Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Duratec running hot

My '95 SE has been running very hot (the A on normal) the last few days. It has been hot outside, so I thought it was just that, but it was cool outside tonight and the car ran hotter than ever. I have heard about the waterpump, but the heater is still very hot. Both fans seem to function perfectly , but they run constantly to try to keep the temp down. I don't think it is the thermostat because of this. Any Ideas would be greatly appreciated as it is my day off on Wed. and I would like to fix it then, before more hot weather. Thanks guys.

my heater always worked but my car ran hot and would use alot of coolant...i got the thermostat and waterpump replaced and my car just today when it was 95 degrees sitting in a drivethru was pegged at the o in normal...

What's the temp reading like when you run it with a/c off?
Also, from a cold engine start with a/c off does the temp gauge stablize at a lowerlevel? If so with brakes on, car in drive will temp rise causing cooling fan to come on? At which time temp should of course go down and fan shut off.
There is always possibility that cooling efficiency of rad has gone down due to age of vehicle.

The a/c was off. I had the heater on to take heat away from the engine too. I drove it at 5:30 AM today and it was only like 40 degrees outside and the temp guage went to the "A" on normal. It's an mtx, but if you let it idle in nuetral, the fans will turn on to keep the engine cooler. It is cool enough (but still hot) at idle. It gets very hot when I drive it.

Well then, I vote for clogged up radiator or some other obstruction in the cooling system since the engine is cooler at idle when the water pump is circulating coolant at a slower rate. Then when you drive the water pump pumps faster but the coolant isn't allowed to circulate faster so it stays hotter.

Karl

There is some possibility that your water pump impeller may have started to deteriorate. In both my cars impeller failure was catastrophic and instantaneous, but I have read the posts of others where (when they were replacing as a pre-emptive measure) they found partially damaged impellers fins.
I think a replacement of wp might be the least risk place to start. If impeller damaged you've found problem, if not then new metal impeller will eliminate future potential problems.

p.s. What mileage is on car?

80,000 miles

A little more than mine and perhaps too early for rad, yeh, I'll stick by what I recommended in my last post above. Would you plan DIY on this?

Note: 125k km = 75,000 miles

I think it is the water pump. I know a very good Ford mechanic that I want to talk to to see if he has any insight on the problem before I go buy a part that I am not sure the engine needs. But if I do find it to be the water pump, I will definatly do it myself. My dad is a Toyota mechanic, so if all else fails, he could probably help. Thanks for all your help everybody.

Well for the price of a wp gasket and perhaps some anti-freeze you could always have a look. This would allow you to determine if the cone in the housing and the impeller are both in good shape.