Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting overheating

Yesterday the idiot light for the cooling system on my 95 Duratec came on and I noticed the temp gauge starting to rise. I turned on the heat and it only blew cool air. As I turned back for home before it started to over heat I felt hot air coming from the heater and I noticed the gauge dropping back down. I thought that it might be the thermostat so I changed that but it did not fix the problem. I'm wondering were to proceed from here, as I'm not sure were to go. I hate to troubleshoot by just changing more parts.

How many miles and is that the original water pump? Our WP is a high failure item. The "heater blows cold air" is a dead giveaway, but usually the heat doesn't come back. Might be luck and it's on its last legs.

The car has almost 100k on it. I think it's the original wate pump.

Idiot light is coolant level which generally has to be 1/2" above max line to keep it off. Your labor might have been better spent taking wp apart and seeing if the impeller is intact, that is where I would start.

Yes, it was the water pump. When I took it off I found a hairline crack in the impeller that allowed it to spin on the shaft. This is probably why it worked on and off for the last day or so. I'm sure that it would have totally blown apart in a short amount of time. Thanks for the info on the problem.

Yup, with those symptoms it is ALWAYS the waterpump.

-Lance