Ok guys...I need some help fast and bad. I just bought an 03 Cobra. Not stock, so I know it is putting off more heat. Well, Sunday my cooling fan went out and melted the fan motor. I didn't notice this until about 2 miles after I started smelling a weird smell. When I saw the steam through the hood vents, I pulled into Autozone to let it sit. (would have gone to O'Reilly's, but Autozone was right there.) I bought a fan from Ford yesterday for $222(thanks henry...you bastard) and installed it. It worked. Now my car won't cool. It will heat up to 1/2 way and sit, and about 5 minutes (or 2 miles) later it will start to creep up to the H. This is frustrating the hell out of me because it is my new car. Here are the possibilities I can think of... Fan- fixt coolant- Ford recommends their own...will this make it overheat if I put some Autozone brand in? (I think I put Peak 50/50 in) thermostat- buying from Ford today water pump- no water leakage, no squeal on the belt...so it "should" be ok... radiator- God please no. warped head???- OH GOD PLEASE NO!!! It ran fine under boost when I was testing it to see if it blew white smoke out the pipes, no smoke....oil looks fine...coolant doesn't seem to have any oil in it. cracked block- ??? no oil leaking, no water leaking. Any other ideas? I need some help, PLEASE!!! BTW. I only drove the car around 2 miles Sunday Afternoon EASY...no boost, no hot rodding, up until and after I noticed it overheating. Then I shut it down. DOES ANYONE THINK MY BLOCK OR HEADS ARE MESSED UP???!??!??!?? Thanks guys.
Air bubble in the cooling system? You may need to burp the system a couple times. Even a small pocket of air in the system will cause it to overheat. U.M.
That could be. I am buying a new thermostat and coolant from Ford today. They said that if I mixed Ford coolant with Peak or Prestone that didn't have the same silicates, it could have also clogged it up. So I am flushing it today too. Do you think my motor will be ok? That is my main worry. Thanks for the help U.M.
I seriously doubt that the Autozone coolant you topped it off with when mixed with the stock Ford coolant would cause a blockage. I can't believe they told you that... If you don't see any evidence of coolant in the oil and you're not getting white smoke out the pipes then I would think your motor is okay. I would try to track down the instructions outlining proper method of burping the coolant system. I've read more than a few reports by folks who have had a hell of a time getting all the air out. U.M.
Got it fixed....I hope... It was air locked like a mo-fo. It only had 1 gal of coolant. I added the rest through the top spout. The motor had no liquid! Makes sense because the thermostat is on the bottom. If there is no water in the block to get to the thermostat, it won't open, therefore nothing will push the water out of the radiator into the block. I drove it about 20 miles last night at temp...no overheating. so it looks to be fixed. Before, I couldn't even drive 5 miles w/o problems. Thanks for your help Uncle.
Keep an eye on the coolant level. I went through the same darn thing, was banging my head against the wall, turned out to be a stubborn air pocket and the HOSE CLAMPS were allowing, under certain conditions, the coolant to spray out. After replacing the clamps with the normal type, no problems. Something to consider should the problem return.
