Automotive Business Talk

Guest · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 4:25 pm Post subject: Taurus Temperature Problem

Hello:

I have a 1998 Ford Taurus. It runs great but has a problem with
cooling. I can drive for five miles or two hundred miles and the car
temperature stays below the half way mark on the temperature gauge.
But when I stop and idle like at a redlight, the temperature goes up
and coolant boils out. If I stop too many times, I will be out of
coolant and the car will get really hot.

In the past year, I have replaced the thermostat and heater core. I
have checked the cooling fans and they seemed to be working. I added
block sealer "K and W Nanotechnology Permanent Head Gasket and Block
Repair" and that made no difference. The front spark plugs were in
perfect condition. The one back plug I removed showed a little
discoleration but was ok. There is a noise from either the water pump
or power steering pump which stops after the car has been running a
while. The coolant is slightly below a 50/50 mix.

I don't want to spend much money as I will be getting rid of the car
soon. I will pull the other two spark plugs to check for a problem
with a possible cracked head or leaking head gasket. But It seems to
me that the water pump or radiator would be the most likely remaining
causes.

Is there a way for me to check the water pump or radiator without
replacing them?

Does anyone recognize this problem or have any other suggestions?

Thanks.

Don Byrer · Guest

On Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:25:00 -0500, firebat@softhome.net wrote:

Guest · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:01 pm Post subject: Re: Taurus Temperature Problem

To: firebat@softhome.net
Subject: Re: Taurus Temperature Problem
From: Moses <awelch4@wi.rr.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:21:04 -0700 (PDT)

I'm having the same problem with my 99. The temp gage doesn't show
overheating but the cololant will start to steam with the fans coming
on after a short trip. It's likely the radiator is plugged. I've
already replaced the water pump. Another possibility would be a blown
head gasket, though the engine still runs smooth. A blown head gasket
following a long hot highway trip is a trypical scenario. I'm taking
mine to the garage tomorrow. My car has 163 k miles, what about
yours?

On Jul 15, 6:25 am, fire...@softhome.net wrote:

Guest · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 1:48 am Post subject: Re: Taurus Temperature Problem

Here is some background information which may be important:

The vehicle was originally taken into the dealer due to a heater
problem. It took a long time to heat the interior because there was
very limited heat output into the interior. The fan had to be on low
to get any heat at all.

The dealer replaced the heater core. After this I am not 100% sure of
what happened when. However, either because the car was overheating
or becuase the heat was no longer working, the dealer replaced the
thermostat.

After leaving the shop with the thermostat, the air conditioner would
not work. A few miles down the road it started working. I think the
overheating problem started after this but I am no longer sure.

At first the problem only seemed to occur after a very long drive with
stops after the drive. It may have had the problem if I made shorter
trips but I normally drive about seventy files each way before I stop.
The problem continued to get worse, so I switched vehicles with my
wife. The problem showed up on her twenty mile compute much more than
on my long distance commute. She has to stop at lots of red lights.

I took the car back to the dealer and they said they detected a trace
of exhaust gas in the coolant. That is when I decided to use the
block seal. While flushing the system, I noted that the heater was
putting out well. While installing the seal, I noted that the heater
was not putting out. The thermostat was removed at the time.

After installing the block seal, I flushed the system and installed
new coolant. The next day, I drove about 10 miles watching the engine
temperature the entire time. The temperature was perfect when I
stopped the engine for about 30 minutes. I then started and drove
about five miles down the interstate. I exited and the temperature
was still perfect until I stopped at the fourth red light. At that
point, the temperature shot way up.

I immediately started the drive back home while attempting to avoid
stops. I made the first red light but had to stop at a stop sign. The
stop was very brief and the temperature was slightly high but did not
seem to increase (probably had already lost enough coolant to explain
the slightly elevated temperature). I drove 15 miles and the
temperature remained the same. I stopped at another red light about
five miles from home and the temperature started to increase after a
few seconds. I drove the remainging five miles at highway speed with
the temperature as before until I stopped in the driveway. The
coolant was bubbling out when I stopped the car and the temperature
increased.

Later that day, I replaced the coolant, added barsleak and idled the
car about 15 minutes. The temperature increased to just below high
and then decreased slightly.

After leaving the car off for a couple of hours, I made a trip about
two miles up the road with three stops. By the time I returned to my
drive way and stopped, the temperature was very high and the coolant
was bubbling strongly.

Two days later, I drove the car about five miles and stopped for an
hour. No problem at all. Got back in and drove two miles and there
was a stream of coolant on the concrete when I left the parking lot.
The temperature was fine for the five miles it took to return home but
the resevoir was low on coolant.

Here are the responses to your questions:

On Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:00:03 -0400, Don Byrer <kj5kb@hotmail.com>
wrote:

Guest · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 2:24 am Post subject: Re: Taurus Temperature Problem

On Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:01:07 -0500, awelch4@wi.rr.com wrote:

Guest · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:38 am Post subject: Re: Taurus Temperature Problem

On Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:34:58 -0700, "Arnie Quarry"
<crushedskull@violence.net> wrote:

Arnie Quarry · Guest

it's either a bad thermosensor or your electric fan has a short.

<firebat@softhome.net> wrote in message
news:0m1p74lm7bht6aa3ba110r9rb02vrebg77@4ax.com...

Guest · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 7:13 am Post subject: Re: Taurus Temperature Problem

Hello:

Thanks for all your suggestions. Based on them, I was better able to
isolate the problem and eliminate some of the possiblities.

I ran the engine on idle for 10 minutes and verified the fans were
working ok. I let the car sit for an hour and made two 3-mile trips.
For both trips, the temperature gauge remained below the half way mark
at the same point as in all my ford vehicles. The final trip home was
at normal temperature. It was still at normal temperature when I
stopped but I left the car running so I could check the radiator fans.
It took me a minute to get the hood up and the radiator fans were
working fine. I left the car running and the temperature gauge climed
to a little more than 3/4 of the safe range and stayed there. When I
turned the car off the temperature dropped 1/16 to 1/8 of the range.

I shut the car off and after a couple of minutes restarted it and
checked the temperature again. It was now about 1/2 way on the guage.

After a few more minutes, I restarted it and the temperature had
dropped to the normal operating temperature but increase after a
minute or so back up to the half way point.

The radiator fans were going whether or not the A/C was on. Earlier
they only ran when the A/C was on. I think the sensor and fans can be
elimiated as a posssible cause of the problem.

I don't know how this works on modern vehicles, but the upper radiator
hose is easy to squeeze. If I recall correctly from my younger days,
this indicates a flow problem. That would point to either the
radiator, an obstruction in the hoses, or the water pump. Is this
correct and still applicable?

What do you think would be most likely and what should I do next?

Am I totally off track?

Thanks.

Guest · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 7:16 am Post subject: Re: Taurus Temperature Problem

Hello:

Thanks for all your suggestions. Based on them, I was better able to
isolate the problem and eliminate some of the possiblities.

I ran the engine on idle for 10 minutes and verified the fans were
working ok. I let the car sit for an hour and made two 3-mile trips.
For both trips, the temperature gauge remained below the half way mark
at the same point as in all my ford vehicles. The final trip home was
at normal temperature. It was still at normal temperature when I
stopped but I left the car running so I could check the radiator fans.
It took me a minute to get the hood up and the radiator fans were
working fine. I left the car running and the temperature gauge climed
to a little more than 3/4 of the safe range and stayed there. When I
turned the car off the temperature dropped 1/16 to 1/8 of the range.

I shut the car off and after a couple of minutes restarted it and
checked the temperature again. It was now about 1/2 way on the guage.

After a few more minutes, I restarted it and the temperature had
dropped to the normal operating temperature but increase after a
minute or so back up to the half way point.

The radiator fans were going whether or not the A/C was on. Earlier
they only ran when the A/C was on. I think the sensor and fans can be
elimiated as a posssible cause of the problem.

I don't know how this works on modern vehicles, but the upper radiator
hose is easy to squeeze. If I recall correctly from my younger days,
this indicates a flow problem. That would point to either the
radiator, an obstruction in the hoses, or the water pump. Is this
correct and still applicable?

What do you think would be most likely and what should I do next?

Am I totally off track?

Thanks.

Al · Guest

egnew@charter.net wrote:

Ted Mittelstaedt · Guest

<firebat@softhome.net> wrote in message
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Tom Adkins · Guest

Actually, with the rarity of blown head gaskets on these cars, I would
look closer at the water pump.

Late 90s Tauri have a bad habit of eroding the water pump impeller
fins away. I would be very surprised if this car had a failed head
gasket and even more surprised if it has never needed a water pump
replacement.

A good shop can quickly test for combustion gases in the coolant to
confirm or deny a head gasket issue.

Arnie Quarry · Guest

"Tom Adkins" <xtadkins@gmail.com> wrote in message
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Ted Mittelstaedt · Guest

"Arnie Quarry" <crushedskull@violence.net> wrote in message
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Tom Adkins · Guest

On Jul 17, 3:30 am, "Ted Mittelstaedt" <t...@toybox.placo.com> wrote: