Help guys! Cooling

[619Cobra04]

On my way home today in stop n go traffic (San Diego)... *I noticed steam coming from my hood. *I pulled over immediately. *The temp gauge was higher than normal, but not ungodly hot. *Prolly cause I pulled over so soon. Any way there was some coolant on the hood (from belt splatter). *No hoses seem to be busted and the main spot with coolant was on the back of the radiator fan. *I got a ride back home for now. *So I'm not near my car. *Anyone have an idea? *Bad radiator? *Can it clog? *

Car has 81k miles btw (prolly original radiator too)

 

[CobraBoatDan]

Bad or stuck thermostat not allowing enough flow. Probably coming through the relief on the cap because the thermostat is not allowing enough flow

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

Stop and go traffic?

I would be highly suspicious of the electric 80K cooling fan.
Though now you also have air/vapor/gasses in your system from the boil over, and will need to purge them out by doing the burp/fill procedure.

The fan comes on when you turn the A/C on when the engine is hot or NOT.

Turn the a/c on and check and see if it is coming on.

 

[evolve]

Have you done anything with the rad/coolant recently?

 

[619Cobra04]

I haven't messed with any those things recently. Thanks For the advice guys! I leave out to sea for a bit in the am. I will make sure my buddy who has the car now does and checks those things. I will be back in a week or so.

Also worth noting, the radiator reservoir was completely full still.

Thanks for the quick responses guys!

 

[evolve]

I haven't messed with any those things recently. Thanks For the advice guys! I leave out to sea for a bit in the am. I will make sure my buddy who has the car now does and checks those things. I will be back in a week or so.

Also worth noting, the radiator reservoir was completely full still.

Thanks for the quick responses guys!

Might be a good time to upgrade the t-stat :banana:. It appears this might be the issue.

 

[01cobravortech]

Could be bad radiator cap, bad fan, bad t-stat. Got to check it all. Like Jimmy said air has gotten in the cooling system with this overheating episode.

 

[619Cobra04]

I'm not even upset, I pulled over immediately so no other damage can be done. I will find out more shortly. Gonna check the car out tonight. So if I need any of these parts mentioned, what upgrades do you guys prefer?

I'm open for all cooling upgrades now. Thanks again!

 

[01cobravortech]

Moroso 96-04 Mustang Coolant Expansion Tank (Black Powdercoat) - Coolant Expansion/Fill Tanks - Cooling - 03-04 SVT Cobra

Reische Performance 170 Degree High Performance Thermostat - Thermostats - Cooling - 03-04 SVT Cobra

Use SVTPERF code for 5% off.

 

[619Cobra04]

Perfect! I'll let you guys know what we find!

 

[TRBO VNM]

Don't rule out the CCRM (constant control relay module). Unlikely, but is part of the system and I have seen them go bad.

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

I haven't messed with any those things recently. Thanks For the advice guys! I leave out to sea for a bit in the am. I will make sure my buddy who has the car now does and checks those things. I will be back in a week or so.

Also worth noting, the radiator reservoir was completely full still.

Thanks for the quick responses guys!

The reservoir should not be completely full.

There needs to be room in it for expansion.
If you open the burp plug in the crossover tube while the the cap on the resv is still open the fluid from the top of the engine will run down and over fill it, while leaving air in the top of the engine where it should not be.

Don't open both caps at the same time.

 

[619Cobra04]

Sry it took such a while to respond. I've been out at sea. My buddy got a hold of me, he said he burped it and everything was perfect after. I have no idea how air got in the system though... Mystery to me, BUT JUST WANT TO SAY THANKS!

The responses were appreciated and we were able to fix it!

 

[My96z]

I would change the thermostat in there just in case. The same thing happened to my wife in my car when I was overseas and I ended up eventually needing headgaskets. Seems my thermostat stuck and it over heated on her. The temp gauges are worthless in these cars.

I replaced it with a Reische unit.

 

[619Cobra04]

Alright, sounds like I'll do that then. How hard would it be to do that myself?

 

[01cobravortech]

Alright, sounds like I'll do that then. How hard would it be to do that myself?

A piece of cake. The most time consuming part is just jacking up the car and draining the coolant lines and refilling and burping the system. The actual removal of the t-stat is super easy.

Jack up the driver side and loosen the (2) bolts that hold the thermostat housing together.

What I do as far as procedure is loosen the lower radiator hose that connects to the t-stat housing and drain coolant from there. Then move the pan under the t-stat housing and loosen the two bolts that hold the housing together and let more coolant drain from there. Remove t-stat and put new one in and reverse your steps.