Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting overheat.. did i ruin my engine?

if u read my other post, i've had alot of problems with my car lately... today was no execption to that norm.

i was driving along, when i notice my CEL go on.. thinkin it was just another damn sensor , i ignored it.. not payin attention to my temp gauge... until i notice that my heater is blowin out cold air! I immediatley look down ... and i was well over the red .. the temp gauge sky rocketed.

the car seem to be running fine anyways, so i decided to make a run for my mechanic... took a good 20 minutes to get there, now the coolant light and CEL both came on, and my oil lamp flickerd a few times right before i pulled into the garage.

my local mechanic ran some pressure test and so forth.. said its the thermostat... i have the ford powertarin esp which fortunately covers the thermostat. so i had the car towed (at fords expense) to the dealer.

now here is the problem... did i sign my duratecs death certificate by drivin it too long cause my local guy said "dont be suprised if in a week she starts acting funny"

can i get ford to somehowe replace my engine under the warranty without them voiding it.. knowing that i potentially fried it.

If your temp gauge was spiked and the heater was blowing cold air, I'm sorry to say your mechanic is wrong. You lost your waterpump. This is a very common occurance on Duratecs in model years '98 and prior (it happened to me, too). Typically if you pull over right away and shut it down you can avoid immediate damage, but unfortunately since you saw the oil light flicker its quite possible the engine is ruined.

http://www.contour.org/FAQ/FAQ.php?s=probs&displayid=9

Of note in the link:

Quote:

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Their diagnosis was a thermostat. Over my strenuous objections, I agreed to let them install a third thermostat ONLY if I didn't have to pay for the labor if it didn't fix the problem. It didn't, but cost me another day in the hospital.

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Have to agree with Hetfield on this. If you had stopped right away when you noticed the temp was spiked you might still have toasted the engine. But that you drove on it for an aditional 20 minutes I'm pret near betting on a new engine being needed.
Depending on the dealership you go to they may cover a replacement but its hard to say for sure. I've had this happen in both my Contiques. Yes even the Zetec. It lost all the coolant out of the frost plug hole. Thing is it shut down before any damage had occured supposedly. Now I had prior engine damage (before I got the vehicle) So they had to replace that engine. I'd like to think the duratec is designed to do the same thing. If the dealer refuses the claim I would fight and say the computer should have shut the car down before damage could occur. Never know might work but I'm niave.

If you drove it 20 minutes after you noticed the problem, with the warning lights on, and if Ford still covers the repairs, you better be mighty mighty nice to the service manager that gave you that present for Christmas.

dealer says its the waterpump... they are gonna call me back with any further updates ... the waterpump is covered under warranty. they said they will check if the engine is fine, but keep askin if i pulled over immediatley, ovbiously i tell them i did... and i'm sticking by that story.

There have been far more that have survived this kind of overheating than have damaged the engine. The odds are in your favor that no permenant damage was done. The longer you drove it, the worse the odds became though. Let us know what happens.

FYI - I replace my pump with one that had a metal impeller. After reading the above link, it was stated that it might not work due to spinning at almost the same RPM as the engine. I was more worried about the effect of dis-similer metals in the cooling system and the corrosion effect that may occur. It's been almost two years now with no adverse effects.

Just my two cents worth.

Good luck! Hope the engine is not fried.

You said that your water pump is still cover by your warranty, so your engine is to. Ford would probalby replace it (short or long block, not the entire engine) if the water pump cause further problems, stick with your story that you stop when you saw the temp gauge was high.

I'm working as a mechanic for a Ford dealer in Montr�©al, just curious where you sent your car.

Nic.

well they replaced the waterpump.. said nothin bout the engine. $115CAD deductible.

Nic, i bought the car from action ford, but repair it at gabriel.seeing how i told u this, and if u work there.. please dont screw me...lol
maybe u could help with my fuel economy issue.. see my other post.

Did they change the oil? If not, do so now. Regardless of the oil light going on that oil was overheated and needs to be replaced.