Cooling system

[Traci818]

I have a 2003 T-Bird that is on it's 3rd thermostat, 2nd water bottle, and 2nd radiator hose, It still runs hot and the fan kicks in after driving 10 miles rain, shine, summer, winter. The dealership is trying to tell me that I shouldn't keep adding water and act generally surprised when it overheats after 3 weeks of me not adding water every two days... Anyone else having problems with the cooling system or have any ideas on what might be making it run so hot.

[Ed Martin]

In days of old this would have all the signs of a possible blown head gasket.With todays engines I'm not to sure .I would try an independent shop as the dealers can't cure the problem.Years ago you would look for the tell-tale bubbles in the radiator.

[George]

There have been a few that have had thermosat issues. That may be the least expensive item to try, but doesn't seem to solve the issue. Possible need a pressure test on the system??

Utilize the search function above to look for other potentials. But keep us informed please

[George]

Sorry double post

[George]

Traci:
Bear with me, I've been doing some searching elsewhere and the following posts are copied from other sources. So take from it what you can:

Here's a person that had an issue and explains what he did:
"When the check engine light comes on and they check it out on their computer it will show code 1289 and 1299 to fix the problem replace the Hydraulic fan and this will fix the problem, they said it would be $1000.00 to fix . So, instead, I called my friend that is a Service manager at the Lincoln Dealer and he said to start the engine and take off the cap let it run for while until the fluid runs over the top for a couple minutes , bring up the rpm and add a little coolant put the cap on and Drive it , that was 2,567 miles ago and it has Not over heated since, but it took two weeks for the light to go out, I am not saying it will fix your problem but it is worth a try."

Here's another potential solution:

" An '03 overheated on Friday night. Since I had turned the climate control off the fan was not forced to run and the switch did turn it on as it should.
The next morning (Sat) I turned on the climate control and did all the running around in town, no problems at all.
Sunday I drove and had not problems.
Monday I drove and the temperature went to the top again and then came right back down. After I got home I considered replacing the thermostat, but started reading the maintenance instructions and decided to take it to the dealer instead. (I was getting ready to take a 2500 mile trip and wanted to have the problem fixed)
The dealer ran test, checked the pressure, drove the car and could not make it act up.
They said that they “BURPED” the cooling system. From what I understand, they ran the engine with the cap off the radiator and got an air bubble out of the system.
I drove the car every day from then until I left for my trip and it never overheated again.
I left on the 13th of September and returned on the 25th after driving 2500 miles and never had any problems."

[George]

Here is what a mechanic did:
"When the AC is on the fan is running. With the AC off the fan is thermostatly controled. Meaning the engine temp hit a preset and the fan will kick on. Once cooled it shuts off. Again if the AC is on the fan will stay running. Now with that said if the ICRM failed to kick the fan it may cause it to overheat. Another is a simple one a defective thermostat or radiator hose. I'd doubt a water pump. Just ran Oasis no TSB/SSM,but they did bring up one point. Be sure it has the right coolant in it.
Meaning did someone mix old style coolant in with the newer 100,000 mile coolant. If that happens it turn to a jelly. Have only seen this once on a truck after Jiffy Lube worked on the vehicle.
And Yes, the AC in the run position will run the fan continuously, but I bet the emergency cooling aspect might be overshadowed by the extra load the AC puts on the engine."

Here's another that had the thermostat chnaged and continued to have a problem:
"As for your overheating issues, I experienced a problem that had the shop baffled for a while. Just before they fixed it, I had found that when the temp started to go up, I could turn off the A/C and the temp would come down. Would turn the AC back on and the temp would go up, if I left it, she would go all the way into alarm mode and then 4 cyl. mode!
Up till that time I had left the A/C set to auto. I was able to do the above cycles while sitting at the shop door when they came over to check me in.

The problem: a broken thermostat! Apparently a piece of the thermostat had gotten down inside and was intermittently blocking the flow of coolant. Since they fixed it, I have had no further problems."

FYI: I am putting this data in separate postings since each post has a limit as to the number of letters/words. But, I'll continue to look for more data for you and post as I find it.

[George]

Here’s my final posting of what I have found related to overheating. This one for a 2003 and 2004:

“Joined the overheat club yesterday on my 2004 with 24k miles. Car overheated and went into limp-home mode. I stopped, and let it cool a bit (was bubbling in the overflow). When I restarted the car, no fans, until I turned on the AC. That started them and the temperature went back to normal in seconds. Since then the car is running ok, whether AC is on or not, but check engine light is on, so it must have thrown codes. Off to Ford it goes.
Answer:
Dealer called, said all they could find was some air in the system. They purged that and said it seems to be working fine. I'm skeptical, we'll see if it behaves itself now.”

2003 with heating problem:
“After having a new thermostat replaced at the dealership, I continued to have the, what I called, false overheat. Turned out I had a hairline fracture in the coolant bottle. Dealership said it was a major job to replace, that they had to remove the fender to get to it. My independent mechanic rolled his eyes at that, and replaced it in about 20 minutes. The crack was barely visable and thinner than a hair, but was enough to reduce the pressure. That was two years ago and it hasn't happened since.”