Overheating question

M

MotorCity

New member
So some of you may have seen my post about me buying an 04 silver birch with 75k miles sight unseen from Texas. It was delivered to my home in Michigan a couple weeks ago. Been busy with work and unfortunately my father has been ill so I haven’t had much time to fool with the car or even unsure it and drive it. I only transferred the title obviously

Anyways I just got in it and drove it around for less than 10 minutes. Going around a few blocks. Only got up to about 40 mph. I noticed the rpm gauge not working but I think it was initially when I got in the car, that’s probably not relevant to my question but I noticed the heat not working and then when I was getting back home the temp gauge was reading hot. I turned the car off and popped the hood and heard some ticking coming from the engine so I think it was in fact overheating. When I first got the car I did the same thing, drove it around a few blocks and noticed the heat took forever to start kicking in hot. It did start blowing hot after about 10 minutes. I’m not sure if I paid attention if the temp gauge got hot or not that time. Also I did the ecu test and everything checked out fine so no stuck blend door motor

I’m not car expert by any means but does this simply mean that I need to replace my thermostat and problem solved or do I have a more serious problem on my hands? I will check the coolant level tomorrow. By the way I don’t work on cars so if have to have someone change the thermostat. Thanks in advance for any help. I hope I didn’t just take someone else’s problem off their hands

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It sounds to me like you might be really low on coolant, open the crossover tube and see if you can see coolant inside. When my COT was empty I'd have no heat for a while and the temp would rapidly spike up until the T-stat eventually opened and got things flowing. I think your system is really low.

If it is, you're going to elevate the front of the car slightly, fill the system, let it run and burp, and keep topping it off. Make sure it gets up to temp but in your case make sure it isn't overheating either. Keep the heat on full blast. Once it levels out and stops taking coolant, let the car sit for a few hours and get completely cold. Repeat the process and make sure it won't take anymore.

https://reischeperformance.com/refill.html
 
Thank you guys for the reply’s

Dumb question but just to confirm, this is the crossover cap correct?

I don’t know what kind of coolant or mix is already in there. What kind do u guys recommend putting in and also the reservoir seams to be full
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MotorCity said:
So some of you may have seen my post about me buying an 04 silver birch with 75k miles sight unseen from Texas. I hope I didn’t just take someone else’s problem off their hands

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I remember this one - guy's wife drove it to church on sundays?!?! Looked like she bumped into everything in the parking lot. It's fixable unless there's more you aren't telling us. Can't imagine buying a car without putting my hands on it first.

 
Maybe the previous owner had the thermostat replaced. From my experience, some web sites say the grand marquis thermostat is the same as the Marauder. And that is incorrect. Maybe he had the incorrect thermostat put in. They did that to me and my car kept overheating. The correct Marauder thermostat has to have the bypass.
 
in my experiences its usually the system needs to be burped as well

It would help if you use an impact to get that cap off at least thats the only way mine was coming off the first time.

I had to put 2 gallons in mine one day when my reservoir hose came disconnected and I lost some coolant (reservoir was still full too).
 
Thanks again

I know u can’t diagnose this over the internet but how likely do you guys think this can be a bad head gasket? It overheated in less than 10 minutes


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Are you blowing white smoke out tail pipe?..air pocket prohibits coolant to flow.. overheats very quick. Try the most likely first...
 
MotorCity said:
No white smoke out the tail pipe. Guess I’m thinking the worst.


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You are, it really most likely is just the system being low.

These cars take Motorcraft Gold (Zerex G05 50/50 mix is perfectly fine) from the factory.
 
I just looked in the crossover tube and see no coolant at all.

In the end, should the crossover tube be full to the cap?


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MotorCity said:
I just looked in the crossover tube and see no coolant at all.

In the end, should the crossover tube be full to the cap?


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Odd question? Top off and 'burp system' as discussed previously. All a bit strange, from the time you posted images of the car in Texas, the descriptions-itinerary, right through to today.

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Invective said:
Odd question? Top off and 'burp system' as discussed previously. All a bit strange, from the time you posted images of the car in Texas, the descriptions-itinerary, right through to today.

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I’m not sure what u think is so strange? Maybe the only strange thing is that auto maintenance is not my expertise?

Regarding filling the crossover tube I was under the impression that you need to fill the tube with coolant till it takes no more and then there is two inches of coolant sitting in the funnel and then start the engine. I put in about one liter of coolant through the tube and it was still taking more

I just don’t think I’m doing something right. How long should u leave the engine started? That guy at advanced auto parts said about 60 seconds but how would that get up to operating temp

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You fill the funnel up, keep it full, and squeeze the upper hose a bunch of times to release air out of the tube thru the funnel, car should be raised up a bit in the front too. Heat on and run it a good 15mins or so. It's worked everytime for Me that way.


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03Merc said:
You fill the funnel up, keep it full, and squeeze the upper hose a bunch of times to release air out of the tube thru the funnel, car should be raised up a bit in the front too. Heat on and run it a good 15mins or so. It's worked everytime for Me that way.


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Ok what I did was stick the funnel in there with car not started. Filled the funnel the funnel would keep emptying because the coolant was going into the crossover tube. It took over a liter. I did start the car and squeezed the radiator hose and filled some more. I did not let the car run for 15 minutes though. I will have to maybe try again.

I’m not sure why my question earlier seamed “strange” but I was asking how much coolant should be in the crossover tube? Is it suppose to be basically full to the cap?

Also is it ok if it overflows when the crossover tube is full and I have some coolant inside the funnel? Sorry maybe I am making this more complicated than it is. I just don’t have much confidence when I barely know what I’m doing but I think I have it just about down


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MotorCity said:
I’m not sure why my question earlier seamed “strange” but I was asking how much coolant should be in the crossover tube? Is it suppose to be basically full to the cap? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Yes, you want to finish the job with the COT full and no air. There should be zero air in the system.
 
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