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1999 Ford Contour SE. Running hot; very hot.

T

thechao

New CEG'er
Joined
Nov 1, 2008
Messages
17
Location
Austin, Texas
I think the only thing that prevented a total melt down was the cold rainy weather (Portland OR). My suspicion is the water pump, but I was trying to figure out how to diagnose the issue.

Basically it boils down to:
(1) running hot;
(2) heater no longer works (may be related; may not);
(3) loss of power.

I'm gonna get my OBDII back and see if I can pull codes. I found the waterpump replacement HowTo and it looks pretty straightforward (just need an 8mm socket). I couldn't find a discussion on where/what pump to get.

I suppose my first task is exploratory --- look at the wp and see if the impellers are borked.
 
Welcome, and if it is the water pump I know BAT inc (just google it) sells an upgraded one that has metal impellers instead of plastic ones. I know when my water pump went I started leaking antifreeze really badly.
 
Are there any other things that could cause overheating? The fan sounds like a jet-plane right now --- I don't know if this is because it is trying to cool the motor without the waterpump or because of a bad blade?
 
the thermostate could also be stuck closed and not letting any antifreeze through. when was the last time you had that changed. and a loud fan may be normal unless it being so loud is new, my fan is really loud on my zetec.
 
I've never replaced the thermostat. Also, I don't see any idiot lights on the dash ... so I'm skeptical I'm going to get any OBD codes.
 
My money is on the water pump. I had a BAT pump and the seal went bad on it in about 40k. You can get an updated new replacement pump (with the white plastic impeller that doesn't shatter) from Autozone for $68. I remember people saying the plastic was more efficient than the metal impeller anyways.
 
4 or a 6?
Mine's a 2.0L. It's been a few years, I think I had the dash out and the heater hoses off. I slapped everything back together, threw in a little coolant and went for a test drive. Got hotter than hell but, like you, it was cold as hell out. I didn't bleed the system, there's a small hose on or near the thermo housing, (on my '95) to accomplish that. I did later replace the thermostat with one that had a bleed in it.

I'd swap the thermostat first and make sure the coolant is -like- 50/50. The car will overheat with too much antifreeze in the mix too.
 
since you reference the waterpump how-to I'm going to guess that you have a V6. No heat and overheating is an idication that the waterpump isn't working. Could be as simple as the belt went, or the pump. the white plastic impelar pumps are just fine as a replacement. Just make sure it isn't black. also your 99 should already have a white impellar, unless its a very early 99.

check fan operation, there are two speeds. fans should come on high when the A/C is selected from the hvac.
 
Ok. I have a '99 V6 SE. Now that you (BrApple) mention the belt, I think I'll check that. In theory the belts were replaced about a year ago (5k miles), but I'm not sure the WP belt was done. I heard *significant* squealing from under the hood. I don't know the production month. I'm going to check the belt out tonight --- replace the belt & if it works I'll save the 70$ on the WP.
 
the waterpump belt being on the opposite side of the engine from the accessory belt, and being under the engine cover is often overlooked.

also do you have the V6 or I4 engine? A 99 SE could have either, iirc.
 
Well; that was easy. While I was cleaning out the car I found the accessory belt that the mechanic was supposed to have installed nearly two years ago; I suppose he didn't know what to do with the extra small belt. The current accessory belt looks like a ball of steel-twine gnarled around the pulleys. I'm going to get in there and make sure everything is okay and replace the accessory belt.
 
Okay. So, I still couldn't feel any heat and the moosing had taken on a weird tenor after I topped off the antifreeze. It started hailing which seemed a pretty bad omen; so I took The Contour for a spin with a hope of not destroying the motor. Also, wanted to get out of the hail. Took The Contour around the block and hot air started blowing like crazy. For being an awesome car and only costing $6 to fix a potentially major engine problem (mechanic was quoting >600$ to fix the waterpump), The Contour's getting a detail job when I get back in town.
 
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