Hello everyone, new to the forums, but a long time owner of an 04 Mustang GT. Car has done great since i bought it with 50k miles on it. I just recently popped over 100k miles on her, and seems to be running into issue after issue. First I will say that after a little bit of investigation it appears that the previous owner had wrecked the front end and did not have it reported any where. I am not sure of the extent of the damage, but i'm currently having some cooling problems.
It started about 5 months ago, the car just randomly over heated. I caught it quickly by noticing a loss in the AC quality, but the car still managed to spew most of the coolant through the cap. I replaced the thermostat and the coolant reservoir cap. It went probably 3 more weeks and then in stop and go traffic overheated on me again. I took it to a local shop where the mechanic diagnosed the problem to a failing radiator fan. He replaced the fan. About 2 weeks later same scenario; lost AC and overheated. Looked under the hood and apparently the fan was cutting off/on randomly and not cooling properly. The fan was replaced under warranty. I thought i was out of the wood works until 4 weeks ago it over heated on me again. I drove the car all day with no problems. Then, after having it all cooled down, I ran to the gas station about 10 miles and it overheated AGAIN! Took it to the mechanic and he did a coolant pressure check, as well as a block test with the blue liquid. He told me that the results were inconclusive but noticed that there was a crack in the stock intake manifold. The mechanic put in a brand new intake and intake gasket. The car was doing great up until last week. I started the car up and immediately noticed it was running louder than normal. I drove it home and it over heated on me as I was pulling in the drive way. Completely frustrated and not sure what the problem is. I did a block test on my own and the liquid remained a constant blue after several minutes of pumping.
A little bit of background on the car; I drive it every day and it normally runs fine. The overheating is not a result that I can easily replicate. It really seems to only happen randomly. I have never been hard on the car. The check engine light comes on occasionally with a Catalyst efficiency below threshold on bank 2, but appears to go off on its own and doesn't effect the running of the engine. I had hi-flow cats put in awhile back. The battery light comes on every now and again, but I suspect it is from the HID head/fog lights I put in as it has a brand new battery and never has trouble starting. I know it is extremely hard to diagnose problems over the internet like this, but is there any advice on where I can start? Is there a purge/bleeder valve to remove any air in the cooling system? I intend to do the work myself if I can, as the mechanic is becoming pricey. It seems weird that the block test and pressure test could come back with no results and the car be over heating. Thanks for your time, and I appreciate any help.
It started about 5 months ago, the car just randomly over heated. I caught it quickly by noticing a loss in the AC quality, but the car still managed to spew most of the coolant through the cap. I replaced the thermostat and the coolant reservoir cap. It went probably 3 more weeks and then in stop and go traffic overheated on me again. I took it to a local shop where the mechanic diagnosed the problem to a failing radiator fan. He replaced the fan. About 2 weeks later same scenario; lost AC and overheated. Looked under the hood and apparently the fan was cutting off/on randomly and not cooling properly. The fan was replaced under warranty. I thought i was out of the wood works until 4 weeks ago it over heated on me again. I drove the car all day with no problems. Then, after having it all cooled down, I ran to the gas station about 10 miles and it overheated AGAIN! Took it to the mechanic and he did a coolant pressure check, as well as a block test with the blue liquid. He told me that the results were inconclusive but noticed that there was a crack in the stock intake manifold. The mechanic put in a brand new intake and intake gasket. The car was doing great up until last week. I started the car up and immediately noticed it was running louder than normal. I drove it home and it over heated on me as I was pulling in the drive way. Completely frustrated and not sure what the problem is. I did a block test on my own and the liquid remained a constant blue after several minutes of pumping.
A little bit of background on the car; I drive it every day and it normally runs fine. The overheating is not a result that I can easily replicate. It really seems to only happen randomly. I have never been hard on the car. The check engine light comes on occasionally with a Catalyst efficiency below threshold on bank 2, but appears to go off on its own and doesn't effect the running of the engine. I had hi-flow cats put in awhile back. The battery light comes on every now and again, but I suspect it is from the HID head/fog lights I put in as it has a brand new battery and never has trouble starting. I know it is extremely hard to diagnose problems over the internet like this, but is there any advice on where I can start? Is there a purge/bleeder valve to remove any air in the cooling system? I intend to do the work myself if I can, as the mechanic is becoming pricey. It seems weird that the block test and pressure test could come back with no results and the car be over heating. Thanks for your time, and I appreciate any help.