running hot

ok Have a 95 contour 2.0 , it overheated and blew head gasket last year when my mom drove it. Had it repaired at dealer but it is past warranty and runs up to letter A on temp. gauge, used to operate at letter O before blown head gasket. Changed thermstat today mostly stays at M now, but when i first started it , it heated up to O like normal for awhile then up to A and back down to M. Fan motor never comes on except when I turn on A/C. Think it's a temp. sensor to fan or what? please let me know. I tryed driving car from cold start with running A/C on first thing so fan will run but it still runs up to letter M or A. Is this a 1 speed fan or 2? also heater runs hot like its suppose to. one other thing before blown head gasket , i poured into the little antifreeze tank a bottle of prestone booster. the stuff that comes in small bottle it was kinda white thick gunk. do you think maybe it plugged up something or reducing circulation somewhere in system? I used to have check engine light come on but it was code for oxgene sensor, had it replaced so check engine light does not come on anymore the code before that one was 461 dealer code anybody know that code?. thought maybe dealer put it in computer that head and head gasket been replaced. because it was repaired at ford dealer. Or do you think 461 is a code for something else. thanx for all input on this problem.

ok Have a 95 contour 2.0 , it overheated and blew head gasket last year when my mom drove it. Had it repaired at dealer but it is past warranty and runs up to letter A on temp. gauge, used to operate at letter O before blown head gasket. Changed thermstat today mostly stays at M now, but when i first started it , it heated up to O like normal for awhile then up to A and back down to M. Fan motor never comes on except when I turn on A/C. Think it's a temp. sensor to fan or what? please let me know. I tryed driving car from cold start with running A/C on first thing so fan will run but it still runs up to letter M or A. Is this a 1 speed fan or 2? also heater runs hot like its suppose to. one other thing before blown head gasket , i poured into the little antifreeze tank a bottle of prestone booster. the stuff that comes in small bottle it was kinda white thick gunk. do you think maybe it plugged up something or reducing circulation somewhere in system? I used to have check engine light come on but it was code for oxgene sensor, had it replaced so check engine light does not come on anymore the code before that one was 461 dealer code anybody know that code?. thought maybe dealer put it in computer that head and head gasket been replaced. because it was repaired at ford dealer. Or do you think 461 is a code for something else. thanx for all input on this problem.


bad sending unit... VERY common of the Zetec Pre98 motor. Basically when it hits the "a" on normal, its only at about 210 degrees... Which is pretty average for any engine... the Cooling fan SHOULD engauge at around the "L" on normal, thats how my Zetec acts. I never worried about it... But if you are REALLY concerned, I would get the coolant flushed, and add something called "water wetter" it does a number.... have you noticed that when driving around getting to speeds past 35 the temp gauge rapidly decreases? usualy down to the "r"? As for Code 461... I checked the code list for OBD1 and found no code 461

Water wetter sounds interesting, can you check on code 641? may have been that instead of 461. Is there a website that lists codes? Like to know that site.

Water wetter sounds interesting, can you check on code 641? may have been that instead of 461. Is there a website that lists codes? Like to know that site.


The website is at a Contour Enthusiest Site known as CEG. lots of great help with contours over there... OBD2 and OBD1 Codes (http://www.contour.org/FAQ/FAQ.php?s=probs&displayid=10)


CEG (http://www.contour.org)

Code 641 stands for "641 (O) Transmission solenoid/circuit failure Shift Solenoid 3 - Transmissions "

Try replacing the Temp sending unit but no guarantee it will bring down the gauge. Back in 95 in almost all the 2.0 Contour /Mystiques the temp gauge ran in the high end of the Normal range. Don't loose alot of sleep over it, as it is in the " Normal " range of the gauge which is Normal. The flucuating of the gauge is also normal. When the thermostat closes the gauge will climb a bit , then the thermostat opens and the gauge drops back down abit.
As for flushing the coolant out , great idea. Should be done every couple years.
Of course regularily check all fluids and condition of hoses to try to prevent failures .

Good Luck

Try replacing the Temp sending unit but no guarantee it will bring down the gauge. Back in 95 in almost all the 2.0 Contour /Mystiques the temp gauge ran in the high end of the Normal range. Don't loose alot of sleep over it, as it is in the " Normal " range of the gauge which is Normal. The flucuating of the gauge is also normal. When the thermostat closes the gauge will climb a bit , then the thermostat opens and the gauge drops back down abit.
As for flushing the coolant out , great idea. Should be done every couple years.
Of course regularily check all fluids and condition of hoses to try to prevent failures .

Good Luck
The reason I didnt think it was the sending unit was that it heated up to the O and stayed there before head gasket blew. But sending unit may have gotten bumped around when they fixed the head gasket. The thing is, that HOT air is blowing out of heater in just a few blocks of driving from a cold start, thats what's got me worried. I dont need to change antifreeze because it has gotten new antifreeze when they changed the head. I then took out new thermostat and cut out center core with metal cutter. It takes longer to heat up but still goes all the way up to L. but comes back down if I run the A/C making the fan come on. Guess I will just have to live with it and sell the car. The car has a recall on it for wire harness replacement. My wiring is cracking with exposed wires all over the damn thing. If anybody has a '95 with less than a 100,000 miles, this is your last year to have wire harness replaced. Mine I bought with 106,000 miles, too late for me. Unless I roll back the miles. LOL

The website is at a Contour Enthusiest Site known as CEG. lots of great help with contours over there... OBD2 and OBD1 Codes (http://www.contour.org/FAQ/FAQ.php?s=probs&displayid=10)


CEG (http://www.contour.org)

Code 641 stands for "641 (O) Transmission solenoid/circuit failure Shift Solenoid 3 - Transmissions "
Thanx, You-da-man! probably why transmission shifts pretty hard when shifting from 1st to 2nd.