Cooling problem????

['95svtcobra]

Cooling problem PLEASE HELP?

When I get to driving my car around town in traffic or on interstate goin above 80 my stock temprature gauge gets up near the A and the L of normal at times. Should I be concearned or is the stock gauge an idiot gauge and unless it gets on hot dont worry about it? I have put that redline water wetter in it and that really didnt do anything. If I have a problem what could it be, the radiator or water pump? whats a good radiator if thats the case? (I sure hope its not though) Thanks

 

[Chythar]

Your temp guage should never get that high. At most, the guage should get to "M" before the fan kicks in and pulls it back down to "R". The first question is, is the guage reading correctly? Next would be, what does the EEC say the temp is? Unfortunately, my experience troubleshooting the cooling system is on an OBD II EEC (my 94 V6), not on a GT's OBD I. I don't know what a code reader can tell you and what you can check while the car is running.

Do you know if the electric fan is turning on? If it does, does it seem to affect the temperature? Also, has your gas mileage and engine performance gotten bad lately?

The trouble I had with my V6 was high temps just like yours, and the engine wasn't running well. I eventually found out that the ECT (by the heater hose, feeds the EEC) had failed, and was telling the EEC the wrong values. So it never turned the fan on, and the engine ran real bad. I originally thought the CTS (in the intake manifold by the water neck, feeds the guage only) was reading wrong, tho it was actually right. I replaced the ECT with a new Motorcraft sensor, and the car was back to normal.

The V6 and GT use the same sensors in the same basic places, so it's possible you're having similar trouble. See if a code reader will report the coolant temperature (which is the ECT), and see if the readings seem to match the dash guage.

 

['95svtcobra]

aighty yeah my motor is runnin strong. I havent really noticed any performance loss at all. so should I take it somewhere they can run diagnostics on it or is it somethin I can figure out? Thanks for the input

 

[wytstang]

Mine does the same crap but I live with it. It's not over heating at all (my car) it's just the gauge my fan works fine my tstat is pretty new and the h2o pump is working just fine. It did start doing this after I lossed my bottom dam (the little black flap that's attached to the bumper) it directs air to the rad to help keep it cool. If you have lost yours it may cure your problem but our stock gauge don't read properly i.e h2o is off and so is the rpm gauge (they usually read 200/300 faster). Good luck

 

['95svtcobra]

thanks I reckon I'll try to look into it some more. it just makes me a lil nervous seein it get up there at times but like you, mine has'nt overheated or anything. thanks

 

[Chythar]

You should notice a loss in performance when the temp gets to "L". That's cause the computer's trying to cool down the engine by messing with the timing, fuel, etc. If not, it's possible the guage is wrong. Unless someone else has a better idea, I'd suggest heading down to your local Autozone (if you have one) - they usually will check for any error codes for free. Otherwise, you may have to pay a mechanic or a dealer to get the codes read.

I wouldn't wait too long to check this. If it's not just a failed CTS sensor, you could have a serious problem.

Let us know what you find out.

 

['95svtcobra]

dammnnn I hope not, looks like I will be headed down to the autozone or the ford dealer tommorow. thanks guys. this has all just started with the warm weather and all so I hope I aint screwed somethin up

 

[milehighstang]

My car does the same thing and i have a brand new 160 thermo, and a brand new water pump, and a good radiator. i highly dought anything is wrong with your cooling system it seems to be something our cars do.

 

[HISSIN50]

It did start doing this after I lossed my bottom dam (the little black flap that's attached to the bumper) luck

any ideas on if you can get them anywhere? mine does not go all the way across (having a fox, i am well versed in how important it is for creating a low pressure area). i was gonna make something, but it would probably be easier and more tasteful to have an OEM plastic one (i was gonna use aluminum).

i am a fan of real gauges. but if using the stocker, i would at a min, also pull it off and clean it up. they can get all gunked up. they tend to read low when gunked up though, not high (they dont conduct as well as when clean).
a few days ago i posted a link (i think) for the ECT values. it was on one of CMan's threads, IIRC (the values were provided courtesy of Jrichker). i am not real sure if the foxes and SN's use the same sensors or values though (i prefaced my post with that warning, but i figured it was better than nothing).

good luck.