94 taurus 3.8 ------ CAN'T Sleep

[ppb1979]

Thanks in advance to anyone who could possibly advise me on this situation. I've been at it for 4 days in the chicagoland area and if you know anything about the cold tools in chicago, you know I'm worn out. I just replaced the radiator, right heater hose, the alternator, the spark plugs, cap/rotor. BY THE WAY, has anyone ever changed one of those radiators....I had a hell of a time with the lower trans line.....any suggestion for future???

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Now here's what the possessed devil does to me at the start of every day. On cold start it runs like hell....misfiring and putting along as soon as I hit the gas. The heat doesnt work at idle no matter how long I let it run (up to 35 minutes I tried). Then when I start misfiring and hitting the gas in Drive or neutral the heat starts running. Then if I drive long enough it drives nicer and nicer and about the same time usually the low oil pressure light comes on. It does have a rod knock but it has for 25K so I don't think it is that. I seem to be losing a little coolant and as it goes down, of course the heat works worse and worse as the days go by. I don't thinks its a gasket because once i drive on the highway and the heat is working fine the car runs a lot better. If I fill it completely and do the whole fill, then run, then a little spills, then fill , run , spill and so on for about 30 minutes it will run like crap for about 20 minutes and then when the low oil light turns on it runs GREAT, like new. That's the only time it ever runs well. The next day if I don't refill coolant it won't run as well, but again, after 20 minutes of driving it starts to run better....Do i need to disconnect the battery to reset the computer???? I smell coolant out of the vents every once in a while so the coolant leak must be under the hood or in the heater core, right??? I pressure tested it and that's how i found the radiator leak. So how could I be losing coolant?? the upper radiator hose only gets hot if the heat is working. Also I unplugged the fan because it seemed to never turn off and turn on quickly on a cold start....also, is there a bleeder valve?? a mechanic I know says it sounds like there is air in the system since I replaced the thermostat........

ANY HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED>>>>THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!

PETE
NAPERVILLE, IL

[KimMG]

When you get your car up to operating temp are both hoses going the heater core hot? Did you flush the heater core? What did the old spark plugs look like? Have you pressure tested the cooling system after you replaced the radiator? What temp thermostat are you using? Did you pressure test the radiator cap? Did you check the oil level? Did you do a compression test on the motor? What are the condition of the hoses you didn't replace? Are they collapsing internally?
Lack of heat can be caused by low coolant level or a clogged heater core.

[shorod]

For the crappy running when cold, you may want to pull the EGR valve and soak the valve portion in throttle body cleaner. Use the throttle body cleaner to clean the EGR passages in the upper intake as well. If it takes quite a bit of cleaner to clean the passages in the intake, you may need to remove your spark plugs and crank the engine over to get the excess cleaner out of the cylinders and prevent hydro locking the engine.

-Rod

[ppb1979]

Originally Posted by KimMG

When you get your car up to operating temp are both hoses going the heater core hot? Did you flush the heater core? What did the old spark plugs look like? Have you pressure tested the cooling system after you replaced the radiator? What temp thermostat are you using? Did you pressure test the radiator cap? Did you check the oil level? Did you do a compression test on the motor? What are the condition of the hoses you didn't replace? Are they collapsing internally?
Lack of heat can be caused by low coolant level or a clogged heater core.

the hose on the left if I gas it a bit gets warm but seems just a bit cooler than the one on the driver side. No, I didn't do a flush...is there a easy way to do it....I pressure tested after the radiator and everything seems fine. I'm thinking the heater core could be clogged to the point of 15psi and so when I pressure test to 16psi it looks like nothing is wrong....Maybe...just thinking that because it seems like when the pressure gets high enough the heat works fine?? Old plugs were just that,,, old.....nothing majorly wrong but slanted a bit. Hoses look great...no deflation....although, now that you said that, before the radiator was replaced I did have total deflation in the upper radiator hose. all hoses look pretty good.....I'm confused...is there any maintainance you know of that is easy to do, or tricks I can pull. I just need to get this car through the winter.....someone mentioned poking a hole in the ??iac?? does that sound right? It's missing so bad now. I'll do a once over tomorrow and look at everything a bit harder. Thanks for your reply.
pete

[ppb1979]

Originally Posted by shorod

For the crappy running when cold, you may want to pull the EGR valve and soak the valve portion in throttle body cleaner. Use the throttle body cleaner to clean the EGR passages in the upper intake as well. If it takes quite a bit of cleaner to clean the passages in the intake, you may need to remove your spark plugs and crank the engine over to get the excess cleaner out of the cylinders and prevent hydro locking the engine.

-Rod

Where exactly is the egr valve??? what is entailed in taking it off. I don't think your speaking of this sensor...sorry, i'm just not familiar with these cars. Also, is there a bleeder valve???

thanks rod,
pete

[ppb1979]

Okay...i get no heat and terrible running until the moment the low oil pressure light comes on. As soon as it starts flashing at a stop sign or light, the car shoots off like a rocket and the heat starts to work....from there, I don't smell coolant (at least i don't think i do) and until i shut it off everything runs perfect except for the light itself which doesn't seem to be affecting idle at all. I did test oil pressure and it is on the low end. What could be causing this change?? Also, can anyone tell me when to buy one of these computers to scan it. Autozone will only do 96 and higher.

[shorod]

The EGR valve is probably mounted to the upper portion of your intake manifold. It will be mounted with two (probably 10mm) bolts to the intake. The EGR valve will have a rigid pipe connected to its base (about 3/4 inch diameter) and a vacuum line connected to the top of the diaphragm assembly which is about 3 inches in diameter and 1 inch tall.

Does your 3.8 have the plastic intake manifold? If so, I'm not sure how they connect the EGR valve on that one. I'll have to check my service manual for '93 tomorrow evening.

As for the scan tool, you can probably buy one from Autozone which will do the OBD-I Ford (pre-1996) or you can jumper a couple of the wires in the diagnostic connector under the hood and count the flashes of your check engine light (CEL).

Along with my OTC Genisys scan tool, I also have an AutoXray EZ-Scan 5000 which will do the OBD-I domestic cars as well as any generic OBD-II system. I've been quite pleased with it, but I think the Actron tools sold by Autozone work just fine too, and cost less than the AutoXray (www.autoxray.com).

-Rod

[KimMG]

to flush the heater core, remove hoses, hold garden hose to one of the inlets, run water through core until clean, then hold the hose to the other inlet and backflush. If there is no hot water flow through the core, the core will not heat up providing heat to the passenger compartment.

Your old spark plugs, were they black? Tan? White? The condition of the spark plugs can tell if you are burning oil, running lean, running rich, etc.

Are you losing coolant? How long did the cooling system hold 16lbs. after you pressurized it? Did the pressure slowly leak down?