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1999 Ford Taurus overheating


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Guest
Anonymous Poster
snoe2006@yahoo.com

Jun 27, 2009, 10:37 PM

Post #1 of 17 (7526 views)
post icon 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

Hi all, my mother-in-law has a 99 Ford Taurus OHV engine. Last November, I replaced her thermostat and water outlet(it was cracked), I also cleabed out the cooling system. The car is running hot and I'm not sure why. There's no coolant on ground, there doesn't appear to be coolant on the dipstick. Could iy just be that I need to replace her thermostat once again? After car is shut off, you can hear it boiling.Please help Thank you


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Jun 28, 2009, 12:00 AM

Post #2 of 17 (7518 views)
Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

It is very rare for a thermostat to actually be the cause of an overheating problem.
Does it seem to get hot faster at highway cruising speeds or in slow traffic and idle speeds?

Is it consuming any coolant over time?



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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Guest
Anonymous Poster
snoe2006@yahoo.com

Jun 28, 2009, 12:11 AM

Post #3 of 17 (7514 views)
Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

It seems to overheat @ idle, such as traffic lights and so on, the temperature gauge goes way up also it is comsuming a lot of coolant, however I don't see any on ground, but you can definitely hear it boiling in upper hose and expansion tank. I am really stumped! Any thoughts Maybe new radiator? Thanks for the help


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Jun 28, 2009, 12:15 AM

Post #4 of 17 (7511 views)
Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

The loss of coolant is a major issue and you need to get to the bottom of that first. Make sure you are getting all the air out of the system in the first place. You need to pressure test the cooling system with all the spark plugs removed to look for the leak which could be a possible blown head gasket due to a previous overheating.

You also want to check your cooling fan operation. That's one thing that will cause it to run hotter in traffic but the coolant loss is the key to this.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



(This post was edited by Hammer Time on Jun 28, 2009, 12:16 AM)


Guest
Anonymous Poster

Jun 28, 2009, 12:23 AM

Post #5 of 17 (7507 views)
Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

Yeah I thought at first maybe blown head gasket, but wasn't real sure because there was no coolant on the dipstick. I thought the fans were kicking in, however I will check that more closely. Also could it be that the expansion tank cap is bad, not holding pressure maybe? any thoughts on that? Thanks again


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Jun 28, 2009, 1:31 AM

Post #6 of 17 (7502 views)
Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

The cap can be bad but then you would be seeing coolant on the ground. the pressure test will answer that question. Not having coolant in the oil doesn't mean the head gasket is OK in fact it's rare for a head gasket to put coolant in the oil. that's usually a sign of a cracked head. The gasket usually breaks between the cylinder and the cooling port which sends coolant into the combustion chamber and out the exhaust. It also send hot combustion gases into the cooling system, superheating the coolant.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



(This post was edited by Hammer Time on Jun 28, 2009, 1:32 AM)


Guest
Anonymous Poster
snoe2006@yahoo.com

Jun 28, 2009, 1:37 AM

Post #7 of 17 (7497 views)
post icon Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

Thank you sir for all the advice, I will tell her to have it pressure tested. Is there anything else besides the cooling fans that I can look at now, before she takes it in? Thank you


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Jun 28, 2009, 1:42 AM

Post #8 of 17 (7495 views)
Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

The cooling fan is the only thing that shows up in slow traffic.

The coolant loss is what you need to concentrate on. That is the root of your problem.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Guest
Anonymous Poster
snoe2006@yahoo.com

Jun 28, 2009, 1:52 AM

Post #9 of 17 (7491 views)
Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

Once again, thanks for all the information. I really appreciate your time and advice


Guest
Anonymous Poster
snoe2006@yahoo.com

Jun 28, 2009, 9:50 AM

Post #10 of 17 (7483 views)
Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

I have checked her fans today, and they both work, so next I'm taking it in to test the cooling system. Hopefully that will pinpoint what's going on


Guest
Anonymous Poster
snoe2006@yahoo.com

Jun 29, 2009, 9:51 AM

Post #11 of 17 (7467 views)
Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

Well we took her car to Goodyear service center and they couldn't find anything wrong, checked the fans, the thermostat, pressure tested the system and let it run 15 minutes but could not find any problems. I am really stumped now, however the mechanic did say there might have been air caught in the system. It is good news but there is something going og. Any suggestions or just leave it? Thank you


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Jun 29, 2009, 10:09 AM

Post #12 of 17 (7463 views)
Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

At least wait to see if there are any more problems. They have bled the air out not so see if you still have a problem. Try to be observant of when it happens, what triggers it and whether it consumes any coolant in the meantime.

Blown head gaskets can be hard to detect sometimes. They don't always show up right away with a pressure test.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Guest
Anonymous Poster
snoe2006@yahoo.com

Jun 29, 2009, 10:30 AM

Post #13 of 17 (7458 views)
Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

Thank you sir. If it is a blown head gasket, would there necessarily be coolant on ground? how extensive a job is that. I thought the pressure test would have shown that, how exactly can we know?


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Jun 29, 2009, 10:36 AM

Post #14 of 17 (7455 views)
Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

Head gasket problems can sometimes be very hard to detect because of expansion and contraction with heating and cooling. You won't see any coolant on the ground because it's being burned in the combustion chamber and hot exhaust gases get into the coolant.

There are some chemical tests that can be performed but the most accurate way to test it is with an emissions exhaust analyzer. It can sense hydrocarbons in the coolant when held over the radiator cap with the engine running.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Guest
Anonymous Poster
snoe2006@yahoo.com

Jun 29, 2009, 1:31 PM

Post #15 of 17 (7449 views)
Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

I'm hoping that the Goodyear people are competent enough for this and just wondering if a qualified radiator shop might be the best thing since they specialize in this sort of thing. Any thoughts ?


Loren Champlain Sr
Veteran / Moderator
Loren Champlain Sr profile image

Jun 29, 2009, 1:35 PM

Post #16 of 17 (7447 views)
Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

Pardon my jumping in, here. The 'chain' stores in 'my' area have a terrible reputation. It is always a good thing to get a second opinion. Any shop that does emission repairs can perform the test that Hammer suggested. Quick and easy.
Loren
SW Washington


Guest
Anonymous Poster
snoe2006@yahoo.com

Jun 29, 2009, 10:26 PM

Post #17 of 17 (7438 views)
Re: 1999 Ford Taurus overheating Sign In

I don't mind you jumping in, thank you for your suggestion sir!






 
 
 






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