Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Zetec Maintenance Overheating (help)

The dye we had from the parts department at the ford dealership i work at. They insert it into the coolant and look to see if there are any hose leaks and stuff like that. Also dye is used for head gaskets to see where or if in fact they are leaking.

Gotcha-nice to be on the inside. I stopped @ Autozone yesterday and borrowed a compression guage and will do a comp. test today. Wierd thing is she drove it to work yesterday and said she had no overheating problem at all. I'm gonna do the test anyway for my own peace of mind!

The temp gauge is really just an "idiot gauge", its not meant to be accurate.
So anything in the normal range is fine.
If nothing is wrong with the car (no CEL and compression is fine) then a complete cooling flush, 180 t-stat, fill with half water & half anti-freeze, and add a bottle of Reline Water Wetter, and all should be fine.

You're right about the "idiot guage" I was just going on what the thing used to read b-4 she overheated. It never went past the O-R on the guage.

Results of Compression test:
1- 148 psi.
2- 150 psi.
3- 145 psi.
4- 150 psi.

Will have to do a search to see if that's normal or if it's high. I'm gonna guess that the Head Gasket is OK though (WHEW) unless I'm wrong again which seems to happen alot with this car.
She also had the rough idle and I pulled the IAC and cleaned it and the MAF and it's purrin like a kitten now. These groups are the best thing since sliced bread (old timer saying) and have saved me a ton in diagnostic charges. Thanks to everybody !!!!

OK- I just did a search for the compression test (not much on it) and what little I found seems to indicate that 150 psi is kinda on the LOW side. They were mentioning 200psi. Anybody know what the acceptable range is on the Zetec??
Thanks

200 is high, 150 to 175 range is normal.
As long as all cylinders are within 15% of each other & inside that range, you're fine.
Mine all fall within 175 to 180.

Thanks alot. That's kinda what I thought but I wasn't sure. I think 200 psi woulda blown up the tubing on the tester like a baloon!!

Add the whole bottle,
and you should always use distilled water in the cooling system,
since the water has little to no impurities;
it will cool better & it will prevent crud buildup in the radiator.