Overheat ???? Problem

[S-H-O-Man]

I drove the SHO today after sitting a month in the garage (it gets to rest now that I have a company car and fuel paid for). I drove it for maybe 40 miles interstate and local driving before making a stop and turning off the ignition. When I get back to the car I see a rather large puddle of water (did not appear to be coolant). I roll the car back and saw a small traill following me. Coolant reservoir was completely full and was bubbling/boiling. I let the car cool down and got it home constantly monitoring the idiot guage and it fluctuated slightly. As I was turning into my driveway the temp guage shot up high (still within the "normal" band), I got out and found the reservoir boiling/gurgling again. I left it running and got the water hose and let the water flow through the condensor and radiator for a while.

I am thinking of a possible sticking thermostat, has anyone seen this problem or a similar one? The car has 115k miles and it was meticiously maintained by previous owners.

thanks
Rob

 

[naval-avi8or]

Not to be the bearer of bad news but if it was boiling in the tank you should have just left it parked. You can boil the coolant completly out of the block and radiator and the gage will remain stuck at what appears to be a normal temp. when actually its overheating. I did this to my V-6 and recently to my V-8. Good thing is that these motors are extremly tough and I luckily walked away without doing catastrophic damage.

Several things to check:

1. water pump/water pump belt. (make sure its still turning)
2. any holes/leaks in the system on the V-8 (its a closed system and any leak vapor/coolat will not allow system to presurize and result in coolant boiling and overheating. ( I had a hole in the top of my tank. If you have one of the black topped tanks they have a tendency to seperate at the seam.)
3. Thermo stat.

 

[S-H-O-Man]

I did notice the coolant was dripping out from between the black top of the tank and the tank reservoir itself

 

[naval-avi8or]

If you can find a 100% opaque one from a salvage or for 30-40 bucks you can get a new one thru autozone (that's where I bought mine)

 

[me6894]

ya check for a crack and if its not cracked those sound like symptoms of a failing radiator cap

 

[Mr Anonymous]

I agree that the tank not being able to hold pressure is probably a substantial part of the problem. Definitely start by replacing that along with a new cap if one isn't included.

You should also check for crud buildup on the front of the radiator. Easiest way is to pull the splash shield under the front bumper cover, get a light, and take a look. If you see a layer of dirt and debris, you can try cleaning it by first blowing compressed air from the fan side of the radiator, and then sweep in between the radiator and condensor with one of those long brushes used for cleaning out the lint trap on a clothes dryer (basically a long bottle brush).

 

[S-H-O-Man]

After it cooled, I checked the reservoir and found the cap slightly cocked on the threads.
I resecured the cap but have not checked out to see if it overheats still or not. Thanks for the advise guys!

 

[SHOZ123]

I had one of the new clear tanks and cross threaded the cap. It would not seal again after that and I had to get another tank.

 

[S-H-O-Man]

i checked with my ford dealer today and found cap costs around 6-8 bucks. The reservoir will run me about $48. Not too bad I guess.

 

[mdshos]

Not to be the bearer of bad news but if.............

Had it happen to me with a Gen 2. The head gasket had developed a problem where a small amount of combustion leaked from around #5 into the coolant system. I picked up a spare motor just in case, but before I could get new head gaskets on the engine in the car, it overheated. The gauge locked at the high end of the normal spectrum, while in fact all the water had been blown out. :booboo:

 

[Silvapain]

i checked with my ford dealer today and found cap costs around 6-8 bucks. The reservoir will run me about $48. Not too bad I guess.

You can get the updated Dorman reservoir at Autozone for $38.99 and it includes a new cap.

 

[gen3performance]

I had the same problem with mine. I also changed the cap, flushed the system, new thermostat, made sure the fans where come on because it could be a 99ct fuse , checked pump (when taking the thermostat out leave it unhooked give her a start for a min make sure shes pumping out water ) mine was the radiator ofter so long they just don t cool as good or gunk in the bottom that you cant see and is there a check engine light on it will be your water temp sensor which tells the fan when to come on(the sensor is right under your throttle body) just a couple ideas. I fought this problem already lol .do not clean the radiator yourself new one is $130, junk yard $50 radiator ,shop $30-$60 to re rail the radiator

i call our cars a she because shes a pain in the ass, really stubern hard to figure out, but getting on her makes up for it all( the peddle that is )

 

[SHOZ123]

Advance Auto has them for under $50 delivered with a new cap.

And yes the radiators get clogged up with fuzz between the fins. Can't see it until you take it out.

 

[St Louis SHO]

I've seen quite a few gen 4 SLOs with this problem. (rad with fuzz) I've been able to flush them all out with water from the front side (through the fan housings) and from underneath. I flush them until I see no dirt hit the floor. (I have a rack and painted floor at work so it may be easier for me)

James