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SVT OVERHEATED today coming home from work...not sure what happened had the A/C going and all of a sudden it was blowing hot air...i look down at the gauges and there it was in the RED!!!!!!!! with the check engine light on!!!! once i popped the hood and there was Antifreeze spilling out of the overflow catch can...the car has been sitting at my house for and hour now and i just checked the oil and it looks just fine...so either the therostat stuck or the water pump..not sure yet... and what sucks is the GT is at ford for a check engine light as i write this..later..mark

How many miles?

Im sorry to hear that MTOSVT, i bought my tour this past May and the first time I drove it in to town to bring my wife to work with my 1 year old in the back, my hose clamp I guess let go and the check engine came on, and next thing I knew I had light smoke coming out the engine compartment. ( This all happened on Rutherford Ave. about to get on the tobin.) I pulled over opened up the hood, and anti freeze all over the engine and the resevoir empty. Talk about pissed off!! My son starts to cry, my cell phone battery is near dead and no charger in the car. I had to wait for it to cool down, and then slowly drive it to my wifes building with the heat full blast and call the dealership. Those poor service people.

rick...35,200...
the fan works..refilled the resevoir..but it comes on real late and the temp still rises really fast..so tomorrow morning i'll go get a new stat and hope thats the problem went to C.A.P and Auto Zone and they have the stat for me but no gasket ford item only..so i'll go and i hope to get a 180Degree one..oh well..later..

that's odd. my temp reading actually goes DOWN with the A/C on. go figure.

I work for an engine distributor and am an active member of the AERA. I just installed a temperature tale tell under the hood, just above the KKM. It has about 5 little silver squares on this 1" x 1" sq sticker. The first sq. reads 180 degrees, and each square increases in 20 degree increments to 240.

When critical under hood temps are reached the tabs discolor (in this case they turn black) indicating a surpassed temperature.

Happy to say that without the hood liner, sitting in the sun, driving in traffic, and with the near 100 degree temperatures the 180 degree square is still silver. Glad to know that at least the air entering the intake is less than 180.

well i changed out the stat....to no luck the car still wants to overheat after 10 mins of running ..i'm having it pressure tested today to see if the block or a head gasket is juck...if so looks like i'm going to try and trade it in to the dealer down the street from me hoping it will stay cool long enough

I think the culprit is most likely the water pump. I think the shaft is still spinning but the rotor is cracked and not longer press fitted against the shaft, thus the rotor doesn't turn. I've heard that the water pump is easily changed out, so I'd try that. Good luck!

yeah, CobraR is right, however something as simple as mix ratio of coolant to water has a little to do with it as well. Too much coolant and not enough water can cause an overheat.

Coolant has a lower specific heat than water. Therefore it takes less energy to heat it up, than plain water. Also coolant alone has a boiling point less than water, but through the miracles of chemistry adding a low boiling point coolant to water increases boiling point above that of water.

Get a hydrometer, open the cap on the coolant tank, run the engine until it reaches operating temp., take your reading, you want to see about a 50/50 mix, if not, adjust as necessary.

Best cooling however would come from just water, but without coolant it will boil at 212'F at atmospheric press. but when pressurized 15psi will boil around 220-230'F.
But with just water you loose the corrosion inhibiting properties granted by the coolant.

you can also try using a DEX-COOL coolant, better known as long life anti-freeze. Simply follow the directions on the bottle, or folllow the ones in your manual on how to flush the cooling system. DO NOT MIX DEX-COOL WITH STANDARD ANTI-FREZE AS STANDARD ANTI-FREEZE USES A SILICA BASED SOLUTION FOR CORROSION PREVENTION, AND THE DEX-COOL WILL CAUSE THE SILICA TO PRECIPATE OUT AND CLOG PASSAGES IN THE ENGINE AND RAD. SO BE SURE TO DO A GOOD FLUSH. (keep adding fresh water until water comming out of the drain is clear)

Also check you radiator to see if air passages are clogged. This is a commonly over looked area. Usually they clog with dead bugs or sand and dust kicked up by cars in front of you. Ususlly a good squirt with the hose takes care of most of the filth, you can use a mild cleaner and a brush, but if you do make sure you rinse real good as some detergents will cause the aluminum radiatir to corrode.