overheating

[batman96]

my car has been gettin a little hot latley. today i decided to do a little at home fluse and i did and it all looked good till i had to go to work. it was running a little hot and all still. figuered maybe it needs a little time to get though. so i get to work i feel the bottom hose and it is cold and top one is hot. i go get my paycheck(last time i was happy today) and i come out to go cash it before i have to go in and now i start my car it runs for a second then dies. i repeat like 4 times so i give up and go walk to the book store.( i work in a mall with a borders) i read a repair manual and it says sometimes with a hot car it will boil the gas in the line not lettin you start the car. so i go out on my break and she starts up, so i know it was just too hot. how can i fix this problem without going to a shop for a chemical fluse.

i have plenty of fluid and as far as i can tell my fan comes on. but , when i turn the heater on it doesnt get hot. it this just a clogg or do i need something to be replaced.

 

[Jinx]

First thing that comes to mind, after you flushed the system and refilled with a 50/50 mix of anti-freeze/water, did you "burp" the system? It my be air in the system, or (hopefully not) a clog that resulted from something comming loose during the flush.

 

[Dragstr05]

If you drove it all the way to work and both hoses arent hot you have a problem.

If the coolant flows the way I'm thinking it does your thermostat is stuck closed. $5 fix, go pick one up and see how it turns out.

 

[Jbauer]

It seems you've got air in the system. I don't know about the Fords, but at work for VW- we massage the main radiator hose (that would be the one from the thermostat to the radiator on your mustang) with the coolant reservoir cap open..theres also a tool that would gets all the air out.

 

[98COBRA281]

maybe you should .................................... BUY A V8 JK I heard you squeal 1st and some of 2nd the other day

 

[batman96]

okay after some extensive reseach and trials i did today umm... i still think their is possible a clogg and i think i cleared all the air beacuse i ran it with no radatior cap on and made sure their was no air. i wasnt doing too much flowing though. i found out my fan isnt kicking on. it started rain so i though it would be a bad time to test out eletical connetions. so tommmorw i plan on seeing if its a bad plug or i have a fried fan motor(i hope not)that or i just have bad thermostat or temptue sensor. if those are the probelm i think ill replace those and just run the fan power to the igniton.

 

[batman96]

okay, umm my fan works stopped rain long enogh for me to test that but, now i narrowed it down to either my thermostat or my tempture sensor/switch. where would the temp sensor and the thermostat be at.

 

[Jbauer]

I wish someone with a V6 would chime in, but i'm looking at a picture on google, i'd try following the main radiator hose and seeing if it leads to a housing or something for the thermostat.
It really does sound like you've got air in the system though. did you try burping it? or did you just leave the cap off with the car on?

 

[Jinx]

If your guage in the cluster is reading correctly, then I would be suspicious of the thermostat and not the sensor. The thermostat is mechanical and is not controlled by the sesnor. If you decide to replace the t-stat, you might want to consider buying a new gasket, if applicable. Not sure if the gasket would survive removal. Unfortunately, if you're not able to see much flow with the radiator cap off, you may have a blockage somewhere .

 

[Jinx]

here's a pic and a link to a how-to page

NM - on the pic. No hot-linking


LINK for a 2000 3.8L

 

[97speedster]

Sounds to me like you put your t-stat in backwards and it is not opening causing the cold lower hose and over heating.

 

[batman96]

i fixed it but it wasnt a thermostat it was my ect switch. basiclly i have a sensor that tells the fan to kick on at a certain temp well it wasnt doing that. i replaced both my sensor that controls the guages and my switch and now it runs like a beauty ( only replaced the sensor becasue i took it out and alrday bought a new on when i relized it took the wrong on out.) but all and all with every thing was only a 25 dollar repair.

but thank you all for you help