Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Waterpump? HeadGasket? New Motor?

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.

bump

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?