i just inherited my mom's 98 mystique as a daily driver. it only has 32k miles on it, but i'm a little stumped with a cooling problem.
it the zetec engine with an automatic trans.
the temperature gauge gets all the way to the "A" in "normal" before the fans kick on. then, of course, the gauge goes way down, to "0" or "R".
i changed the ect sensor, the one that tells the fans to kick on, and it didn't change the temp at which it tells them to kick on, so that's not it.
to make sure there wasn't a cooling problem, i changed the thermostat, put in new coolant, and even added "water wetter", since it worked so well on my mustang. (by the way...a plastic drain plug in the worst place possible to drain the coolant...baaaad ford, baaaad ford!)
now, the temp when driving around normally hovers around the "0". but, extended idling in traffic sends the needle to "A". on the highway, the needle won't make it above "0".
is this where everyone's fans kick on? shouldn't they kick on earlier?
thanks for the help.
tim
