Not getting heat from the vehicle (used to work fine) Have already flushed coolant system and replaced thermostat.
Anyone with experience or real knowledge of this problem please help. Links to places with good info also appreciated.
TIA
Lou
To add to the above when the defroster is used it also does not put out any heat.
Lou
Does the water temperature on your temperature gauge rise?
It may be that the heater core or hoses going to the heater core are blocked.
Jeff
If the engine warms up OK, it's probably the blend door actuator that has gone bad. but if you have climate control, it could be the ATC control unit. The owner's manual usually has the self test for the ATC in it, and it's also available many places online.
It's possible your water pump looks like this:
Rob
I thought the water pump issues were mainly with the 2.5L version in the Contour/Mystique (the plastic impeller would crack and not spin with the shaft, or come lose and shatter.)
Those pics are NOT of a plastic rotor! It is METAL eroded by cavitation. This is a Vulcan issue, the 2.5 is a Duratech.
Rob
A friend who worked at the local Ford dealer, said it was delt with, but not enough.. there was supposed to be some kind of sealer, which would prevent the erosion from happening..
Contrary to someone else's remark, of it being cavitation, hardly.. Cavitation is caused by a lack of water, and a vaccume is caused, by the water beginning to actually boil, til it suddenly gets a brief amount to lower the vaccume, where it litterally hammers the entire system. (firefighter, same thing happens if running a pump too hard, without enough water through the hoses to supply.. Blown quite a few steamer caps (main inlet caps) off trucks, and masacured too many impellers that way.)
the true cause, is the dissimilar metals, and electrolytic action. add the cast iron block & heads, add a aluminum pump chamber, and a mild steel impeller just sitting in the middle. the result, the slight acidity to the antifreeze etches the mild steel.
I ran into the exact same problem, with a 1999 vulcan (3.0 V6 OHV) and it cost me dearly, to get it back roadworthy again. (2 sets of head gaskets, new pump, new radiator, machining to the read head to eliminate warpage, serpintine belt) Mine didn't look as bad as the 1st photo (image002.jpg), it still had the points left, but resembled a martial arts throwing star.
the friend said they were coming in, in waves once the problem appeared.. All they could do, was replace the pump, and whatever damage, and send them on, till the sealant was used.. but even that wouldn't stay. (rust on the block internals, it couldn't adhear.)
Stephen (gelfling6)
Yes, the problem was partially electrolysis and corrosion but cavitation as well. Cavitation in the cooling system is well known to folks who deal with diesel engines. The theory is exactly as you describe but on a much smaller (molecular) scale. The combustion pulses cause micropulses in the cooling system along with harmonics of those micropulses. This causes the coolant molecules to separate into gas that tends to coat the hot internal surfaces of the engine. Vibrations shake the bubbles loose allowing contact with liquid which causes rapid cooling of that tiny area. These areas eventually erode. Impurities then leach out of the eroded metal and cause corrosion in the cooling system. They also cause the PH in the coolant to become acidic, leading to severe electrolysis and erosion of the water pump impeller.
If your "friend" is a Ford tech and has been properly briefed on this "concern", he SHOULD know this. (BTW, In Ford speak, a problem is only a "problem" if they have a fix. Until then, it's a "concern")They "came in waves" in about 1999-2003. There was NO SEALER EVER INVOLVED in the Brown Coolant recall or recommended afterward. The pumps weren't replaced, as a rule, either. I did MANY "Brown Coolant" recalls on Tauri at the dealer during this period. The systems were flushed with a highly alkalne solution, flushed, and the proper mix of ethylene glycol added. There were also bypass hoses added to the cooling system to alleviate the cavitation. I always thought that the water pump and core plugs should have been replaced on all of those vehicles. They have been an area of concern since then on used Tauri.
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