Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting zetec over heating

I have a 98.5 gl zetec mtx. Okay this is my problem. My car is constantly running hot. The fans won't kick on till the temp goes above the "normal" range on the gauge. I replaced the temp gauge sensor today (gauge was not working for about 2 weeks, now its all better). I also replaced the engine temp sensor. Still overheating. I know the fans are 2 stage/2 speed with a lower and a higher temp turn-on, but what would cause them not to turn on at the lower setting. My main concern is what the higher temp might due to my engine. I haven't noticed any power loss or any other problems.

Maybe the antifreeze/water concentration is not right. It is supposed to be a 50/50 mix. Or maybe you might have a bad radiator. If you run your car too hot you can warp the heads and yes it will cost an arm and a leg to fix. Well I wish you the best of luck finding the problem.

I'm sure you could have done a search but I'm not a dick.

Zetecs are made to run hot. They just do. Mine does the same thing. I've replaced my waterpump (which was still good btw. Yes it was the plastic ones and with over 75,000 miles. My new one is metal), replaced the thermostat and just recently replaced the coolant temperature sensor. It still runs hot. All you have to do is let it go or run the car with the defrost on. It automatically cuts off at 20mph (give or take and I'm talking about the fan) so the wind will cool your car. Once you get to a redlight or a stop, then the fan will turn on and will cool your engine more than the thermostat and sensor will. I've just never trusted it to come on by itself. Scared it will go out and I'll think it would be normal. I don't have any problems with it now and it should work for you too.

Yes I did a search and zetec's run hot. but my concern is the fan not turning on. It doesn't turn on with the defrost either. I do have a lead on the problem however. A friend with a focus had a similar problem and found that a short in his a/c wiring was the problem. The a/c wiring runs close to the engine and may have come loose and arced something out. I wouldn't have noticed either because my a/c line has a hole and the low pressure switch has disabled it. I'm going now to test that circuit and will post the results.

The a/c was unplugged. I plugged it in and the fan now starts at the "l" of "normal" instead of the over heat line. Still it seems that just two months ago the temp never went past the "nor" part of "normal". I think I'm going to put in a manual fan switch just for peace of mind. I wonder if since the fans are controlled by the ecu if I could have diablo burn new settings into my chip? Thank you everybody for the help.