It's a 98 Contour, 6cyl, 2.5L Duratec, not original owner, app 137-138K. No serious problems to-date.
I overheated coming onto the offramp after driving app 40 mins - 40kms on the highway. Noticed car was ticking & progressed to loud clacking to overheating to shutting right down. Pushed the car onto a sidestreet & let it cool down. Once cooled, there was still water in the resevoir and the oil was low (at the add a quart line) so added a litre. After a while started it up & it was fine. Started my trek back home (approx. 40 kms) taking regular roads, watching & listening to the car. Pulled over app 2x on the way. Each time the resevoir was boiling.
1. We replaced the thermostat, but it made no difference.
2. The temperature gauge always jumps to red every time I start the car. We thought maybe the sensor was damaged after this ordeal.
3. When the car is started it sounds fine for about 2 minutes, then the fan goes into overdrive & is super loud. They could hear me coming down the street.
4. The water is not travelling thru the rad (as far as we could tell since we can't look inside it) - thought possible vapour lock.
5. There is no heat in the car throughout this time. Even with the new thermostat, still blasting cold air.
I took it to the shop where they tested it & determined need head gaskets, possible heads - basically a new motor. They said there are hydrocarbons going into the rad.
I've read similar posts on this site and the solutions are almost always the waterpump.
There are no pieces in the rad, there is no white film on the oil cap, the oil is dirty but there's no coolant/water in it.
Question: Are these people correct in their diagnosis or is there a possibility that my problem could be the waterpump???
Waterpump failure signs:
INSTANT overheating (pegged red)
no heat via panels
no coolant flow..
Its a 98 so it has the old style, black impellar. (Prone to shattering...)
Replace the waterpump..
DO NOT ALLOW THE CAR TO OVERHEAT ANY MORE..
~$70 and 25 minutes of your time.
Thermostat replacement is recommended if the car has overheated ONCE since you replaced that as well.
Replace with only white impellar or metal impellar.
Ray
What about the fact that I had driven it so far while it was hot?
I babied it by driving slow & pulling over to cooldown on the big drive back home, but still... Even in town, I drove to the garage etc. However, the resevoir has never boiled dry and it never overheated again, althought the resevoir was boiling when I got to my destination.
Based on this, people have been telling me that my head gasket is probably blown & I should consider replacing my engine.
Is this the case or are these people being overly pessimistic in their diagnosis?
The odds are there that something could have been damaged (warped, etc... hot aluminum gets REAL soft) and they MAY be right..
however:
You stated no oil in water.. no water in oil. I would change the WP (unless you want to do a compression test first, which would work as well..)
Ray
The garage said that they had worked on the car for an hour and a half. They said they looked over the car trying to figure out what was wrong with it and eventually they said they performed some test. I'm not sure if they had done an actual pressure test (Is a compression test the same thing as a pressure test?) but, this is where they determined that hydrocarbons were leaking into the rad.
WATERPUMP! WATERPUMP! WATERPUMP! And the t-stat cause it sounds like you fried it, and make sure you get a new gasket for the t-stat when you're in there.
Have you looked the waterpump yet? It's easy to remove, IIRC only eight bolts.
11... (three valve cover bolts.. LOL
)
Ray
So if I replaced my thermostat, I should be able to change my waterpump on my own?
Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem for you at all...
Sooo....Where is the waterpump located? Left side, down below the belts or right side behind the thermostat?
(98 Contour, 6cyl, 2.5L)
Driver's side, radiator side, under the "duratec" plastic cover. Driven by its own belt off of the cam. Tensioner pulley in the middle is undone by hand (swing it around to loosen the belt) WP is removed with 8 bolts (keep track of which were longer, so they can go back in the right holes..) remove, clean gasket material off the block, add new gasket, add new WP, reinstall..
top off coolant..
MAKE SURE YOU piece together you broken impellar, so there are no pieces "missing" in your system somewhere..
Ray
You guys were right. My waterpump (with a black impellar) was cracked in half and a broken fin. So got the new one(with a white impellar) back on finally. Now still have to a rad flush.
Took me a while to find the plug as I am used to the old brass ones.
Question: My thermostat guage still jumps to superhot when I start the car. Is it my heat sensor... if so, what do I need to replace & where is it located? Is it the temperture sending unit or the other thing?
Make sure that you have every piece of the plastic impeller. Make sure that there is no fragments left behind. When you do your radiator flush, grab a hose and run the low pressure water through it until all that you see coming out is water. Then refil. I would also recommend getting some water wetter on account that its simply an amazing product! Claims to keep the engine 20�º cooler but i would say its less than that, but it does work! Good luck. Im doing my water pump on my 95Se soon.
Also, look in to the possibility of a stuck thermostat (overheating condition!!) from being so hot from the failed WP.
Also, air lock in the system will cause no(low)coolant flow, as well.
Ray
First thing I did was put on a new thermostat, & now a WP.
The pieces of the old impellar had pretty clean breaks & it is easy to see that all pieces are there.
But my temperature gauge is STILL not working....!?!?!?
Any ideas?
What may have caused an airlock & what can I do about it?
The temperature gauge is pointing to the extreme right, after having overheated, replaced the thermostat & waterpump.
Does anybody know the exact name for this sensor?/sendor?/something for the computer? to make the temperature gauge work properly? It seems every parts counter I call tells me something different with a variety of prices from $11.99 - $50.
Ray - how do you deal with an airlock?
Try removing the cap on the resevoir, allow the fans to come on (after it warms up) and draws some air in to the system.. see if any bubbles work their way out to the resevoir during that time.. You could also try to massage the bubbles forward through the hoses, or flush the system completely, and start fresh.
Ray
My temp gauge was stuck pegged after overheating, even with the engine OFF. I unplugged the temp gauge sensor, found the old sensor had shorted, a new sensor fixed that after the gauge "decided" to unstick from the hot position. Just unplug the black plug that is attached to the brass device right below the throttlebody, to the right of the waterpump in this image:
duratec If you unplug it, the gauge will stay cold until you replace and connect the new sensor.
Ray, I flushed the rad at least 3x before settling on filling it up with new coolant, etc. It appears to be ok now except for the gauge still pointing to extreme left & the fans being very very loud when they kick in. But maybe thats been due to the abnormally hot/humid weather we've had over the last few weeks. Thanks to you guys, my repair cost $150 for a new waterpump & some coolant & have managed to put on 600kms since (instead of putting in a $3000 motor as I was told at the garage)
I'd like to thank all of you guys, esp Ray for all of your input... I really appreciate it. This site has been a tremendous help to me.... Now I visit it regularly to see what else I can learn. Keep up the good work!
Cheers!
ps "knock on wood"