would my engine run cooler if i remove my thermostat?
so system will aways have direct flow of antifreeze?

why dont you replace the thermostat?

ive replaced the thermo
and the engine still running hot
im not sure whats the temp on that thermo
but i was just curious what would happen if i take it off completly

Bad idea. Coolant has no time to "absorb" the heat of the engine. It would run hotter, have a CEL, and overall be bad.

is your fan working?

i dont know what else to do with my contour!!!
it over heats all the time strts off fine drives fine then SHOOT to the pased the L
changed thermo
changed temp sensor
changes heater hose
no idea whats happening

yes fan kicks in and works fine and high RPM and low
i replaced the sensor which fixed the fan today so thats done

Biggest problem with pulling the t-stat is that it will take longer for your car to warm up = crappy gas mileage. Additionally, when you're driving on the highway with plenty of air flow through the radiator, your engine temps may drop to below the normal operating range. Again, crappy mileage.

A low temp t-stat will let your engine warm to normal ranges and keep your engine at the cool end of the operating range on the highway, but in city driving the temp will still spike until the fans kick on because there will be insufficient air flow through the radiator.

The only solutions left for your are:

1. Lower temp thermostat - a 160 or 170 should do.
2. Your temp gauge and/or wiring may be faulty.

I bought a therm at autozone but the box did not say anything about whats temp is it.
so i guess ill call them or go over there and find out today.
my can dont start now for some reason. it trying to but just wont do it. maybe oil or antifreeze is in the sparkplug chambers by now.

By the way, I strongly recommend that you get external temperature readings with one of those fancy gun thermometer thingies. That way you'll know if your engine is being cooled properly & if you have a faulty gauge/wiring.

go ahead and remove it. I've been driving my ZX2 without one for almost 2 years! No probelm what so ever.... Yes the car take longer to warm up in cold weather, but if u get a cold air intake it'll take the same amount of time to warm up with out a thermostat. I really can't say anything for MPG, cuz I running 30lb injectors for the tune that i have, but in the summer in CA without a thermostat keeps my car nice and cool.

are there physical signs of over heating? everyone has to remember that the temp guage isn't calibrated per say. You can not take what the guage reads as an exact tempurature. If you can get a OBDII scanner that lets you read sensors as you drive watch the coolant sensor. If the fans are working they turn on at 212 degrees F. They should cool the coolant to your thermostat temp, stock is 190. Again the temp guage is a rough estimate. If the fans are working correctly you shouldn't be over heating. If you are then I might suspect the water pump. You might want to change the sending unit for the temp sensor also


my zetec has recently been running normally around A in normal, it will go to L but then the fans kick on. It use to run between r and m but would go to a or l in traffic. So the guage is subjective, as long as the fans are coming on that means that part of the cooling system is working correctly. Also if you haven't changed you coolant in some time I would suggest it, go with a 50/50 mix and that might help

but you can't assume it is over heating by just the temp guage, it should give you an idea but look for other signs

Where are you located? Based on your climate (if you don't have a lot of freezing weather) you could always use more water in your mix. Something like 60% water 40% anti-freeze. Add to that a couple of bottles of Redline water wetter. This will significantly lower engine teperatures. I also recomend that you switch to Mobile One over dino oil. If you haven't done a good flush and fill in some time do that first.

i do have physical signs about my car overheating
one is that antifreeze tank is boiling hot
two is that cometimes my car stalls bc ots overheated
three you loose alot of performance when its overheated

i finally figured out whats wrong with my car after long hours of troubleshooting it.
my engine block leaking antifreeze right inside the engine. I pulled out one of my spark plugs and mixture of gas and antifreeze shot out of it and then spark plug chamber was filled with liquit till the top.

my options are
change the head gasked and dry whole engine or just replace whole engine and start with newer one less milage on it.

I'll bet a used engine is the better option. If you don't have VCT (post 98) then you can pick up a Focus engine and drop it in there.