2001 Ford Windstar /having some problem?

[Phlavor3]

HI there,
I am having some problem with my 2001 Ford Windstar; the heater stop working and also there is noise of a clunck from the heater area coming through. I check the coolant and it was very low barley any there, I put some coolant fluid in it, but the heater still did not get fix. Now the van don't start and when I took a look at the coolant it is empty. What can I do to fix this. When I try to tun it on, and the light come on but it won't start. Please help me??Thanks!!!

[phil-l]

Sorry to hear of your problems. Sounds like several things are going on here...

The initial heater problem you mentioned is likely the blend door (which is a small door inside the ventilation system that controls where air flows). It's a fairly common problem - and is pretty easy to fix. Search for "blend door" on this forum for more info; there are also YouTube videos that nicely document the fix.

The sudden loss of coolant - and later failure to start - are more serious, and open up a whole range of potential issues. Some places to start:

- Do you see signs of coolant leaks under the van?
- Does the engine oil dip stick show any signs of water in the oil (rust, foam, etc.)?
- You say the engine doesn't start. Does the starter seem to be spinning the engine normally?
- I presume the "Check Engine" light is on. Do you know someone with an OBDII scanner who can use it to find out what the error code is? These scanners are now fairly affordable and common. Knowing the error code will help narrow further debugging.

I hope this is helpful to get you started!

[olopezm]

Welcome to the forum!!

If the oil dipstick is OK and you see no milky appearance oil, I would keep refilling the coolant reservoir; maybe the fluid level was so low that you still need more coolant in there.

The question is what happened to it? you might have problems with a faulty reservoir cap or something more complicated like Phil has said.

Oscar.

[tempfixit]

Does the engine turn over but does not start?? IF so do you have saprk??? Remove the air cleaner tube to the throttle body and spray a touch of starting fluid or carb cleaner into throttle body and see if engine runs then, if it does you have a fuel issue problem. If no run then check for spark issue.

[mark_gober]

If the engine doesn't turn over, remove the spark plugs and try to turn the engine over. I had an issue about a month ago that I had been losing coolant and one day I tried to start it and it wouldn't turn. You could hear the starter engaging, but the motor wouldn't turn. I obviously was very concerned at this point that the motor had seized.

I removed the front spark plugs and tried...same thing. I removed the rear ones and the rear cylinder closest to the driver was full of coolant and thus stopping the engine from rotating. I had a blown head gasket.

I did the repair myself for around $150. It took a few extra days because of the need to acquire new head bolts and my local parts store didn't have any.

Good luck.

Mark