Long time no see! Monday was pretty warm so I took the mustang out for a drive. Haven't touched it since my last post. Running around town and I'm realizing my OBD app (OBD Fusion for Android) was reading coolant temp really oddly. Was stuck at 210 even after running it hard up and down the street well after it's had ample time to warm up and get to operating temps. Looked further into it and realized there was a PID (stat) that was specifically for '96 Ford vehicles for engine coolant temp and this one read in C and was reading 100! It was updating regularly and reacted as expected. Rose when I was giving it hell, dropped when I idled. However I noticed that it got up to 114C / 237F and even spiked to 117 for a brief split second (there's been times the temp would show 40C then next update or two would go back to normal, so I think maybe was a false reading for a moment) and that was at idle! It was certainly raising, but eventually cooled back off.
After running things through my head again with a fresh look at it after a couple months of away time, I realized that I didn't connect LOW SPEED back to the fan and only had HIGH SPEED connected. I suppose at the time I was thinking both were hot with voltage so I'd keep it to HIGH just in case. I realize now that one or the other will be hot depending on certain conditions and it could be the reason for getting so hot but my mind still is thinking back to maybe it's head gasket. Unfamiliar with head gasket symptoms -- is it possible to have a partial gasket problem that's small enough to get things hot or would you guys say I should be fine after reconnecting low speed wire back to the fan?
Lastly -- suppose I do have a head gasket issue. What issues can I run into by continuing to run the car, as long as temperatures stay ok? I figured as much that I could run it and check the oil + coolant after so long to see if it shows anything?
EDIT: I realize I didn't post my pressure test from last year. Bank 1 I read 105 PSI, Bank 2 I read 160 PSI. (15 or less within each other on each bank). I ran the test while cold, I don't know for certain if I disabled fuel pump, and didn't test while WOT which I believe I read somewhere it's what should be done. Going to try another test on the next warm day.
After running things through my head again with a fresh look at it after a couple months of away time, I realized that I didn't connect LOW SPEED back to the fan and only had HIGH SPEED connected. I suppose at the time I was thinking both were hot with voltage so I'd keep it to HIGH just in case. I realize now that one or the other will be hot depending on certain conditions and it could be the reason for getting so hot but my mind still is thinking back to maybe it's head gasket. Unfamiliar with head gasket symptoms -- is it possible to have a partial gasket problem that's small enough to get things hot or would you guys say I should be fine after reconnecting low speed wire back to the fan?
Lastly -- suppose I do have a head gasket issue. What issues can I run into by continuing to run the car, as long as temperatures stay ok? I figured as much that I could run it and check the oil + coolant after so long to see if it shows anything?
EDIT: I realize I didn't post my pressure test from last year. Bank 1 I read 105 PSI, Bank 2 I read 160 PSI. (15 or less within each other on each bank). I ran the test while cold, I don't know for certain if I disabled fuel pump, and didn't test while WOT which I believe I read somewhere it's what should be done. Going to try another test on the next warm day.
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