'00 Taurus overheating problem

I seem to have an over pressure situation; here's the history.

Started with driving home one day and i noticed steam coming from under
the hood. i was in a hurry; decided to come back and check on where
the leak was coming from. Later, after it had cooled down, i checked
the radioator by removing the cap and the cap had a brown sludge.
added a little water and drove it home (about 10 miles). temperature,
according to the gauge, remained nominal (below the half mark between H
and C where it ususally is). thought it might just be low on fluid;
refilled it and let it sit idle in the driveway; no problem. drove it
a couple of days and no problem. then noticed it was leaking slightly
at the radiator cap. replaced the cap.

drove it for a day or so and on the way home, temperature gauge climbed
to the 2/3 mark when i went from the interstate to my exit. pulled
over in a parking lot and steam was pouring out. let cool and drove
home after adding coolant. temperature read normal as long as car was
moving; at idle the gauge would rise to 2/3. short drive home so it
didn't pour much steam out. parked in driveway and saw that it was
leaking at one of the hoses near the firewall.

took it to mechanic to replace hose and to flush radiator. turns out
that a fitting was cracked; not the hose. was replaced.

drove for a couple of weeks without incident and behavior returned;
temperature at nominal when car is moving but climbs when car is at a
light or stopped in traffic. never climbed above 2/3 even when idling
in driveway with A/C on for 20 minutes. outside temperature was only
in high seventies. no sign of fluid leak.

decided to keep driving it to try and figure out what was wrong. drove
it for a few days and then plastic radiator developed a pinhole leak.

apparantly, the car is over pressuring and causing other leaks. is
this a problem in itself or just a result of overheating? what sort of
simple troubleshooting can i do to try and isolate the problem. i
won't do the work myself, but i hesitate to take something in to a
mechanic unless i pretty much know what the problem is.

thanks

Of course the basics would be to verify the thermostat is opening
properly and the coolant is circulating properly via the waterpump.

If it were in my bay, I would check for a blown head gasket before
going too far in the diagnosis - given what you have said so far.
I could pressurize the cylinders or the cooling system and look for
leakage, and use a dye identifier or a gas analyzer to check for
presence of combustion gasses in the radiator.

The brown coolant on a fairly new car leads me to believe you are
sucking air or blowing combustion into the cooling system (headgasket
or engine crack). These problems can cause the coolant to oxidize and
discolor in addition to overheat / cause leaks.

A simpler fix would be if the cooling fan is inop. You did mention the
gauge seems to rise more at traffic stops -- I just noticed that. The
fan motor could be seized or the control circuit including relays,
wiring and ECM could be at fault.

Toyota MDT in MO


wrote:
> I seem to have an over pressure situation; here's the history.
>
> Started with driving home one day and i noticed steam coming from
under
> the hood. i was in a hurry; decided to come back and check on where
> the leak was coming from. Later, after it had cooled down, i checked
> the radioator by removing the cap and the cap had a brown sludge.
> added a little water and drove it home (about 10 miles).
temperature,
> according to the gauge, remained nominal (below the half mark between
H
> and C where it ususally is). thought it might just be low on fluid;
> refilled it and let it sit idle in the driveway; no problem. drove
it
> a couple of days and no problem. then noticed it was leaking
slightly
> at the radiator cap. replaced the cap.
>
> drove it for a day or so and on the way home, temperature gauge
climbed
> to the 2/3 mark when i went from the interstate to my exit. pulled
> over in a parking lot and steam was pouring out. let cool and drove
> home after adding coolant. temperature read normal as long as car
was
> moving; at idle the gauge would rise to 2/3. short drive home so it
> didn't pour much steam out. parked in driveway and saw that it was
> leaking at one of the hoses near the firewall.
>
> took it to mechanic to replace hose and to flush radiator. turns out
> that a fitting was cracked; not the hose. was replaced.
>
> drove for a couple of weeks without incident and behavior returned;
> temperature at nominal when car is moving but climbs when car is at a
> light or stopped in traffic. never climbed above 2/3 even when
idling
> in driveway with A/C on for 20 minutes. outside temperature was only
> in high seventies. no sign of fluid leak.
>
> decided to keep driving it to try and figure out what was wrong.
drove
> it for a few days and then plastic radiator developed a pinhole leak.
>
> apparantly, the car is over pressuring and causing other leaks. is
> this a problem in itself or just a result of overheating? what sort
of
> simple troubleshooting can i do to try and isolate the problem. i
> won't do the work myself, but i hesitate to take something in to a
> mechanic unless i pretty much know what the problem is.
>
> thanks

wrote:
> I seem to have an over pressure situation; here's the history.
>
> Started with driving home one day and i noticed steam coming from under
> the hood. i was in a hurry; decided to come back and check on where
> the leak was coming from. Later, after it had cooled down, i checked
> the radioator by removing the cap and the cap had a brown sludge.
> added a little water and drove it home (about 10 miles). temperature,
> according to the gauge, remained nominal (below the half mark between H
> and C where it ususally is). thought it might just be low on fluid;
> refilled it and let it sit idle in the driveway; no problem. drove it
> a couple of days and no problem. then noticed it was leaking slightly
> at the radiator cap. replaced the cap.
>
> drove it for a day or so and on the way home, temperature gauge climbed
> to the 2/3 mark when i went from the interstate to my exit. pulled
> over in a parking lot and steam was pouring out. let cool and drove
> home after adding coolant. temperature read normal as long as car was
> moving; at idle the gauge would rise to 2/3. short drive home so it
> didn't pour much steam out. parked in driveway and saw that it was
> leaking at one of the hoses near the firewall.
>
> took it to mechanic to replace hose and to flush radiator. turns out
> that a fitting was cracked; not the hose. was replaced.
>
> drove for a couple of weeks without incident and behavior returned;
> temperature at nominal when car is moving but climbs when car is at a
> light or stopped in traffic. never climbed above 2/3 even when idling
> in driveway with A/C on for 20 minutes. outside temperature was only
> in high seventies. no sign of fluid leak.
>
> decided to keep driving it to try and figure out what was wrong. drove
> it for a few days and then plastic radiator developed a pinhole leak.
>
> apparantly, the car is over pressuring and causing other leaks. is
> this a problem in itself or just a result of overheating? what sort of
> simple troubleshooting can i do to try and isolate the problem. i
> won't do the work myself, but i hesitate to take something in to a
> mechanic unless i pretty much know what the problem is.
>
> thanks
>
What motor?

Bob

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"Bob Urz" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> wrote:
> > I seem to have an over pressure situation; here's the history.
> >
> > Started with driving home one day and i noticed steam coming from under
> > the hood. i was in a hurry; decided to come back and check on where
> > the leak was coming from. Later, after it had cooled down, i checked
> > the radioator by removing the cap and the cap had a brown sludge.
> > added a little water and drove it home (about 10 miles). temperature,
> > according to the gauge, remained nominal (below the half mark between H
> > and C where it ususally is). thought it might just be low on fluid;
> > refilled it and let it sit idle in the driveway; no problem. drove it
> > a couple of days and no problem. then noticed it was leaking slightly
> > at the radiator cap. replaced the cap.
> >
> > drove it for a day or so and on the way home, temperature gauge climbed
> > to the 2/3 mark when i went from the interstate to my exit. pulled
> > over in a parking lot and steam was pouring out. let cool and drove
> > home after adding coolant. temperature read normal as long as car was
> > moving; at idle the gauge would rise to 2/3. short drive home so it
> > didn't pour much steam out. parked in driveway and saw that it was
> > leaking at one of the hoses near the firewall.
> >
> > took it to mechanic to replace hose and to flush radiator. turns out
> > that a fitting was cracked; not the hose. was replaced.
> >
> > drove for a couple of weeks without incident and behavior returned;
> > temperature at nominal when car is moving but climbs when car is at a
> > light or stopped in traffic. never climbed above 2/3 even when idling
> > in driveway with A/C on for 20 minutes. outside temperature was only
> > in high seventies. no sign of fluid leak.
> >
> > decided to keep driving it to try and figure out what was wrong. drove
> > it for a few days and then plastic radiator developed a pinhole leak.
> >
> > apparantly, the car is over pressuring and causing other leaks. is
> > this a problem in itself or just a result of overheating? what sort of
> > simple troubleshooting can i do to try and isolate the problem. i
> > won't do the work myself, but i hesitate to take something in to a
> > mechanic unless i pretty much know what the problem is.
> >
> > thanks
> >
> What motor?
>
> Bob
You & I are both betting it's the 3.8, huh, Bob? If so, I'll let you
have the "honors". s

sdlomi2 wrote:
> "Bob Urz" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>
wrote:
>>
>>>I seem to have an over pressure situation; here's the history.
>>>
>>>Started with driving home one day and i noticed steam coming from under
>>>the hood. i was in a hurry; decided to come back and check on where
>>>the leak was coming from. Later, after it had cooled down, i checked
>>>the radioator by removing the cap and the cap had a brown sludge.
>>>added a little water and drove it home (about 10 miles). temperature,
>>>according to the gauge, remained nominal (below the half mark between H
>>>and C where it ususally is). thought it might just be low on fluid;
>>>refilled it and let it sit idle in the driveway; no problem. drove it
>>>a couple of days and no problem. then noticed it was leaking slightly
>>>at the radiator cap. replaced the cap.
>>>
>>>drove it for a day or so and on the way home, temperature gauge climbed
>>>to the 2/3 mark when i went from the interstate to my exit. pulled
>>>over in a parking lot and steam was pouring out. let cool and drove
>>>home after adding coolant. temperature read normal as long as car was
>>>moving; at idle the gauge would rise to 2/3. short drive home so it
>>>didn't pour much steam out. parked in driveway and saw that it was
>>>leaking at one of the hoses near the firewall.
>>>
>>>took it to mechanic to replace hose and to flush radiator. turns out
>>>that a fitting was cracked; not the hose. was replaced.
>>>
>>>drove for a couple of weeks without incident and behavior returned;
>>>temperature at nominal when car is moving but climbs when car is at a
>>>light or stopped in traffic. never climbed above 2/3 even when idling
>>>in driveway with A/C on for 20 minutes. outside temperature was only
>>>in high seventies. no sign of fluid leak.
>>>
>>>decided to keep driving it to try and figure out what was wrong. drove
>>>it for a few days and then plastic radiator developed a pinhole leak.
>>>
>>>apparantly, the car is over pressuring and causing other leaks. is
>>>this a problem in itself or just a result of overheating? what sort of
>>>simple troubleshooting can i do to try and isolate the problem. i
>>>won't do the work myself, but i hesitate to take something in to a
>>>mechanic unless i pretty much know what the problem is.
>>>
>>>thanks
>>>
>>
>>What motor?
>>
>>Bob
>
> You & I are both betting it's the 3.8, huh, Bob? If so, I'll let you
> have the "honors". s
>
>
Well, no. I don't think the 2000 had a 3.8 option. But i do recall the
duratecs having a problem with the water pump impellers breaking off
leading to a lack of cooling. So i would have the water pump taken
off and checked.

Bob

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