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ok. (I Posted this once but i have to do it again since i forgot to mention that my car is a 98 contour with 84,000 miles. 4 cyl. auto.) ((the 2 sensors i changed have to do with the air temp. but i forgot the names of them. HOWEVER THEY DID NOTHING FOR THE CAR. MY OLD ONES WERE FINE, JUST A WASTE OF MONEY)) The gauge on the car has a loooooooooong "NORMAL" range has all good contour owners know. the needle in the gauge goes alll the way to the last bit of the L. Then the fans come on and bring the needle to the M, and it will repeat the process until i shut off the car. I have changed the thermostat, 2 sensors, Brand New spark plugs, new coolant. When it reaches the point of 218 degrees the fans come on(that is the point of the L) My mechanic has said that it is fine if it doesn't go over 225 degrees. the gauge never goes to the Red Zone. I'm worried out of my mind and no one knows the problem. I brought it to 3 mechanics and they all say "don't worry" the fans come on when they are supposed to. I NEED HELP!!!! PS. the gauge on this car also drops all the way down to the N when i'm driving at highway speeds. Why does this gauge fluctuate so much? could it just be the gauge it self? AND IS 218 TOO hot and late for the fans go come on? THANK YOU PLEASE HELP
Edit: prior thread
Last edited by horseydug; 02/16/04 10:22 PM.
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Joined: Jun 2003
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Had the same problem and a cooing system flush put me in the R area. 
Col. Bill Evans CAF (ret)
98 Contour GL Zetec ATX (totally stock)
Color-Willow Mist
104,XXX Miles
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get water wetter by Amsoil from myoilshop.com, it's an additive for your coolant.
I would also check out your water pump, see if it's not circulating the coolant properly.
I suspect something is wrong with the radiator, maybe lots of deposits from lack of flushing regularly.
How often do you flush your coolant? And what do you use?
I'd have it flushed. Then run some double distilled water through it as well. Then refill with the 50/50 mix and add about 10oz's of the water wetter. See what that does.
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If you cannot accept the opinions of THREE professionals who all told you this is not abnormal (it is not abnormal), why would you believe anyone here.
Don't suppose you're the auto owner equivalent of a hypochondriac, are you?
BTW, you did verify that the fan works in both high and low speeds, didn't you?
Steve
98 Contour SE Sport 2.5 Duratec ATX The wifey's car
89 Taurus SHO - 246K miles
94 SHO ATX - 190K
1997 F-150 5.4L ATX - The Workhorse 150K.
ANY THREAD WITH "OMG" or "WTF" ETC IN THE TITLE WILL BE IGNORED!
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Well...if it makes you feel any better...From what you are decribing, my car is EXACTLY the same.
My Fans also come on once it hits the L in normal. But as long as they come on...thats all i am concerned about..they have never came on High(yes, i know that high speed works)
Let me know if you find anything out about this...
FlaXXMaN
- 1998 Contour Zetec MTX
202,000km and counting
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I had a similar problem. The fan would never come on until the gauge got to the L. I took it to the dealer time and time again. They finally gave me the same story "it's supposed to do that". Well, it wasn't, and they were wrong. The resistor that goes to the low-speed fan was burned out. So, when the fan finally did come on, it was the high speed fan, which is supposed to only come on if the low-speed fan doesn't do it's job. Just because someone is a mechanic doesn't necessarily mean that he's right.
95 Contour Zetec, ATX (wrecked, sitting in the barn)
95 Mystique Zetec, MTX
2000 Taurus SEL 3.0L Duratec
1994 Crown Victoria LX 4.6 V8
1993 Chevy Silverado 4.3 V6
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I had a similar issue in my Probe just after I bought it, although the needle went up and down a lot quicker. (visibly creeping up, fan comes on, visibly creeping down.) Turned out the car was nearly bone-dry of coolant. 
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Unfortunaely this is the nature of the zetec engines. They love to run hot. Three things you can do to make it better.
1. Get a coolant flush from a pro and have them put dexcool into your system. Make sure they use a concentrated cleaner that will help romve deposits and other crap.
2. Get a lower degree thermostat.
3. Do like I *did* when the car would start getting hot, just turn on the defroster for a/c or heat. Either way it turned on the fan in the engine compartment and the temperture would stay low.
95 Mystique GS Zetec ATX: Dead - Dec 5th, 2003
94 Accord LX 2.2L MTX Non-Vtec. Few bolt ons.
02 Escape XLT 3.0 V6 ATX. This thing has the CD4E in it?! What the hell was ford thinking?
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Originally posted by Obsidian:
Do like I *did* when the car would start getting hot, just turn on the defroster for a/c or heat. Either way it turned on the fan in the engine compartment and the temperture would stay low.
So it sounds like the problem was with the fan not coming on when it should. If forcing the fan to stay on made the temperature stay low, the problem must have been with the fan or fan controllers. If the fan is running as it should be, and the engine is still overheating, then the problem is with the radiator or coolant or water pump. I still don't buy the idea that zetecs like to run hot. If they do, then that must mean that they were designed to do so, and not all zetecs run hot. My contour doesn't. My mystique did when the resistor was burned out and the fan wasn't running.
95 Contour Zetec, ATX (wrecked, sitting in the barn)
95 Mystique Zetec, MTX
2000 Taurus SEL 3.0L Duratec
1994 Crown Victoria LX 4.6 V8
1993 Chevy Silverado 4.3 V6
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Originally posted by bentleywarren:
Well, it wasn't, and they were wrong. The resistor that goes to the low-speed fan was burned out. So, when the fan finally did come on, it was the high speed fan, which is supposed to only come on if the low-speed fan doesn't do it's job. Just because someone is a mechanic doesn't necessarily mean that he's right.
so what should i do? you said it maybe the resistor? is the resistor the fuse? where is it located? what does it cost? it will start getting warm out soon and i know if i don't fix this problem soon i'm giong to run into a lot of trouble with my car. PLEASE HELP!!
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