My Focus has 90K miles and has been maintained and operated well for
5+ years. Brought it to mechanic several weeks ago for tune-up, tires, and coolant change. It was my first coolant change, and the coolant was the yellow/orange stuff. Mechanic flushed and replaced coolant with green stuff. After about 30 minutes of driving, temp gauge moved 3/4 mark--first time it ever moved past middle. Mechanic said it just needed to be burped. Picked it up, same problem not resolved. Return to mechanic, and he said water pump impeller had split apart (and showed me it broken). While at it, he changed thermostat. Once again, i drive car, and the little movement on the temp gauge starts after 30 minutes or so. I called him back and said I am still not resolved. He said he will look into temp gauge issues, and that he ruled out head gasket, and fans came on at proper temp. Now I'm $1500 down the drain and have a problem eerily cooincident with having fluid changed. I trust my mechanic. But obviously I'm interested in not running up another $1000. The temp gauge generally moves to 3/4 or 2/3 over at 50-60mph. Above 60, it starts nearing 8/10 over. It also occurs at idle after coming off a highway. I notice what seems to be the air condition fan on-=something i never noticed outside of summer. When it clicked off at a light, the temp swung down, which i thought was strange. It also will cool down to middle range with normal driving, but then head up again. My issues: water pump looked busted, but obviously wasn't affecting system beforehand--or did a coolant flush bust a fan (I dont think so). I notice the fan on when it shouldn't be on--or hasn't been on before, except during summer with air conditioner on. Is that an issue? Car is hot with the higher speeds above 60, but best right after taking off from idle up to 40, where it tends to not get hotter than 2/3 mark before returning to middle. Any help or direction would be most appreciated- posted
17 years ago