Cooling Problem. Please Help!

DavidCroft · Sep 8, 2004

I have a 97 Cobra and I keep having this cooling problem despite a new radiator and thermostat. The car will drive fine, then start to warm up, but when it does it goes all the way to the L in normal. It will stay there for about 5 minutes then drop back down to the R/M in normal. Something is coming on too late or something. My heater core is bypassed. Could that affect it? Please help .I dont wanna have to take it into Ford and get raped by their prices to fix it. I did buy a 160 degree fan switch since I installed a 160 degree thermostat, but the the 3/8 taping tool wont fit on any drill unless its a monster $500 one. I doubt it could be the thermostat, cause my other 97 has it and it runs fine. Oh and I installed a 180 degree thermostst and it did the same thing, so Im pretty shure its not because of the thermostat. I need some really smart tech people responding and I dont wanna hear some idiot say," check the guage" because the guage functions properly. This is my second time posting with this problem. Thanks in advance-David

btolenti · Sep 8, 2004

Air pocket in the system somewhere?

DavidCroft · Sep 8, 2004

How would I find and eliminate such an air pocket?

Denny55 · Sep 8, 2004

Running hot

You most likely have air trapped in the engine.Later Cobras have a plug you unscrew in the crossover near the top of the engine-you must open it or something up high as you add coolant. On the 4.6 in the GT you have to add coolant through the thermostat housing. If you can add coolant while it is warming up -all the better. See the shop manual for details. Do not keep running this way-it can ruin the heads. Hope this helps

bdcardinal · Sep 8, 2004

put the car up on ramps or jackstands in the front. take off the radiator cap and run the motor. to keep it from overheating, get a fan and blow that across the radiator. that should get out a lot of the bubbles. keep refilling the car with whatever mixture of coolant/water you have been using.

DavidCroft · Sep 8, 2004

Thanks guys. I'll try this tomorrow and let ya know how it went. And if this isn't the problem,....?

DavidCroft · Sep 9, 2004

Not trying to sound like a technical smart ass, but there isnt a radiator cap. There is a pressure cap on top of the resevoir tank on the 4.6s Is that what you meant? I just wanna clarify.

DavidCroft · Sep 9, 2004

OK, This seems to have worked. I took my pressure cap off my resevoir tank and ran it till it got into the normal range, with the front of the car jacked up. I put the cap on and drove it around for about 10-15 minutes and it seemed to stay within an acceptable range. The only thing is the low coolant level light came on and the coolant was in fact NOT low. I will try and drive it to class today and see what happens, with extra coolant in my trunk. Any more ideas?

btolenti · Sep 9, 2004

definitely sounds like an air pocket now...

DavidCroft · Sep 10, 2004

It was an air pocket. Thank you guys very much. I was spending money on on a radiator, different temp thermostats, I even bought a 160 Degree fan switch which I now can return because my car runs fine now. It never went above O in Normal with the new radiator and 160 stat. The only thing is that pesky low coolant light. Hopefully it will work itself out. Oh and on my way back home last night I was able to race a WRX STI. This way my first real race since Ive owned the car, cause nothing is usually race worthy. We went from a 60 roll and I pulled him by 2 cars by the time I shifted to 4th. He was cool about it and was pretty surprised. It's not everyday that a $7,500 car beats a $32,000 car.

btolenti · Sep 10, 2004

Glad you found the problem. Nice kill too...

DavidCroft · Sep 10, 2004

OK so the antifreeze settled and it turns out it was low in the resevoir tank. So i opened the pressure cap this morning and it hissed like a 20 oz soda and the fluid started to rise a little. I poured more in, closed the cap and off to school I went. It started doing the same thing again. It got all the way to the L in "NORMAL". Should I repeat the process, because I messed it up removing the pressure cap? I hope all I have to do is the same thing again, and I hope the problem isn't more than air in the lines. Any suggestions?

btolenti · Sep 10, 2004

Do you know how much antifreeze/water you have already placed into the cooling system? I would double check that value with the capacity in the owners manual.....

DavidCroft · Sep 10, 2004

I put in 2 and a quarter of the Gallon-sized Zerex antifreeze bottles that are already 50/50 mixed. I just really want to know if thats why it got hot again. Is it because I opened the cap and changed the pressure or let air in or something? Should I repeat the same process as yesterday? Cause before I tried to add the antifreeze it ran perfectly, but with the low coolant light on. This is frustrating.

btolenti · Sep 10, 2004

Was it empty before you filled it up? It sounds like you are still low on coolant and that there is a large air bubble in the motor.

This site states a 2V 4.6 bullitt motor has a 4.8 gallon coolant capacity. You only put in half of that!
http://www.bullittarchive.com/Maintenance/basics/flushing_radiator/
http://www.bullittarchive.com/WebHelp/Power_Train/Engine_Cooling/Engine_Cooling.htm

Also

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=497897&highlight=coolant

DavidCroft · Sep 10, 2004

Sorry. I guess I didnt drain the block. And also Im not working on the Bullitt. Its my 97 Rio Red Cobra. I only emptied out what was in the radiator and front hoses. whatever coolant was in the engine is still in there.

btolenti · Sep 10, 2004

DavidCroft said:
Sorry. I guess I didnt drain the block. And also Im not working on the Bullitt. Its my 97 Rio Red Cobra. I only emptied out what was in the radiator and front hoses. whatever coolant was in the engine is still in there.

It should still be roughly the same capacity. The blocks are darn near the same....other than the 2v/4v difference.

DavidCroft · Sep 11, 2004

Ok cool. I dont wanna speak too soon like last night, but tonight I was driving around and the coolant light was on at first, then it went off and did that L on Normal thing, like the air pocket was going back and forth from the engine to the resevoir tank. But then finally the light went off and it stayed normal all night. So I dont know what to make of it. I dont wanna speak too soon, but its fine for now.

Ryan L · Sep 11, 2004

Does your fan come on??

natx808 · Sep 11, 2004

you need to properly drain, flush, and refill in my opinion. i wouldnt want to risk overheating.

this is a how to for the bullitt, http://www.bullittarchive.com/Maintenance/basics/flushing_radiator/
( the cobra now so the procedure will be different but read it so you can get a basic overview of what needs to be done]

burp the system yourself but be careful and use towels so you dont burn yourself. turn the car on heat at full blast, open coolant fill cap thru the ac vents and squeeze the heater hose

you may need to do some searching on how to do it for your car. if you don't feel like you can do the coolant yourself take it to ford and have them do it.

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