Marquis left me on side of road today 4 hrs....overheated

[sam1drake]

Originally Posted by HEMIDAZE

I was aware of the manifold problems on mine and my wrench guy found antifreeze in the front spark plug well during a 100,000 mile tune up. I traded it in a week later before it cost me an arm and a leg. I'm good for another 100,000.

I just met a man, now retired, this morning that used to work for the state who went through negotiations with ford motor company to take care of this problem. He said Ford finally agreed to change the manifolds because the state was driving the vehicles until the engine was destroyed rather than leting ford change only the bad manifolds and then let the state deal later on with the engine that had been compromised but now out of warranty. It was sad to hear him talk about how long this battle went on with ford even though the numbers showed that the vast majority of these things failed.

One item he shared with me is that he too had owned a mercury Marquis that he really enjoyed especially on trips. It failed on a trip. Having the data from the state cars which showed that many of the ones that had manifold repairs later on had cracked heads and/or head gasket problems he fixed his failed mercury and immediately traded it in.

Ford finally had to do something or lose contracts with the state. But one on one with the consumer ford has continued to refuse to do what is right. I am not going to forgive them for that until I see plainly that they have reformed. they will have to give me three times the warrany that Toyota would for me to buy an equivalent car from them.

[bobss396]

I diagnosed the problem in my driveway when mine let loose. I was very close to home and it was like 10 degrees out so it didn't over heat. It originally was towed to the local Mercury dealer, but I didn't like their line of crap so I had it fixed by an independent shop that I trust. The Merc dealer initially said that they heard it knocking, which turned out to be pure BS.

45k miles later it runs very well, so I was fortunate. A few months after I had it fixed, I get a coupon in the mail from Mercury for $2500 off on any new car. Yeah right! Not in this lifetime pal.

[sam1drake]

Speaking about crap from the Mercury dealer etc, one piece that they spread around is that these engines are tough and these engines are not as susceptible to being compromised by overheating. Well it is a tough engine if you keep the coolant in it but by the time you discover the coolant loss on an interstate while listening to the radio you have crossed the line most likely. The cracked head or head gasket problem can show up many miles down the road. Many a "bought used" Mercury has experienced this cracked head or blown head gasket failure which is tracable to the previous owners experience of overheating who was smart enough to dump the car while it is still running good. It is a high stakes gamble to keep one of these that has been overheated. Some survive to go on to a long life but there is little chance of predicting which one.

In my case of a 96 model there would not be too much risk to keep it because it has little resale value any way but If I had a newer one and this happened I would get rid of it. Right now I am trying to decide if it is evern worth fixing with the blown head gasket or cracked head problem.

[bobss396]

If the car is in good shape it might be worth fixing. My '97 is a good over the road car and gets taken on 800 mile trips a few times a year. I change the coolant every 3 years, keep up with the oil changes.

For the first year after I had it fixed, I would listen to the engine when it was started cold for any sign of a rap or knock. So far so good. My wife drives it 99% of the time and has a lead foot. She had it detailed last year, interior shampoo, wax, etc.

Bob

[HEMIDAZE]

OK, new question. . My 98 as well as my 06 came std with a fail safe cooling system that will run alternating cylinders indefinately without engine damage. If it ever did get hot enough to cause damage it would shut off until it cooled off. Did the cars with engine damage not have this (pre 98) or did it just not work?

[sam1drake]

Originally Posted by HEMIDAZE

OK, new question. . My 98 as well as my 06 came std with a fail safe cooling system that will run alternating cylinders indefinately without engine damage. If it ever did get hot enough to cause damage it would shut off until it cooled off. Did the cars with engine damage not have this (pre 98) or did it just not work?

I wish all cars had that feature.

I hear you bobs396. I have bought another car so I am not under any pressure of time to remedy this car. I have about decided to do a teardown myself and play along with things and see if I can rescue this car. It would be great to add another 100K miles to it depreciation free.

That means I will probably be using this site for information. I have a repair manuel and to my amazement I did the intake manifold replacement and the car ran like a top for another 10,000 miles before the head blew. I originally thought that a hose rupture was the cause of second round but the head gasket blowing pressurized the cooling system. I was accelerating onto a uphill ramp onto a road of 70MPH traffic so the pedal was to the metal at around 65 when she blew. The temp gauge was normal when I started up the ramp. The normal temp at the beginning of the ramp is what makes me think the head gasket letting go ruptured the little hose. Another clue that the gasket was blown was that when she cooled down and I added water to limp home and i had my wife start the car before I screwed on the coolant cap, water blew out of the reservoir as soon as the engine started but it was not steaming hot water. I still was thinking that the problem was the little hose until I thought about it some more. Sure enough you could see bubbles entering teh reservoir by just cranking the starter and of course there was steam coming out the tail pipe which I hadn't originally noticed.

[Huney1]

When was the last time you checked the coolant level in the reservoir before it ran hot? If you think a gasket is blown you can check it with a dye that changes color if there are combustion fumes in the cooling system which indicates a blown head gasket. Ask for it at the parts stores. By looking at the spark plugs you will be able to see which cylinders are burning coolant because the porcelain around the spark plug tip will be white as snow.

If the coolant level is adequate, no leaks, thermostat and cap good there is no reason for it to run hot other than a blown head gasket. Beware 'cause overheating is the number one cause of blown head gaskets.

[sam1drake]

the manifold let go 20 miles into a 300 mile planned trip. I had jus checked the coolant, oil, tires etc in prep for the trip.

Changed the manifold and everything seemed good for a couple months. Things get a little murky from there. the car got hot either because the hose under the manifold blew or the hose blew because the car got hot after burning some coolant due to a head gasket leak. The combustion was pressurizing the coolant and blowing it out the relief cap and the blown hose.

Wish I had known about the dye and stuff for following up on the original overheat. I will sure look into that when I gen the heads back on.

BTW is there anything I should do to compensat for the coolant that has gotten into the cylinders and rings? I was wondering with the car sitting in the garage with the heads off for a week or two if I should blow some heat onto the engine to dry it out. There is probably some coolant down ther in the rings. I have very little experience with overheated engines.

[Huney1]

Sounds like you did the right pre-trip check list and sorry you're having so much grief heaped on you at one time. Water in engine: About all you can do is take a very clean rag and wipe out the combustion chambers and change the oil and filter to get out any water that accumilated in the oil as a result of steam. If there is water weged between the rings it will quickly burn out and the oil will lube the rings. Check the plugs and make sure they're clean and if you have doubts replace them.

If it were me I'd replace the thermostat with a new Stant thermostat. Get the right temprature because if you go to cold it will confuse the computer and you'll burn more gas.

"The combustion was pressurizing the coolant and blowing it out the relief cap and the blown hose." There you go. Lot of people don't know about the coolant dye and they make one for finding oil leaks.

If it has a lot of miles on it bend the heater hoses just a little and if you see them cracking they should be changed out, that goes for all coolant hoses. While you'rea at it clean the MAF and you should be good to go.

Shorod sez: The MAF sensor can be removed from the air intake housing by unplugging the connector, then removing the 4 Security Torx screws from the sensor. The MAF is located between the air filter housing and the throttle body in the air intake tube. It is usually quite close to the air filter housing. The connector will usually have 3 or 4 wires in it. Once the screws are removed, you will need to rock the sensor a bit to get the o-ring seal loosened up.
DO NOT touch the little wires with anything and follow the directions on the can.

CRC makes a MAF cleaner so ask for it at parts stores, I found it at Advance Auto.

[sam1drake]

thanks. the dye sounds like a good thing for a used car purchase tool. If you think you want the car put some dye in it and if she turn color take it back before you sign the papers.

I am going to wipe each cylinder with an oily rag at BDC and turn it over a time or two. but I'm thinking I had better not let too much time go before I get her back together and run her. A little water in the ring grooves wouldn't take long to mess th9in up I'm thinking.