I have a 2002 Ford Taurus with 219000+ on it. The las couple times that I have driven when the air temp was over 85 the temp gage moves to hot when the air is on. When I turn the air off the temp comes down. I have checked the fans and they are running. I also looked at the condenser and it seems to be clear. I have talked with some one and he suggested flushing the radiator. Would that help or could something else be wrong?
Thanks
It wouldn’t hurt. It sure sounds like a cooling problem and cleaning the cooling system would be a straight forward first step.
The radiator could very well be the problem.
With the AC off, a restricted radiator can handle the normal cooling of the engine. But when the AC is turned on, the heat that the condenser produces in front of the radiator can reduce the efficiency of the radiator. So the engine starts to overheat.
Tester
Your radiator probably won’t work any better after the flush. A new radiator is probably a great idea. Many of the fins are just gone with the wind due to corrosion. They are mostly missing when viewed from the rear. If about 7% are gone the radiator won’t work well enough with AC on or when going up steep hills for a half mile or longer.
Have yoiu checked that you are not low on coolant!!!
The water pump impeller may be severely corroded:
At thta mileage I would go for a new radiator as well as a flush.The system is simply overloaded with the AC on. You should also have the water pump checked.
i would lean more towards water pump have seen the impeller wore slap off
just done one like two days ago
3.0 L engine
Ask your mechanic to check the fan speed and the radiator cap.