I'm a COMPLETE noob....

[eliteJAE]

Ok so heres the deal....my 99 GT overheats like a mofo after long periods of inner city driving. 3 tstats later, including a 180 degress Stant, and it still overheats like crazy -.- i finally got so fed up with it steaming crap that i hosed it down to cool it off because it was insanely hot BIG MISTAKE -.- im driving down the freeway and my car starts rattling and shaking violently, with or without the clutch engaged....the throttle sounds out of time and it sounds like one of the pistons isnt firing. ok so overheating -> water sprayed on engine -> violent seizure and shaking at every speed, including idle? any ideas? thx for any help yall.

 

[streethorse]

theres a reason why it is overheating, and its not the tstat since you have
pretty much ruled that out. You need to idenify the real problem.
water pump? radiator? I hope no one has ever put any kind of stop leak
in it, cause that can really clog up inner passages.

 

[eliteJAE]

yeah 3 tstats and it still overheats, although much less after every tstat. the weather here in souther arizona dont help much considering its over a hundred everyday when i drive it with the a/c OFF -.- so i kinda curbed the over heating by flushing the rad. and finding that there was no more coolant, just water (after so many spills from the top of the overfill). but now it just shakes violently at every speed and rev., im thinking maybe water got into one of the plugs or coil -.- any suggestions?

o, and BTW anyone here recommend a certain brand of performance radiator/water pump?

thx

 

[twogts4us]

if you're lucky, you only got water down in the COP. If you have compressed air, blow each cylinder/COP out....otherwise, pull each COP and inspect and reinstall.
You likely have air in the cooling system. Drain it then fill it with the front of the car jacked up or on ramps. This will make the fill the highest point and allow any trapped air to escape. (This problem is more common than people realize on these cars...)
Have you confimed your fan is working?
Also try Redline Water Wetter - stuff does work and in AZ, you'll need it. These mod motors tend to run hot anyway...

 

[mustang462002]

So you just sprayed water on your boiling hot engine. Can't you crack your block like that?

 

[eliteJAE]

thx for the replies. yea i gotta tear it apart and look for water/coolant in there -.- and yea i think you can break the block like that although i wasnt spraying water ON the block, i was putting water in my radiator while pinching the hose and i let go and it got all over my block i hate to say it, but its been giving me problems since i bought the damn thing, it gushed out all of its coolant the dayi bought it anybody know how much a new engine (block, heads, pistons, etc.) would run me nowadays?

 

[jtroush2002]

do an oil change and check the oil to see if there is any coolant.
my cadillac was like that and I changed and spent a lot of money changing parts, telling myself it wasnt the head gasket, after all the money and time spent it turns out it was my head gasket and I had to replace the whole engine.
goodluck... and overheating car sucks

 

[eliteJAE]

hey thx for the replies yall.

streethorse: yeah i really hope they didnt put any of that stuff in there for a while i thought i had a leak, but it turns out that my car was just heating up and spitting the water out the top -.-

twogts4us: yea i did confirm that the fan was working, and watched it go through its on and off cycle at idle. Im gonna try teh water wetter stuff cuz you're like the third person who tells me about it hate to sound like a noob here but what does COP stand for?

jtroush2002: yea i checked the oil and its not milky or anything, and i recently flushed my rad and i didn't see any oil in it. im gonna get it checked either way tho, cuz i dont want it to be the problem all along -.- and yes....overheating cars suck, cant stand still anywhere without it boiling my coolant out....wouldnt get rid of the thing if i could tho

 

[Superhereaux]

hate to sound like a noob here but what does COP stand for?

Coil On Plug


before you do anything drastic try a new radiator cap (preferably OEM) and add more coolant

cap not holding pressure + straight water= low boiling point

 

[twogts4us]

Coil On Plug


before you do anything drastic try a new radiator cap (preferably OEM) and add more coolant

cap not holding pressure + straight water= low boiling point

Good idea!

And yeah, the COP is coil on plug. As I'm sure you've noticed by now, you have no distributor, no wires, etc...Each cylinder gets a coil. The spark plug hole they go down into is more or less right friggin on top of the engine, making it very easy to get water down in them. Here, ck this link for help - this is how to chg the plugs. My wife did her own plug changing last weekend...it's a lil more involved than an older V8, but it's really not difficult. http://www.bullittarchive.com/1017.htm (Note - The bullitt Mustang motor has a different intake manifold, but don't let that distract you - everything else is the same.)
EDIT - Wow, Bullitt Archive has been updated! I haven't been there in a while; it really looks nice!
EDIT #2 - I also found Bullitt Archive's article on "flushing the cooling system" - good reading. http://www.bullittarchive.com/1008.htm

 

[mransr]

I had a similar problem (the overheating part)...turned out to be the radiator fins were pretty much plugged solid with road crud...

I replaced the radiator and that fixed it right up, I suppose I could have just cleaned in (inside and out) but it wasn't all that expensive, so I just replace it

 

[eliteJAE]

thx for all the replies guys and for the info

twogts4us: yeah i kinda did a double take when i noticed there was no distributor haha hadn't noticed THAT before -.- thx for all the help

yea teh rad. cap was replaced recently too -.- im leaning towards what mransr said about crap being in the radiator fins, im gonna look into a new aluminum raditor pretty soon. i just HOPE that no previous owner put in any of that instant radiator fix junk and made some obstructions anywhere -.-

anyways, i just took it to a dealership mechanic and cylinders 1 and 2 aren't firing because of a blown head gasket water sleaked into the plugs along with a little oil. gotta get the block torn apart, make sure theres no warping or cracking -.- the mechanic pulled out these crappy Champion plugs from my block and i felt embarrassed as hell

well thx for the help yall, hopefully its just a gasket and i dont have to replace my engine -.-

 

[COramprat]

I had similar problems with mine. I think it was the design of the fan. When I swapped it out after the original seized the overheating problem went away. I used to run hot in the summer to the point that I couldn't run AC even on the highway. Now the temps stay below the halfway mark on the gauge even with the AC on.

If you search Mustang radiators in a search engine you can find the one I have by Dorman and look for the best price. Mine was $190 at local the local Carquest but I found it online for as little as 140.

 

[5spd GT]

Check coolant level, thermostat spring faces downwards, and a new cap.

I don't think the water pump or radiator are the issue.

Water on the coil on plugs is bad, it causes the engine to miss and have really no power. Pop, pop, pop...been there done that. I had coolant leaking out of my plastic crossover onto the wires. It leaks down...

 

[Mike97gt]

the shaking and rattling after you sprayed water on it is probably water that got down one of the plug wells.

The overheating could be caused by a few things. First thing I would check is your low speed fan, make sure it is coming on. Mnay times a BAD CCRM or fuse can cause the low speed cooling fan to not work, this will cause the car to run hot and possibly overheat.

 

[DTNODYA]

the shaking and rattling after you sprayed water on it is probably water that got down one of the plug wells.

The overheating could be caused by a few things. First thing I would check is your low speed fan, make sure it is coming on. Mnay times a BAD CCRM or fuse can cause the low speed cooling fan to not work, this will cause the car to run hot and possibly overheat.

In case you don't know what he means, turn your AC off and as the car heats up, just watch your fan and see if it kicks on. If you run your AC then the high speed fan should stay on. If it's not that then it's probably the pump, since you've replaced the thermo and cap. Also, if you have a wacky mix of coolant/water (more water than coolant) then it will overheat much quicker. So make sure that you have it mixed 50/50.

 

[eliteJAE]

thx for the replies yall. yea ive watched the fan go through its cycle kicking in at about 99 Celsius and dropping of at about 92-93, and the fan also stays on with the a/c on.

as for the shaking, originally i had thought it was just water in the plugs too, although i didnt know about the COP's yet, i suspected i had shorted something along the way of the electrical heading towards the plugs. however, as it was driven to the mechanic it started to throw a thick white cloud of smoke out the exhaust, so im guessing a gasket is blown and according to what ive read here, white smoke means burning coolant right? cuz if it was just the sprayed water, would it still produce white smoke trails? i just hope it aint a cracked head -.- as for the overheating, the cap, tstat, hoses, and even the intake has been replaced (i just noticed that it has an intake with an aluminum crossover and its a 99 -.-), and i used a 50/50 mix when i flushed it before installing the last tstat about 2 weeks ago im gonna have the pump checked, and possibly replace the rad. cuz im running out of options -.- im starting to think im driving it wrong, or im not supposed to use it as much as i do haha im 17 and ive driven trucks since i got a license so i dont know if mustangs are supposed to be THIS delicate

thx for all the feedback yall

 

[twogts4us]

Also, if you have a wacky mix of coolant/water (more water than coolant) then it will overheat much quicker. So make sure that you have it mixed 50/50.

Not true, especially in hot climates like his (AZ). Here in FL, without risk of a freeze, I run about 30/70 antifreeze/coolant. Water is really a good conductor...you could run staight water, but you NEED the anti-corosion aspects of the coolant.

 

[eliteJAE]

woot, just finished talking to the mechanic and sure enough, i got a bad head gasket -.- better that than a cracked head right? apparently i also had a broken timing chain guide i dont know how that happened or how it mightve affected my engine. besides that, just minor stuff like new COP boots, plugs, seals and assorted gaskets

thanks for all the help everybody, really helped me cope with my incessant need to fear the worst like a cracked head/cracked block/shoe making elves in 2 of my cylinders

now i just gotta address the cooling problems once i get it back and running

 

[thomas91169]

did you guys do a compression check?

is your oil a milky mess (coolant+oil=nastiness)?