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

Try someone else. Many folks at this forum have had your problem and fix it with a new waterpump, thermostat and coolant. The Ford dealer gave the previous owner of my Mystique the head gasket estimate, that's why they sold it to me...It IS possible to have a bad head gasket, but that usually goes with driving too much overheated.

Get a second opinion.

I would accept that diagnosis only if there are exhaust gasses in the coolant. You can watch the coolant bottle for signs of air bubbling. A very good shop can test the coolant for signs of exhaust gasses in it.

Also, check the operating temp with an external thermometer. The internal dash meters are not very accurate.

Steve

Ok...if it's not ticking like a time bomb you have time to trade it in. Dump now!!!!!!

Now that im back to thinking rationally, I'm going to get a second opinion as suggested. If it does turn out to be the blown gasket then I'm going to try to sell it and cut my losses. The guy that was going to fix the gasket told me as much as he would hate to lose the work, if it were him, he'd just sell it. Said I could put it in the autotrader and be honest about whats been done to it recently ie rebuilt transmission, new rack and pinion, new exhaust system, BUT blown gasket and evidently there are some who would just jump all over it.

We'll see. I'll keep you guys updated.

Okay so I took my car to Midas and the guy that looked at it said He didnt think I had a blown gasket. He just thought the sensor on the coolant reservoir was screwed up.

...

I took it this evening to a ford dealer and told him what was happening. He said there were like 7 different tests they would do to check the gaskets. I let it be known in a round about way that no one would be making money off of it, because if it was a gasket, i was going to sell it.
So if he tells me its a gasket, I'll believe him. He told me it sounded like if it was the gasket it wasnt exactly "blown" but cracked enough to have a slow leak, which would not necessarily produce water in the oil or smoke from the exhaust. Either way, It would be a ticking time bomb. Will update.

Water Pump,don't forget...No harm trying it, fixes the problem for most folks.

fordgrrl's problem sounds exactly like mine. Do i understand correctly that i can replace the impellar without replacing the entire water pump for the second time? Would Auto Zone have the proper impellar?

If you buy the stock from Ford, it comes with the housing and water pump (the impellar is with the pump). From what I read, 99% of the time it is just the WP which is the problem. You probably don't need to spend extra money or time to replace the housing and hoses.

Most autoparts stores sell the water pump only.
From my experience, Autozone and Advanced Auto sells the black impellars only (eventhough Autozone can special order a white one or metal one for you). Napa has the white impellar WPs in stock at its stores and can order the metal one for you too. You want to get the white impellar or metal impellar ones. Oh and when I was at Autozone and Advance, the reps there said, "Yes, we have the metal ones." Turns out, they are talking about the pump and not the impellar. If you are not sure, open the box before you buy it. Oh yes, and at one store, the rep, kept insisting there is no impellar in a water pump. When pointed out to him, he said, "Oh, you mean the propeller"

Edit. One other thing. You may want to install a new WP belt also (about $12).

If it is a headgasket it's most likely caused by A BAD WP! Read what ppl are saying. I'm guessing it's a $70 WP. The cars don't just blow a head gasket.

Hopefully, she can find someone to put in the pump, without the whole gasket job. I have never read any posts about head gasket failure on the Duratec here, probably because it is all aluminum, less stress on the gaskets. [To Amsra: check if the cooing fans are running, with a/c on. If ok, then turn off the a/c, the fans should run when the temp reaches the M on normal]