam.nix - 21 Mar 2007 02:22 GMT

> But back to the problem. In summary you say:
>
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> indicate that it is a radiator capacity problem (partially clogged
> radiator).

Good post, Steve...

When the car heats at speed, it normally means that
(1) you have a restriction or lack of flow in the radiator or other part of
the internal fluid system
(Note....An air bubble would be a restriction) A partially hung
thermostat could be another,
although this is not normal at all.
(2) The radiator fins, or space between the radiator and air conditioning
condensor, may
be plugged or not passing air efficiently.
(3) You may have a cracked block, or head, or blown head gasket. Hot gases
entering the radiator
from the combustion chamber can cause severe overheating....

As Steve posted, be sure you are really overheating. Then work through the
possible causes until
you find out why it is happening.

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clifto - 21 Mar 2007 00:13 GMT

> Briefly, I brought car for maintenance which included coolant change.

Just for kicks, what else did it include?

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Steve B. - 21 Mar 2007 00:40 GMT

>Nonetheless, he still didn't see
>the car hot when I see it commuting. The sense is that: the mechanic
>mixed some green and orange, and possibly gooed the radiator, or the
>coolant change stirred up stuff. Either way, 15 days without a car the
>past 30 days is intolerable and I will now decide my options. Any
>advice at this point would be appreciated..

Still sounds like a clogged radiator to me. Most radiator shops have
IR temp guns that they can use to tell the temp across the engine and
across the radiator. I once had a '73 Imperial that I spent seventeen
fortunes on trying to stop an overheating problem that was never fixed
so I know the aggravation of what you are going through. I finally
threw in the towel on that one but you should at least have a radiator
shop check it out before you give up.

Steve B.

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skibo1 - 21 Mar 2007 02:12 GMT

just a quick check you can do, the focus's are bad about burning up the
resistor on the fan motors causing simular concern, it just snaps out
and is located on the top of the fan assy, usually they are very plain
to see when they are burnt. generally in the connector area. like i
said just a quick check for u

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skibo1

http://www.automotiveforums.com

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