Car overheating

Maintenance/Repairs
1

I have a dilemma, with my 2.5 L. 6 Cyl.1998 Ford Contour,

Driving home from a ride on the highway, when I entered my home city I noticed that

My engine temperature gauge was pegged all the way to the right as far as it could go.

I stopped the vehicle, opened the hood and there was no indication of boiling over.

I then drove for about a mile or so to my house, where I again checked under the hood,

again no indication of escaping steam or boiling over. The water reservoir was full but not over flowing. Cooled the car down and ran the Engine, the electric fan came on

about the right spot on the temperature gauge, but the temperature kept rising into the red zone, again, no visible overheating.

Took the car to local repair shop where I was told they changed the thermostat and a sensor. Car still runs into the red zone, not quickly, but it does. There was some talk about a water pump overhaul.

Would appreciate any and all help here.

Thank you, Mike



2

With the gauge pegged in the “red zone” the coolant should be boiling and steam blowing out of the overflow tank. This leads me to believe the engine is not actually overheated but the gauge is reading incorrectly because of a bad sensor or wiring problem. Water pump flow can be tested by simply removing the thermostat and observing water flow with no restriction. Do NOT replace the pump unless it proves to be faulty…

3

Adding to the last posters’ comments, have a rad thermometer inserted in place of your rad cap and run the engine up to temp and then you will know for certain if the coolant is too hot.

When you seen the coolant reservoir full, was there any bubbles in it?

4

I would think that, “IF”, the temp. sensor was changed, that there may be a faulty replacement. Were you at a reputable repair shop???

5

I might add, Did the shop flush the system or just do the thermo. & sensor. Possibly radiador might be partially plugged? If it hasn’t been flushed for 50-60k mi’s…

6

There may be a second sensor that isn’t working right.

7

There’s usually the sensor for the computer and a seperate sensor for the gauge itself. It sounds to me like maybe they changed the computer sensor when the gauge sensor was the bad one.

8

Thanks to all for the speedy replies to my “car overheating”.
will consult with my reliable repair shop.
Sounds like all good advice.
Dinghoa