Looked like my car was on fire

[The SHO]

Story time! I was driving home the other night and about a block from my house, and an insane amount of smoke/steam started pouring out of the driver's side of my hood. I looked at the temp gauge and it was pretty much in the red so I quickly stopped and turned off the car. I got out and opened the hood and there was so much steam/smoke i had to wait a minute to get a good look. When I looked, there was coolant sprayed everywhere under the drivers side of the hood. The skinny coolant line that connects underneath the throttle body had popped off...I'm assuming thats where the coolant spray came from. anyway, next morning I went out to the car and put more coolant in, reconnected the coolant line, and drove it home....only problem is, in about 5 minutes, the temp gauge was approaching the red again. Is this my thermostat? heater core? radiator? blown head gasket?Help!!

Ken

 

[SuperHO]

Sounds like a thermostat to me....too much pressure building up.....

 

[ManySHOs]

Replace the rad cap and T-stat and make sure your cooling fan is kicking on. Also, check your coolant level in the radiator as well as the overflow bottle.

Report back and let us know what happens.

Ian

 

[The SHO]

can someone give me the quick-hitter on how to replace the thermostat?

 

[Ishodu]

www.shotimes.com they have a write op on that. Its under maintenance.

 

[The SHO]

the shop I took it to said there were some hoses that were in pretty haggard shape...and they said that the motor actually wasn't getting warm enough during normal operation, it only got to 153 degrees the tech said. What is normal running temperature and how do I go about achieving it? he also said the DPFE was super clogged, is that something I can plug and play myself?

 

[SuperHO]

DPFE's only like $35....buy a new one.

 

[ManySHOs]

If the engine isn't getting up to temp, I'm betting that your t-stat is bad. The writeup is on shotimes but it's so easy that I may as well spell it out.

You should drain the radiator at the petcock first but I usually don't.

Loosen the upper radiator hose. Remove it from the connection at the engine and rotate it up to minimize coolant spillage.

Remove the electrical connections from the TPS and the coolant temp sensor (little rubber boot).
Remove your airbox, MAF and MAF to TB hose for more room.

The aluminum snout that you had the upper rad hose connected to needs to come off. It's held on with 2 10mm nuts. A 1/4" extension with a 10mm deep socket would be ideal but a 3/8" will also work. Remove said snout and pull out the T-stat. Install t-stat in reverse order.

Re-install everything and add some coolant back into the radiator and overflow tank if needed. If you spilled any coolant, try to soak it up or dilute it heavily with a garden hose. Animals are attracted to the sweet taste but they will die a painful death if they drink it.


Ian

 

[stangeater]

If your car isn't reaching the ideal temp, replace the thermostat. Not to act like you don't know anything, but the thermastat keeps the coolant in the engine until it reaches a certain temp, then it opens up to let the coolant into the radiator to cool it off...........and so on and so on. I'd say replace the thermastat! Good luck. JP

 

[The SHO]

Just picked up the car, shop guy says i need a new thermostat, which also seems to be the general consenus of you folks. Also, he ran my codes for me and came up with these:

KOEO 636, 327

KOER 116, 327, 632

Continuous 176, 327

The 327 he seems to think is the DPFE...but what are the others? Help is much appreciated from you guys.

 

[tedhontz]

this is making me sound really stupid, but what is a DPFE? Sounds like I may need one, especially if its only $35/

 

[Rockledge]

this is making me sound really stupid, but what is a DPFE? Sounds like I may need one, especially if its only $35/

What you really need is to pull codes.

http://www.shophoenixproject.com/eec/eec.htm

 

[SolidState]

DPFE's only like $35....buy a new one.

where? the Wells DPFE are absolute crap, and the Ford ones are super expensive....I think I was quoted almost $300cdn...

 

[SolidState]

this is making me sound really stupid, but what is a DPFE? Sounds like I may need one, especially if its only $35/

that isn't a stupid question at all. Most people here, especially MTX guys, wouldn't know what that is.

DPFE is the Delta Pressure Feedback EGR sensor....it basically sense the pressure differences between intake (atmospheric) and exhuast, and controls the opening and closing of the EGR valve. It also reports in a similar way to the ECU as the Baro sensor on an MTX.

They do frequently go bad on Ford cars, and can cause quirkly drivability problems...ususally an off throttle misfire at a certain speed..a stumble, if you will. Usually presents itself in a number of EGR codes; typically code 332.

 

[Off Road SHO]

Keep in mind that most shops will report that the problem needs a replacent part as opposed to a labor procedure. My guess is that the EGR passageway into the "Y" part of the plenum is clogged with carbon. The differential pressure feedback sensor rarely goes bad, but is does.

Tom

 

[LeddZepp8687]

that isn't a stupid question at all. Most people here, especially MTX guys, wouldn't know what that is.

DPFE is the Delta Pressure Feedback EGR sensor....it basically sense the pressure differences between intake (atmospheric) and exhuast, and controls the opening and closing of the EGR valve. It also reports in a similar way to the ECU as the Baro sensor on an MTX.

They do frequently go bad on Ford cars, and can cause quirkly drivability problems...ususally an off throttle misfire at a certain speed..a stumble, if you will. Usually presents itself in a number of EGR codes; typically code 332.

That or..

Differential Pressure Feedback EGR (DPFE)