Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Over heating leads to CEL

Well I know its about time for me to be replacing my water pump but I don't think its the cause of my problem. Up until four months ago my temperature gauge had always been right between the O and R, always. But recently its been varying wildly going right up to the L itself.
The other night while driving around it went up to the right side of the gauge like usual (now) and I heard the fans kick on like usual but it went up even more. It aproached came right to the line before the red, and bingo, there was a CEL. All this time I had been crusing around at around 35 mph in fourth.
Since then when driving the car it won't turn off the high speed fans, but even though they run it still climbs to the left of the middle. I'll be going tomorrow to find out what the CEL is, but I'd appreciate any imput as to what may be the cause of my problem.

TIA

Oh, and yes I did a seach first

Peter

an engine overheat will cause a cel if it is bad enough. the water pump may be a cause; could also be a stuck thermostat. When the engine overheats, do you still get warm air out of the vents? if not, suspect the water pump. if neither of those cure the problem, you might have a plugged up radiator. when you're replacing the water pump and thermostat, check it for any other coolant leaks and repair those..

I think I'm getting hot air when I drive so thats why I don't think its the water pump, and I had the cooling system flushed as 50K miles and its only at 62K right now. As for coolant leaks I've been suspecting one as I've had to add coolant periodically, but the only problem is I don't know where its going. The car has never driped anything, and the oil is nice and black.

I confirmed that it was blowing hot air today, and I was going to get the CEL checked out but autozone was unwilling to pull it for me. So while driving today the temperature was staying way down around the OR and the CEL disapeared.... I'm not sure what to think anymore. If the CEL goes away its still stored in the computer right? Hmm, oh well.

I can tell you this, get your water pump replaced BEFORE you replace the thermostat. I just had everything replaced and here's what happened. My water pump was missing one impellar and had another broken one. My thermostat was completely busted too(one side was completely cool, and one completely hot). My mechanic went ahead and replaced the thermostat, then referred me to a guy who can replace the waterpump at a Ford dealership. So I went there, and as it turns out, the short drive there allowed another piece of a impeller to be lodged in the thermostat, causing the BRAND NEW thermostat to be replaced with yet another.