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still running hot over $2000 later...

I had posted a discussion about my 2001 Focus ZTS about overheating earlier in the month. Perhaps after a months worth of problems, my experience can be a lesson and perhaps additional advice becaue ultimately my problem is still not resolved.

Briefly, I brought car for maintenance which included coolant change. After picking up car, temp showed it getting hot 80% of the way near end of safe zone. This problem has occurred after about 20-30 mintutes of driving and gets hotter the faster I go, especially above 55mph, but will receded back to normal temperature after I've stopped (with fan screaming ) and just as i take off about 100 feet it drops all the way down. I checked fluid, mechanic said it was air pocket. I also asked whether his adding green fluid to car when it had orange stuff. He said it was just a color. Brought car to him, he "burped" it. Drove car, same problem. Brought back to him: he said it was cracked water pump impeller, showed me fan cut up (also replaced thermostat at this repair). Same problem when i drove. Brought back to him. He said he borrowed part from Ford that removed fluid from car and created vacuum to remove air pockets. He said he heard air being sucked in from a cylinder head housing. So he changed that along with radiator hose. Drove away, same f*^%ing problem. Now, brought car to Ford, where after 4 days running diagnostics they can't pinpoint a problem, other than mechanic put hand in front of fan and noticed one part blowing cold air and the other hot, indicating partially clogged radiator. Or, he said, it could be faulty temperture gauge. Either way, he said Ford had already putserious diagnostic time on car, including mounting temp sensors around cylnders and everythign was normal, including fan operation. Nonetheless, he still didn't see the car hot when I see it commuting. The sense is that: the mechanic mixed some green and orange, and possibly gooed the radiator, or the coolant change stirred up stuff. Either way, 15 days without a car the past 30 days is intolerable and I will now decide my options. Any advice at this point would be appreciated..

Reply to
bkviking
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Mixing "green" and "orange" seems odd, since a modern Ford should require G-05 which is yellow ;-p

And even though mixing coolant technologies is a horrible idea, it won't immediately "goo" anything. The damage, if any, will be long-term corrosion.

FWIW, green coolant is generally conventional silicone-silicate, orange is generally DexCool, and yellow is G-05 except for Mopar-branded G-05 which, for some reason is orange. There are others- VW has some type that is Toilet Duck blue, and some HD coolants are red or even purple. But when it comes to domestic cars, there are only 3 basic types.

But back to the problem. In summary you say:

1) The problem started after a coolant change 2) Its been checked for air pockets 3) it has a new water pump, fan, thermostat and head gasket (if I read some obscure sentences correctly) 4) the problem occurs at high speed only.

OK, a few questions-

- Has ANYBODY bothered to check and see if the engine is *really* overheating or if its a bogus gauge reading?

-Does the heater blow warm air when the problem occurs? What about when it ISN'T occurring? Absence of heat from the heater while the engine is indicating "hot" frequently indicates an air pocket which is preventing proper coolant flow.

-Does turning the heater on FULL HOT and HIGH FAN while the engine is overheated cause the coolant temperature to start dropping, which would indicate that it is a radiator capacity problem (partially clogged radiator).

Reply to
Steve

Just for kicks, what else did it include?

Reply to
clifto

Still sounds like a clogged radiator to me. Most radiator shops have IR temp guns that they can use to tell the temp across the engine and across the radiator. I once had a '73 Imperial that I spent seventeen fortunes on trying to stop an overheating problem that was never fixed so I know the aggravation of what you are going through. I finally threw in the towel on that one but you should at least have a radiator shop check it out before you give up. Steve B.

Reply to
Steve B.

just a quick check you can do, the focus's are bad about burning up the resistor on the fan motors causing simular concern, it just snaps out and is located on the top of the fan assy, usually they are very plain to see when they are burnt. generally in the connector area. like i said just a quick check for u

Reply to
skibo1

Good post, Steve...

When the car heats at speed, it normally means that (1) you have a restriction or lack of flow in the radiator or other part of the internal fluid system (Note....An air bubble would be a restriction) A partially hung thermostat could be another, although this is not normal at all. (2) The radiator fins, or space between the radiator and air conditioning condensor, may be plugged or not passing air efficiently. (3) You may have a cracked block, or head, or blown head gasket. Hot gases entering the radiator from the combustion chamber can cause severe overheating....

As Steve posted, be sure you are really overheating. Then work through the possible causes until you find out why it is happening.

Reply to
<HLS

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