Overheating Problem (Need Help)

[Avenging Angel]

Car: 2001 Cobra

Problem: Car overheated going to work. AC stop blowing cool air & then I saw that the temp guage was right by the red tick mark, antifreeze was silling out around the cap. I took the car to a general mechanic shop. They replaced the thermostat, refilled my anti-freeze & I drove off. Not two miles down the road, same thing happened. Turns out there was a hole in the radiator. Replaced the radiator. Refilled the antifreeze.

Thermostat: NEW
Radiator: NEW
Checked the water pump: OK
Checked the Fan: OK

Drove it 50+ miles home (No Problem)
Drove 30+ miles to work & lunch (No Problem)
Drove 15 miles home: AC cuts out again, looked at the temp guage & it is rising. Heading towards the red tick mark again.

Shut the AC Off, turn the heat on to full blast. The temp guage started to drop, back to normal. Seems like the thermostat is sticking & not allowing water to flow until it gets to the point where it is almost over heating. No anti-freeze is spilling / leaking out.

I can drive for 2-3 miles before I have to turn the AC off, turn the heat to full blast.

Any ideas what it could be? Is there a way in 01 Cobra's for the thermostat to be installed upside down? A bad new thermostat?

Keep in mind:

Thermostat: NEW
Radiator: NEW
Checked the water pump: OK
Checked the Fan: OK

 

[VirtualSVT]

Hmm..maybe I shoulda read the whole post.


Airpocket. Gotta be one somewhere. The thermostat could be installed wrong but its kinda common sense. But its still possible.


Matt

 

[badboycali_559]

i had the same problem and i posted on corral.net, they gave me some feedback on some possible stuff, i'll copy paste, mine was just a thermostat.

EDIT: here's the link:

http://www.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=686906


my fans wouldn't come on and car would do pretty much the same as urs, but after replacing the thermostat it went back to normal, i also replaced the temp sensor, so it could be that as well, both cost $45.XX from napa.

 

[COBRA90GT]

Was the coolant poured in at the vent plug location on the coolant crossover tube? If not, an air pocket WILL cause major headaches (ie - overheating). Drain the coolant and refill at this spot if the shop did not do it this way. You may have to burp the cooling system multiple times as well (via the vent plug), in order to remove all the air pockets from the system...

 

[Double"O"]

what Cobra90GT said....i have that problem when i installed my blower, burped in once and she has been good to go ever since

 

[Avenging Angel]

Was the coolant poured in at the vent plug location on the coolant crossover tube? If not, an air pocket WILL cause major headaches (ie - overheating). Drain the coolant and refill at this spot if the shop did not do it this way. You may have to burp the cooling system multiple times as well (via the vent plug), in order to remove all the air pockets from the system...

After they installed a new radiator, I picked up the car & drove it home. The car started to overheat again within 2 miles. I turned around & took it back. They checked the right hose on the croosover tube & it was not hot at all. They unscrewed the plug & it did not have enough coolant. This seemed to fix the problem & I drove home (with no problems). I also drove to work (and then to lunch) the next day with no problems. I had problems when I went home that day.

 

[Avenging Angel]

Update (driving to work this morning):

Tried driving without AC. Made NO Difference. Car started to over heat after 3 miles (started hitting stop-n-go traffic).

Turn the heat on full blast & the temp started dropping. Drove liked this for about 15 minutes. Temp back to normal.

Said "**** it", rolled up the windows & turned the Ac on to full blast. Dropped down on gear & punched it. Gave the car a few WOT burst & kept the rpms around 4000-5000. Drove the rest of the way to work (17 Miles) with NO Overheating.

:shrug:

 

[lemosley01]

The system still needs burped. I'll bet if you pull the crossover plug you will find it is still low.

 

[Tabres]

That sounds almost exactly like what mine does. Except my issue arose after I had to replace the waterpump.

I've chased the problem around since April, even having the car to a radiator shop to check the radiator and have it burped with their special tool, with no luck whatsoever. My thermostat appears to work properly as well. Yet the car still heats up into the 210-230 range in a matter of about 5 miles and hangs there for the remainder of the drive.

It is my suspicion that the "stock replacement" water pump doesn't flow as much as the origional pump did.

I eventually got tired of messing with it, said screw it and put a manual high speed fan switch in the car. Rarely do I see over 180 degrees with the fan on. Something is wrong still I'm sure and I know it's not the correct way to fix it but it works.

 

[Avenging Angel]

Well hopefully third time is a charm. They checked the system for air & installed a 160 Thermostat & it seemed to have done the trick. Drove home & it didn't overheat. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[COBRA90GT]

Well hopefully third time is a charm. They checked the system for air & installed a 160 Thermostat & it seemed to have done the trick. Drove home & it didn't overheat. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Perhaps it was a "stuck" thermostat then. Do you know if they filled the cooling system at the vent plug location in the coolant crossover tube this final time (which is the correct way btw)? Maybe they filled your system at the overflow tank the first two times (incorrect way).

BTW - Why the 160 t-stat? Did the shop recommend this? From what I've heard, it's not really going to help much (for performance reasons) since your radiator fan will still kick on at the same "low" and "high" temperatures, respectively speaking. Some have said a 160 t-stat is too low for these engines since they make their best power at full operating temperature.

Regardless, it sounds like you may have cured your cooling issues for now but if it starts to overheat again, you may want to try draining/refilling the cooling system yourself to make sure it is done properly (and also burp the system via the vent plug soon afterwards to remove any air pockets).

Just some food for thought, g'luck. :beer:

 

[Avenging Angel]

Perhaps it was a "stuck" thermostat then. Do you know if they filled the cooling system at the vent plug location in the coolant crossover tube this final time (which is the correct way btw)? Maybe they filled your system at the overflow tank the first two times (incorrect way).

BTW - Why the 160 t-stat? Did the shop recommend this? From what I've heard, it's not really going to help much (for performance reasons) since your radiator fan will still kick on at the same "low" and "high" temperatures, respectively speaking. Some have said a 160 t-stat is too low for these engines since they make their best power at full operating temperature.

Regardless, it sounds like you may have cured your cooling issues for now but if it starts to overheat again, you may want to try draining/refilling the cooling system yourself to make sure it is done properly (and also burp the system via the vent plug soon afterwards to remove any air pockets).

Just some food for thought, g'luck. :beer:

The only reason the put in a 160 was because the place they ordered parts from only had a 192 or 160. I needed to get my car working because it's my only car so I said, what the hell, get the 160 (since the 192 didn't work).

It's also in the mid 90's here in Houston until October. :shrug:

 

[01L2Cobra]

It's also in the mid 90's here in Houston until October. :shrug:

Got to love this Tx heat and humidity.

Just out curiosity what new radiator did you go with? I picked up a used 03 radiator from a friend and plan on installing it soon. Did they replace all of the cheap Ford fitting on the hoses?

Are you running stock 01 heads or have you up graded? I know of at least one 03 that had overheating problems like that due to casting sand in the heads.