Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting maybe overheating? maybe not...

Im going to get a general opinion before I take my car to the mechanic. The shops around here have a habit of trying to rip women off when it comes to car repair.

I have 1996 Contour, 2.5L Duratec v6.

Problem is, about 20 minutes into driving, the coolant light comes on. The coolant is filled above max and i had the radiator flushed about a month ago. The guy who did it said there were no leaks and hoses were okay.

The engine doesnt "overheat" per se, meaning it doesnt redline. But let me add that I dont let it run enough to get to that point. Anyway, while it doesnt redline, the engine does run WAY hotter than usual, esp if I turn on the air conditioner.

Typically I can look at the temp gauge and no matter how long ive been driving, the needle never goes above the spot between N and O in normal.

But now, after 20 minutes or so, the coolant light rears its ugly head and the needle starts to climb its way, not quickly though, towards the A.

If I drive around with my heater on, which is blowing out hot air, then the coolant light stays off, and the engine temp remains where it typically does between the n and the o.

When the car is idling, I can hear the fans kick on.

Ive heard it could be anything from the waterpump to a thermostat. What do you guys think so Im not going into this blind...

If that is the original waterpump, it would certianly be my first guess. I would guess either the entire impellar is spinning on the shaft (not pumping coolant very well, but still some) or that a piece of the impellar has broken off, as it typically does (all of it will shatter) and therefore deminishes the cooling capacity..


IF it is the original, replace it with a WHITE impellar or metal impellar, not a BLACK impellar one (like you already have... they last about 60,xxx miles and then boom...)


DON'T pay for a mechanic to do this job.. it is REALLY easy. You can have it done in 25 minutes even if you've never done ANYTHING to a car, short of adding gas.

a 7mm, an 8mm, and a 10mm(IIRC) is all you need.. a new impellar, comes with a gasket, and get some coolant to top it off..


done.


Let me know, and I will happily WALK YOU THROUGH IT, via phone, or whatever.


Ray

so if the guy tells me its something involving a gasket or any other thing horribly expensive i should call bulls***?

Technically "a gasket" is a vague term, and COULD be involved.. the WP gasket could be gone, causing it to leak, and allow air in to the system, creating airlock and thus slowing the cooling ability of the system.

Now, since this "problem" isn't stopping you, and isn't "OVERHEATING!!!!", I would actually recommend that you change the WP (at least take the old one out, and you'll be able to see if it was free-spinning, or shattered) BEFORE you go to a mechanic.

Then, if replacing the WP doesn't cover the problem, we can look further in to possible causes of slightly warmer operating temps.


Ray

if it turns out not to be the waterpump, would you guys suggest replacing it anyway? the engine in my contour is not the original. the original blew up (long story).

The engine has near 65,000 miles so the immenent demise of the waterpump is near if everything i read about it is true.

definitely.. if the impellar that is currently in there is black plastic, its close to death (I suspect that's gonna end up being your overheating problem, as well). Unfortunately, the only way to KNOW that it is/isn't black plastic is to take it off.. this ruins the current gasket that is pressed in there, and so you'll need, at a minimum, a new gasket and top-off coolant. if it ends up being black plastic, then you'll need the white plastic, or metal, impellar as well.

The gasket comes with the impellar, should you decide to buy one.


I suggest replacing the WP (unless you know it isn't the culprit, which I suspect it is) with a new white WP impellar, regardless. I am banking on the fact that once you pull it off of there, you'll either see that the impellar spins freely on the shaft that it should be held on tightly to, or that it has crumbled in pieces.

If the latter, piece the impellar together like a puzzle to make sure you got all the pieces out of your cooling system. Once they are all verified to be removed, throw on the new impellar, and you're set.. (top off with coolant..)

Like I said, like 25 minutes or so, even if you've never done anything before. Don't pay to have this done.


Ray

It's good you noticed the start of overheating. No real overheating or damage to the temperature gauge sender either. You may want to change the thermostat as well, mine was still OK after some overheating by the previous owner, and I changed it as a precaution.

told me it was a blown head gasket.

going to be nearly 2 grand to fix.

been bawling like a baby all day.

this would make about 4 thousand ive put into this car in the past 3 months to make it run.

think i might just have to take it out and shoot it.