93 escort wagon overheats?

[br4ndy]

my dad gave me a 93 ford escort wagon recently. he told me that sometimes it would overheat.. and he thought that it had a leak but he couldn't ever find one. he used some sort of stop-leak stuff and said that i may have to pour water into it sometimes. well i had to drive the car all the way back from Florida to Missouri... and now during the day, you cannot run the ac without it overheating, even for 10 min at a time. At night you can run the AC without it overheating, but it makes a whistling sound. does anyone know what could be wrong and how i can get it fixed? i'm a college student on a budget. thanks.

[chevyn0va1]

Originally Posted by br4ndy

my dad gave me a 93 ford escort wagon recently. he told me that sometimes it would overheat.. and he thought that it had a leak but he couldn't ever find one. he used some sort of stop-leak stuff and said that i may have to pour water into it sometimes. well i had to drive the car all the way back from Florida to Missouri... and now during the day, you cannot run the ac without it overheating, even for 10 min at a time. At night you can run the AC without it overheating, but it makes a whistling sound. does anyone know what could be wrong and how i can get it fixed? i'm a college student on a budget. thanks.

best to have it looked at because it could be a head gasket. best let a pro look at it. (even the oil change places may be able to help)

[Jet-Lee]

But only take it to a DEALER...they'll put it on a computer and let you know ANYTHING else that might be wrong with it, then you choose if you want them to fix it, or you yourself.

[JZ94]

I agree with you two but before you talk dealer or head gasket you might want to just flush the radiator and replace the thermostat, i know it sound basic but it sounds like it only has problems when the AC is on so maybe its just running to hot and there might be alot miles on that coolant? If that doesn't work check to make sure your fan is working if the relay switch is burned or the fan motor is shot you could have found you problem. Anyway this car made it from Florida to missouri so it must be doing something right my 94 wagon couldn't do that without some miracle.

[chevyn0va1]

jz94 has some good points heck doing jz tips would only be about 20.00 worth a shot. Only reason I went right to head gasket is the post mentioned using water. unless there is a leak the only other way to "use" water is through the head. Usually when you put the heater on and the temp goes down tells you normally a thermastat/cooling system problem.
Jz is right start simple