WHY is my Cobra overheating????

[racebronco2]

The motor is probably easier to remove then removing the head while in the car. Here is a tip that will help you remove the heads, any bolts that you cannot remove do the following: buy some 3/8 rubber hose and cut them down to about 6inches or so, cut a slit the entire length, any headbolt that cannot be removed (due to interference) put one of the lengths of hoses on the bolt to raise the bolt above the block cause you will need to lift the head about 1" or so ( parrelell to the block til it hits the shock tower) then raise the head straight up (from the ground).

 

[RealBadDude]

test for a blown head gasket or coolant leak

buy a coolant pressure tester or take it to a shop

also if you have a 5 gas analyzer or your shop has one, hold the "sniffer" over the collant overflow tank and see if it detects any exhaust fumes. if it does you need a head gasket for sure.

 

[whiteboyz79]

Well now that we have pretty much settled on heads as a problem, are the FR heads a good investment for our cars? If I'm going to go to the length of taking the heads off I'd rather replace them or get them p&p. What's the word on whether or not it's worth it? If Stieg does heads too perhaps I'll just ship my heads and blower all at once as long as my stock heads are ok...:shrug:

 

[whiteboyz79]

Ok, so I burped (or so I thought) my Cobra completely. I ran in hard around town this past Friday with no engine temp. problems what so ever. My coolant level as perfect and my temp gauge never registered above halfway. Take the car out Saturday night to run some errands and it's like my cooling problem was never even corrected. Started getting hot again and I turned on my heat and as I suspected it was blowing cold air. Now, considering the entire previous day I had heat, and my engine was running flawlessly, how do I go from that to having air back in my system? Am I sucking air in through the head gasket? Warped head possible? At this point I'm looking beyond just having air in the system from not having burped her completely since the problem disappeared and then magic-f*&%ing-ly REAPPEARED! This is getting pretty frustrating lemme tell ya....:fm:

 

[MaximumVelocity]

Simple question....where is the coolant going? If you turn on the heater and only cool air comes out, it is usually one of 2 things. 1) the diverter valve is stuck closed (unlikely) or 2) there is NO WATER in the heater core to warm the air...

 

[whiteboyz79]

Simple question....where is the coolant going? If you turn on the heater and only cool air comes out, it is usually one of 2 things. 1) the diverter valve is stuck closed (unlikely) or 2) there is NO WATER in the heater core to warm the air...

Well, seeing as a stuck diverter valve would basically be the same thing as running the car without the heat on I've already made the discovery that there is no coolant in my heater core. The not-so-simple question now is, "Why would this problem that was completely cured for an entire day of 80 degree "spirited" driving suddenly reoccur?"

 

[whiteboyz79]

I just can't fathom how the problem could be fixed finally, after countless heat cycling and burping and then (Emeril BAM) come back. Especially the DAY AFTER I drove her hard all day on a humid, hot day with zero complications. If it were a head/gasket problem it would have showed itself during my driving time on that day correct?

I've been confined to driving my Ranger all summer practically. I feel like a mope.

 

[whiteboyz79]

I've resorted to believing I have some sort of blockage in my system. And something tells me Ex-lax won't fix it. Anyone know how strong the coolant flush systems at auto shops are? Think it's worth the money at this point?

 

[01cobravortech]

Took me just over 3 days to successfully burp the cooling system on my 03 after my recent overheating episode. I also replaced a sh*tload of Ford clamps while I was at it. You definitely have to be patient when burping this thing. I'm having Ford do it next time though. 3 days is just too damn long!

 

[MaximumVelocity]

I just got done replacing a thermostat that was intermittently opening...try pulling the thermostat out, gutting it (so the outer ring is left to slow the coolant down) and test drive it. Or try a new thermostat.
Don't remove the thermostat completely as there will be no regulation of flow. The coolant will cycle through the motor to quick to absorb heat and through the radiator to shed it well.
Might wanna try a block test. You can detect even the slightest leak in the headgaskets with a block test (using a vial of colored dye that hovers over radiator cap). Any combustion chamber gasses will change the dye color.