Temp is rising after driving 30 minutes+

hob

Member
Established Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2013
Messages
78
Location
Earth
A few weeks ago after driving for about 75 minutes full AC in about 90 degree weather the engine temp started to rise slowly. Turned off AC and it went back now.

I did some work that weekend. I drained coolant from Radiator (not from Engine side as the bolt was stuck on good -- may be my issue?) and it was dirty coolant. I flushed with distilled water about 4 times, filled up full heat waited until Thermostat opens then let it cool and repeat. The last flush with 50% coolant in the mix then drained and finally finished with a fill of 50/50 Ford Gold. Before this last and final fill I also replaced the Ford OEM Thermostat and Ford OEM Radiator Cap just as preventive maintenance. Afterwards I followed the Burp instructions exactly which all seemed to go great. Been driving around fine for about three weeks.

Today - Driving home in a little over 90 degrees in stop and go highway traffic MAX AC, after about 35 minutes I feel the AC lose it's cold chill and immediately stare at the temp gauge. As guessed it started to climb as it did a few weeks before. I turned off AC, started to get over a few lanes of traffic and had to turn heat full blast before it got to any uncomfortable level. Took maybe two minutes by the time I was stopped on the off ramp light when it returned to normal operating. I decided to get back on the Freeway and test (stop and go traffic let up right where I got off). I turned MAX AC back on and drove around for another 25 minutes with no issue until I got home.

I'm waiting for it to cool off to check the coolant level but I'm almost sure it's fine unless I'm eating a lot of coolant somewhere. What should I be looking at now? Fans seem to kick on with no issue? Is it possible the water pump is not doing it's job? The coolant was nasty when I first drained and after total of 5 flushes it was better but not crystal clear. Any thoughts?
 
Last edited:

UncleSAm

Blow Me
Established Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2011
Messages
3,885
Location
S0-CAL
Happened to me and I had air stuck from when I put a thermostat in and after the burp procedure I still got hot just like you described on the latest I opened the radiator cap and watch the coolant drop so I just topped it off and haven't had an issues since

What thermostat are you running?

Also can go by a shop and have them vacumme all the air out
 

hob

Member
Established Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2013
Messages
78
Location
Earth
Ford OEM Thermostat . I've opened the radiator cap (without the fill plug open) but didn't have any coolant drop after I opened it.
 

hob

Member
Established Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2013
Messages
78
Location
Earth
Figured it was cool enough to check fluids now . Radiator reservoir is full. Filled crossover tube about 1/3 a water bottle with distilled. Wasn't really much.

Now looking at the color of my coolant in the reservoir tank, it looks very bad still. Looks like a brown murky color. It doesn't feel oily but I can't confirm if it's just dirty from the block side of the radiator I couldn't flush or if there's something else at play.

I may call up Ford tomorrow and see how much they charge for a full cooling system flush.

I plan on doing a compression / leak down test this weekend , just don't have the tools with my where I'm working for the next few days.
 

hotcobra03

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2007
Messages
7,470
Location
poteet,texas
I had issue like this..even without ac on..

after 50 miles car would over heat..

my fix was a bottle of barhs leak..

I found radiator was seeping in bottom and top row or radiator. .
 

Midnight_Cobra

It's an Atomic Serpent!
Established Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2004
Messages
8,225
Location
South MS
1) Make sure no leaks are present
2) Make sure fan is coming on (High/Low)
3) Burp system

90% of the time, this will fix cooling issues.
 

03slaminator

Member
Established Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2011
Messages
556
Location
Miami,ok
Man I hope it's something small. I have my motor torn apart right now due to a blown head gasket. I think when my car would over heat it would only take about 20 mins or so to start warming up if I remember right. My ac quit blowing cold and my heat quit working.
 

hob

Member
Established Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2013
Messages
78
Location
Earth
Interesting...

New plan is to take her back home this weekend, drain all the crap coolant (I'm no longer approving of my last flush) and this time shove a hose in the crossover tube till it runs crystal clear out of the bottom radiator hose. Flush thoroughly with distilled to get the well water out. Planning on going through all hoses and verify there's nothing built up. Re-burp.

Side note - Yesterday I confirmed my Intercooler pump is dead. No IC coolant swirling after driving for 30 minutes. Won't make any noise when jumped with wire (fuse is fine). Tried to pressurize line just incase but no results. New OEM on the way but won't get here by the weekend sadly.
 

03cobra#694

Good Guy
Super Moderator
Joined
Nov 12, 2003
Messages
62,567
Location
SW FL.
Good luck, and make sure you burp the shit out of it and use spring water, not distilled on the refill.
 

hob

Member
Established Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2013
Messages
78
Location
Earth
Drove to work yesterday with no problem.

On the way home today it was about 100 degrees and almost in the exact same spot (within a mile on my 35 mile commute) the temp started going up again as it did from my original post. This time I did not feel the AC lose its cold. All's I did this time was turn off AC, I did NOT turn on heat and it dropped back to normal operating temp within 2 minutes at most at 40 mph. Right after it returned, I turned AC full blast and drove the rest of my journey back home without incident.

I pulled into my parking spot idling with full AC to see what happens. After a few minutes the AC turned slightly warm (not sure if this is huge or not since it has no air passing through?) But the engine temp stayed normal.

It's very interesting that within the almost EXACT same spot did it start going up again. Highway is flat, not uphill or anything.
 
Last edited:

hotcobra03

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2007
Messages
7,470
Location
poteet,texas
during my testing..



this would happen to mine...I have thermometer in vent..

ac would be 38 deg ...than go to 50deg..

I sat at idle when it was like this and put garden hose on radiator ..

temps would go to normal...


other things..finns in radiator and heat exchanger take a beating on a dd cobra..

I posted pics of mine...very bad..took many hours with paper clip to get open finns for air..
...
along with double chin and flapper
 

hob

Member
Established Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2013
Messages
78
Location
Earth
Plans are to complete a compression test and leak down test tonight. Hopefully am even across the board.
 

hob

Member
Established Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2013
Messages
78
Location
Earth
Drove it again today to Work. Stayed operating temp perfectly as I cruised at 75 mph on a light traffic Saturday.

The three times the temp started to rise has been in stop and go traffic 35 mph - under. Which is now making me think there's a problem with my fan. I know it turns on but maybe have to see if the high and low settings work? Not sure, haven't looked fan diagnostics yet but on the days there's no stop and go, it drives perfect. I did stop at AutoZone on the way home today to pick up a few things and after stopping at a long light, I lost the cold from the AC for 10 seconds and rpms started surging to 1500. I'm not sure what the fluctuation of the RPMS was all about but it was AC related no question (would have stopped instantly had I turned off AC)?

I'm not sure what any of this means yet but my plans are tonight to still do compression and leak down and flush coolant again. I'll get to the bottom of it.
 
Last edited:

hob

Member
Established Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2013
Messages
78
Location
Earth
Compression
#1 165
#2 160
#3 165
#4 165
#5 135
#6 125
#7 115
#8 135

By golly I found the issue . And not happy about it .
 

Users who are viewing this thread



Top