Odd overheating problem..

[vortex2450]

I just recently swapped in a 3.2l.

Cooling system wise everything has ran fine for a week, the needle would stay between the "n" and "o" pretty consistently.

2 days ago I drove it kind of hard (1 WOT run, shifting @6k, just a sprint through 1st, 2nd, and the beginning of 3rd gear). On the way home the needle starting moving up rather quickly. When I pulled up and parked a moderate amount of steam was coming out from under the hood.

I checked it out then and it wasn't coming from anywhere near the radiator.

I went and re secured all the hose clamps, drove it again the next day and after about 10 minutes of highway driving the needle suddenly starts chugging back up towards the end of the "NORMAL" range.

Oil pressure @ 2k is around 18 psi, and steam is rolling off the bumper of the car. I pull over and the steam isn't if as a hose popped off but's it's rolling through the cowl of the hood. I pop the hood and the steam is coming from the rear of the engine.

As far as I know there's no hoses back there so WTF did I do to my engine?

Also, coolant wise, at this point it's running an 80/20 mix of water to coolant. I Had a bunch come out when I didn't properly adjust the lower radiator hose clamp..

At this point I'm hoping that the water is boiling because there' isn't enough coolant to raise the boiling point high enough and I'm seeing steam through some sort of release point.

Or I cracked the block....

I simply have not had time to run to an auto store for more coolant, today I will try and flush the system. See if that helps. Luckily at this point I haven't had the needle go over the "n" in normal but it's a very worrisome situation for me after having spent so much time into the swap.

Thoughts and words of wisdom?

-Josh

BTW: I also thought it would be notable to say that the steam doesn't start coming out of the hood until I cut the engine off, is this because of back pressure?

 

[93rev2sev]

Sounds like one of the heater core hoses are leaking. If there's no pressure (pump not running cause the engine is off) AND the coolant is a little low (because you leaked some out) then it wont steam unless the engine is running.

Did you pressure test the coolant system before trying to drive it?

 

[SHOZ123]

Take the pressure cap and get it tested too.

 

[kevinspann]

Did you get all of the air out of the cooling system?

 

[hawkeye18]

Definitely sounds like a heater hose. Search "replace heater hose" and you'll see that this is a pretty common issue, and how to fix it. I hope you have a 5 year old around, cos you'll need his/her hands to get back there. Somebody's gonna learn how to work on a car!

 

[SHOZ123]

Could be the short fat hose too that is between the heads on the drivers side. I had that blow once. Probably never gets changed under normal circumstances.

 

[vortex2450]

Sounds like one of the heater core hoses are leaking. If there's no pressure (pump not running cause the engine is off) AND the coolant is a little low (because you leaked some out) then it wont steam unless the engine is running.

Did you pressure test the coolant system before trying to drive it?

What do you mean by pressure test the system?

I probably known what you mean but am not familiar with the term...

I realized that there are heater core hoses back there today, upon realizing that switch the climate control to 90F and there's not a hint of heat coming out, which tells me that the is only air in the core which also tells me the heater hose could very well be my problem...

Well the condition worsened today, I pulled over at Lowes which is about 3 miles from my house and the car wouldn't start because the oil was so hot I wouldn't build pressure, so I ended up spending 40 minutes waiting before I could get home....

To NAPA I go!!

I'm going to put a bottle of coolant in now, and try and bleed the air out of the system....

dont' you love working 10 hour days just to have to turn around and work on a SHO?? lol

 

[stangeater]

It's not a good idea to be driving it around if you're having over heating problems. Your head gasket will thank you later...

 

[Art5]

how did you swap 3.2 and don't know that there are 2 hoses back there going to heater core that usually go bad?

 

[32MTX]

coolant doesn't let the water get to a higher temperature before it boils, pressure does...
its obvious if your seeing water vapor pouring out the back of the engine you have a coolant leak, fix it, fill it back up, maybe replace the radiator cap if its old(will help build up pressure if your old one is defective)....... if you overheated it a lot, I would replace the thermostat as well.

ditch the hose clamps that you have to tighten yourself and run the regular spring clamps that came from the factory, they work best. There is a reason why damn near every car has them from the factory. You can't over tighten them, you can't leave them loose, and they don't loose their pressure.


coolant actually hurts the heat transfer and your engine cools better on straight water. But w/o the coolant you loose the antifreeze protection, lubricant for moving parts, and anti rust/corrosion measures that all coolants are supposed to contain........

 

[hawkeye18]

coolant actually hurts the heat transfer and your engine cools better on straight water. But w/o the coolant you loose the antifreeze protection, lubricant for moving parts, and anti rust/corrosion measures that all coolants are supposed to contain........

This is why you are never supposed to use more than a 60/40 measure either way. 60% water in the summer, 60% coolant in the winter. Or... just use 50/50 and be done with it.

 

[SHOZ123]

A coolant mix will also give a higher boiling point than water assuming proper pressure.

As far as the factory spring clamps, the reason manufacturers use them is for ease of install. If you get a new Motorcraft hose from Ford it has the clamps on it with a plastic piece holding it open. Slip the hose on remove plastic piece, install all done.

 

[SHOtime2511]

Please fix the coolant leak before you pour in more coolant or drive the car again,this is just common sense.
Do you think its going to fix itself?

 

[vortex2450]

Thanks for the useful info,

but

I don't know why you guys think I was driving the car around with an overheating issue, did I come off as an idiot? haha

Anyways, I drove the car straight home when the problem arose, I tightened (almost) everything down, and flushed the system once. After a 6 mile test drive It showed the same signs so I was a little more thorough.

After a better search I found one of the the heater hoses had simply popped off the block more than likely due to me not tightening it , that's not the first hose I missed.

I flushed the system with distilled water, then added 1 gallon off anti freeze and a pint of Peak additive, took me a couple goes but I bleed a lot of the air out. Drove about 80 miles today with no ill effects and the reservoir is still nearly full.

I am very aware of how a cooling system works,my senior project in high school was researching, studying, and building a water cooled computer. I am also very aware of of how efficient water is and how coolant affects the properties of the water system. Without a bunch of explaining I don't think I need an exact 50/50 mix. It's a good rule of thumb, but I don't need to withstand subzero temps in the winter and being as I ran all distilled water the lesser amount of coolant I used (around 30/70) is all I feel I need.

Problem solved, I don't know why I post threads when I usually end up solving stuff anyways but it helps me jogs my memory, thank SHOforum

-Josh

 

[Enzo731]

I think I have the same issue. But I managed to get a red blinking light when the car starts and gets toward N and O. It's now awaiting diagnosis. I was getting small amounts of steam from the passenger side right behind the DIS roughly. No leaks underneath though...

 

[vortex2450]

I think I have the same issue. But I managed to get a red blinking light when the car starts and gets toward N and O. It's now awaiting diagnosis. I was getting small amounts of steam from the passenger side right behind the DIS roughly. No leaks underneath though...

The red blinking light is your oil light flickering because the engine is overheating making the oil too heat and therefore thin.

My problem was the o-rings on the coolant crossover tube. Sounds like yours in the o-rings on the water pump side. Althought at the time off this thread I also had loose hose clamps on two hoses.

To properly replace them (I tried without and still screwed up the o-rings tryin to fight the tube in) you have to remove the fuel rails/injectors so I would also buy 6 injector o-rings to be safe when you reinstall the injectors.

Also, this could be the gasket on your water pump going south, I would replace the pump gasket as well to be safe.


good Luck

-Josh