93 escort overheating

Ya i got a 93 ford escort and its been overheating pretty bad latley... today it happend to leak radiator fluid. my dad thinks the thing just overheated major and bubbled over. Im a newbie to cars so i dont know whats wrong with it so if any one can help i would be grateful.

On your way to the parts store where you should buy a Prestone engine flush kit, a new thermostat (with gasket) and a rad cap.
Stop in at a self serve car wash and wash your rad out as good as you can. It works best from the inside out.
And if you have air conditioning bring along the wrenches to loosen off the rad and tilt it in. Spray out i rad at a time.

When you get home follow the directions on the rad flush bottle, and then replace the rad cap and thermostat.

You might also want to add new antifreeze,
and there is some chemical that the auto parts store should have that is suposed to make the coolant a little cooler. I don't know if it works

Good Luck

A simple item, but very important -- make sure your radiator is filled with the correct percent of fluid/water.

True, so simple that I forgot that not everyone checks that

Thanks everyone who replied

well i havent been able to go get some Prestone engine flush kit or anything cause my dad isnt sure he wants to know if that will flush out the oil as well. Since i havent been able to go get anything ive been toying w/ it a little i found that my fan doesnt turn on so i was messin w/ the battery and got it but only when i took the positive connector off and on and it would slightly turn on for a couple seconds and lose power and turn off so i dont know what to do about my fan either so if anyone can tell me how to fix a busted fan would be awsome

The Prestone rad flush kit will flush out your rad, the water passeges in the engine, and your heater core.

Most car manufactors want us to have the cooling system flushed every 2 years. Which isn't a bad idea, since rads, and heater cores do become pluged.

You'll probably want to replace the fan with one from the auto wreck. You can replace just the motor but a new motor will cost a small bundle, and a whole used fan should be very affordable. Motor and all.
There is also a thermal switch that turns on the fan. They go from time to time too. I used to replace them when ever I flushed my system

On my '93 1.9 liter there are two relays underneath the air cleaner box which control the electricity to the fan. I was able to jumper them so the fan runs on low all the time, which solves the overheating problem nicely. Check whick contact is hot, and the color codes on the wires at the fan. You still should flush the system every year and replace the coolant.

The prolem you describe sounds like a broken water pump. The bubbling over can sometimes be from the fluid not moving at all and the leek may have come from too much pressure. If you have an ODB 1 reader run through that. The very first thing it does is check the fan. (they are a little pricy but the are worth it. They cost about $45, and a garage or dealership will charge about $250 to do it.)

Or with something like this it maybe better to get a mech to look at it. Just tell him not to do any work cause you want to do it. It may cost more but its better then running through everything only to find out that everything you have done is for nothing.

If you want to check your water pump drain the cooling system, then fill it up with water. Flush out.Remove the top rad hose and have someone crank the motor over for a moment.
If you don't have water pouring out all over remove the thermostat, and try again.

There should be lots of water spraying all over, so you'll probably get wet