Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting V6 with Bizarre Temp Gage & Heater

I have had four - count them - four new water pumps installed this past year by my local FORD dealership. It's a very long story, but what they tell me was, it was due to a faulty mechanic and improper installation.

Anyway, since the original water pump died, the temp gage stays below the R in NORMAL until I come to a stop. Then is rises to the A. I can hear the fans cick on but it stays on the high end of normal. The gage used to never move - staying between the O & R.
The problem is - when it rises, the heater about burns you up and you have to practically turn it off and open the windows.

I know this is not right - but FORD and LINCOLN MERCURY both tell me they can find nothing wrong. I'm not sure if I care to trust them, since they installed three water pumps wrong and charged me for all of them plus labor.

Any ideas?

I've had lots of problems lately with this Mystique...
beginning to think it was a Mystake!

Anyone?

Sure hope some one can help me out...

Symptoms are of a thermostat that does not open all the way.

But if the original pump fell apart, I suspect there might be pieces of it still in the system, stuck against the input side of the radiator.

Any extra backpressure from the radiator limits cooling unless rpm's are high enough to shove the required amount of water through the unblocked passages.

take the hoses that go to the radiator off and backflush it. Don't do a normal backflush or the pieces may not all come out. Hopefully they put a new thermostat in. I put one in whenever I am in there since they are cheap.

It does sound like the fan to me. Are both of the fans coming on?

I'm not sure, but I think my 98 has a two fan speeds. The lower speed operates when the A/C is on, and it occasionally steps up to a higher speed when the temp rises.....or at least that is what it sounds like inside the car.

Fan operation should be checked, but radiator blockage causes more water flow through the heater core causing the excessive interior heat. The extra pressure may have caused the new water pumps to fail.

If there are pieces of the original pump in there, I would be going back to the dealer and raising hell for my money back!

I have two fans... when the temp comes up, the second fan comes on. The temp doesn't come down until I am on the highway or turn the air on. Turning the air on causes the second fan to run continuously.

This sounds great!!! I could have pieces of the old pumps in my coolant system? I'm not a mechanic - apparently the guy working on my car wasn't either!

FORD did replace the Thermostat along with several sensors and hoses. Like I said before... it's a very long story. The LINCOLN MERCURY dealership screwed me over so I started taking it to the FORD dealership where I bought my wife's 2000 Windstar. They have been great and have made me fell like they at least care. Other then the mechanic being a complete idiot, I still have faith in them... call me stupid.

So, I want to at least take a look at this myself before I drive it up to FORD and start complaining again. Please give me detailed instruction on how to flush the system out and check for pieces in the radiator.

I really appreciate all your help. If it weren't for this site, I would have drive (or pushed) this car off a cliff by now. I have a list of things gone wrong with this car as long as my arm - but for now... it seems to be running OK. Just this annoying temp problem.

Thanks again!
Eurythmian