Hi all, I have an 01 Cobra that has been a nightmare to be honest. I "fix" one thing, it either comes back or something new, or both. I'm moving for work and I'm tired of losing so much money on a car that I thought was going to be a well maintained example, so I'm just needing to sell it. I've spent nearly 5k in maintenance, and now my latest issue popped out of nowhere and I can't get it to stop. The car will steadily overheat after driving. I've replaced water pump, thermostat, vacuum bled coolant, nothing. Car has been compression tested and yielded healthy results. When I had the car vacuum bled, Christian Brothers claimed it was still overheating and it was due to the thermostat not opening properly. It's a brand new Gates unit. In the sake of just getting the car to a driving state, I'm just going to delete the thermostat. I've read a couple other threads of people having similar issues and finding luck in deleting theirs. I've read all the "don't do it" info, I'm well aware of why you don't, but so long as I can't get a brand new thermostat to actually do what it's supposed to, I don't have the time or money to consider other options. So my question is how do I do it properly. Do I keep the rubber o ring in place? Should I get a gasket to put between the two pieces of the housing? How have other people had luck in sealing their thermostat housing after deleting. I've already spent so much on coolant, I don't feel like winging it and seeing what holds. I understand if you think I'm an idiot for doing this, and I'll be plenty transparent with the buyer when I can find one, but I need the car running and gone. I've babied all my cars, this one is no exception. I just can't believe I'm almost terminator money into a stock n/a '01 and it's still a miserable car to drive and own. If you've had a good reliable life with your cobra I'm happy for you, I've not been so lucky. Thanks for any input, y'all have been a great community to be a part of. One day I'll have the resources to revisit, unfortunately that's not today.
"Proper" way to delete thermostat?
- Thread starter gateguard1
- Start date
Is it the right thermostat? The wrong one won't it burp right.
I went thru Rockauto, which I've never had incorrect part issues thru them before
Im not going to tell you not do it but I will say its probably not a thermostat problem. I would lean towards head gasket/water passage or radiator problem. You might be able to gut the thermostat but that could be a tough job. Here is a thermostat that I went with that has worked really well and keeps the engine temperature perfect even with me having a pulley underdrive kit. Hard to find now and mostly on ebay. Its a Stant Superstat # 46138
Genuine Stant 46138 Superstat 180f Engine Coolant Thermostat - " OEM QUALITY " | eBay
STANT PRODUCTS Stant is a recognized world leader in the design and manufacturing of Vapor management systems, Fuel delivery systems, Thermal management systems and Engineering services. As a leading manufacturer of closure caps, on-board vapor recovery components, and engine and transmission...
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Does car over heat while driving at normal speeds? Or just at a stop lights/low speed driving? If it over heats at stop lights or low speed driving I'd invest in a better cooling fan setup or see if the front of the radiator is not getting good air flow. Does the car still have the OEM radiator and A/C condenser? I've seen leaves and other road debris get stuck in between the radiator and the A/C condenser and that will really hurt the air flow. l'm assuming ford no longer offer OEM thermostats?
If I just start and warm the car up it won't overheat, but after about 10 minutes of actual driving is when I see heat creeping up. Rad fan kicks on just fine. I could try pulling the radiator and seeing if that's clogged. Car was fine for months, then I had the stock rad cap start leaking, replaced that, and have had trouble ever since. Never overheated the car majorly, always caught it. Compression leak down was good. But at first I figured it was because I couldn't get my bleeder cap off when I bled the car, but now recently had it properly vacuum bled and that's when they pointed to that new thermo. It's like the overheating just came out of nowhere. And now it won't go away
I would almost suspect the radiator as the problem, or it's an air flow issue. Especially if it happens while driving. I don't know how much a new radiator is, but I'd replace it if it's affordable
Come to think of it the car doesn't overheat when the hood is popped, so yeah a clogged or gummed up rad seems more likely now, considering if the hood is up that extra airflow thru the bay could negate the clogged up airflow thru the rad. Or maybe I'm talking out my ass. I'm young, broke, and still have a lot to learn.
If a vehicle overheats when driving it's almost always an airflow issue or clogged radiator issue, unless of course the engine is hurt. But you have already ruled that out. I would pull the radiator out and inspect it.
Just finished pulling the radiator. Nothing apparent from the outside, but obviously wouldn't be able to tell much from the outside alone. Denso unit en route since it's $130 on RA.
I obviously can't guarantee it'll fix it, but it's what I would start with
I'm hoping that your replacement radio will fix the issue. If it was me, I'd also go with the thermostat that @FIREBALL recommended, since you're going to remove the radiator anyway. At least then you can eliminate both the radiator and the thermostat from the equation if your Cobra still overheats.
If the 99/01 cobras take a specific thermostat I would replace that as well while I'm in there with the correct one. I know the GT500s take a special thermostat and you'll have issues if you don't use the right one.
Yeah, I think if you don't have the t-stat with the little poppet it won't burp right and you'll never get all of the air out. If you haven't gotten the plug in the crossover loose I would work on that. Even with the vacuum fill it can miss a little. I've had that happen when filling mine up. I used the vacuum fill then pulled the plug and saw it was still low.
Running warm at speed can also be a coolant flow problem. If there's a bubble and it's not flowing fast enough it can cause the engine to overheat.
Also, triple check the hoses are connected correctly. I knew a guy with a Mach that chased a overheating problem for months. Come to find out someone messed up the hose placement at the bottom of the radiator.
Running warm at speed can also be a coolant flow problem. If there's a bubble and it's not flowing fast enough it can cause the engine to overheat.
Also, triple check the hoses are connected correctly. I knew a guy with a Mach that chased a overheating problem for months. Come to find out someone messed up the hose placement at the bottom of the radiator.
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