1994 Escort Runs Very Cool/cold

[joshf]

My 1994 escort 1.9 liter runs cold. Barely into the N of normal on temp gauge. I have changed the sensor, thermosatat and water pump. Water pump and thermostat were both visably bad. If I disable the fan and sit it heats to O of temp gauge but cools to before N while driving even with fan disabled. The heater does not blow very warm air unless it reaches O on gauge. I don't know what normal temps are and have not used anything to measure actual temp I am going by the gauge.

[joshf]

Thanks for the info I,ll get back to you how it turns out.

[Notron]

I just purchased a 1995 escort wagon with 82k on the odometer and a clean carfax report.

I'm noticing a similar issue. When I drove home (about 60 miles) the temperature needle was basically touching C.

The heater seems to work just fine.

There is a whiff of coolant in the engine bay--and there seems to be a fair amount of corrosion on the tabs on the drivers side of the radiator where the aluminum tabs are crimped around the black plastic side. I'm thinking about pre-emptively replacing the radiator.

Any thoughts?

[dxrflyboy]

Temp gauges can be misleading. Having a temp gauge that reads low (just up to N in Normal) doesn't necessarily indicate a problem. The way to know for sure is to plug a scan tool into the diagnostic connector and read the ECT sensor value. The normal operating range is 180-200 degrees F. If the car sits idling for an extended period, the temp will rise, sometimes as high as 230, before the fan comes on. The temp will stay quite a bit below that driving down the road.

Escorts do have a problem with the heater core getting airbound. The temp sender is in the heater hose, so a lack of coolant flow will cause it to read low when the engine is at operating temp. There is a tool available from a company called Airlift that draws a vacuum in the cooling system to eliminate air pockets before filling it. Compressed air is required to operate it.

Other problems that cause this are leaking head gaskets and clogging of the heater core. Blowing compressed air through it in the reverse direction of coolant flow sometimes clears the heater core.

If the radiator is leaking, replace it. But that won't change the reading on the temp gauge, unless the radiator is plugged up and causing the engine to overheat.

[mightymoose_22]

Hmm... I seem to recall there being a couple different temp sending units on the car. One for the gauge, one for the computer... are you sure you replaced the right one? The problem you describe soudns typical of a faulty sending unit.

[lawton_kid]

joshf,
On my '94 1.9L, the thermostat housing has some sort of built in check valve or something that seems to allow the water to bypass the thermostat if it is not working properly. In mine, it looks like a little, white, round, plastic ball on a thin rod inside of the housing. It will rattle, if you shake it back and forth (not sure if that is correct or not, but.....) mine had a bad head gasket and broken head bolt and got hot. The white ball was melted and broken and let a bunch of water bypass. I picked up a good one at a junkyard and that did help. Wish I could be more technical, but haven't really read anything about the function of that ball.
The Kid

[5.45x39mm]

I would check your thermostat and make sure it's installed correctly. it has to be pointing the right direction or the coolant will flow through the radiator on open loop. you can check if your thermostat is working by putting your hand on the radiator hose where it comes out of the thermostat housing after starting your engine from a cold start. If the hose heats up right away or before the fan turns on, then the problem is in your thermostat. try replacing or repositioning it.

[jeffescortlx]

Originally Posted by dxrflyboy

The temp sender is in the heater hose, so a lack of coolant flow will cause it to read low when the engine is at operating temp...clogging of the heater core. Blowing compressed air through it in the reverse direction of coolant flow sometimes clears the heater core.

Thank you for that info! I was never able to find a true reason on why my 92 1.9 would take so long to warm up if it did it was'nt much at all, while my 96 and 93 would warm up quickly and hold steady right in the middle.

It makes perfect sence, the temp sensor is only reading the temp of the heater core flow, not the engine. So as the heater core get's clogged and slows the flow, the temp reading goes down. But the engine is actully fine. Last winter I had to put card board in front of the radiator to get any decent heat from the heater and get a normal reading, I guess this whole time the motor was running hotter than needed.

I have noticed that the coolent passeges and radiator were nasty on this car, I dont think the previous owner flushed the coolent.

I will blow compressed air through the heater core and see if cleaning it out gives a normal reading and a hotter heater.
Thanks again