Over heating 92 Taurus 3.8 v6

[flipflip530]

Hey there, i have a 92 taurus that has been over heating within 10 minutes of starting. I have compleltly taken out the thermostat to see if that was the problem, and t wasn't. so next I replaced the water pump and it still over heats! i dont know what is wrong! Someone please help!!!

[mikeemon]

The 3.8l is notorious for head gasket failure, which can cause overheating. Some other symtoms are loss of coolant, sweet smell from exhaust and issues with getting heat from the heater.

[shorod]

Welcome to the forum!

Does the radiator cooling fan ever kick in? What are you using to determine it's overheating, the gauge in the instrument cluster or boiling in the degas bottle? If going by the gauge, you'll want to verify the coolant is actually as hot as the gauge would imply before deciding it's overheating. If bubbling in the degas bottle, or overflowing, then a head gasket like mikeemon suggested is certainly worth looking into.

With the engine shut off after such an overheating concern check the temp of the upper and lower radiator hoses as well too see if they are heating eveningly. Maybe the radiator is plugged and you're not getting flow. Oh, also make sure someone didn't stick a piece of cardboard or similar in front of the radiator.

And please take the time to follow-up with what you find to be the issue.

-Rod

[flipflip530]

Thanks for all the info guys, as for knowing that the vehicle is overheating, the degas bottle DOES overflow when the car heats up. I have checked the fan and it comes on as well. The main concern/question of mine is what would make the water not flow? I can run the car with the upper radiator hose off and I wont get any water flow from it. Even aftet filling the top of the engine up with water, and pushing water from the thermosatat house all the way threw the radiator (the garden hose with low pressure can push water threw the system, so does that mean there is no clog?) Now I was told to check if water has gotten in the oil...and it hasn't. So is it mabe just a cracked head?

[tripletdaddy]

I don't have any answers for the possiblity of there being a major issue like the heads, but I would suggest taking your garden hose to ALL of the different sections of the cooling flow circuits to find your blockage. I'd start with removing the thermastat and try backflushing the engine block to the water pump. Do the same for the bypass hose and even the heater core hose from their ends at tstat. Does flow go throught the radiator good? If it's not getting through these, there most be an obstruction. You can pinch off the heater core and bypass hoses or block them off some other way, to force all of the water flow out the tstat hole to the radiator. Wear boots and a poncho!

[shorod]

On rare cases, people have found that the impeller on the water pump was incorrect. It was backwards for the direction the belt turned the pump.

-Rod

[tripletdaddy]

Ooops!! Sounds like manufacturing got confused. As best as I can tell, if the blades are offset or not in line with the center of the impeller, then the blades should be offset towards the direction the pump spins. If not, then the wrong impeller is on it. Although your motor may turn the crank clockwise, the belt may turn the pump counterclockwise if the back side of the belt is on a smooth pulley on the pump. (Just to be safe, check to see which way it turns with the engine on, so I don't mislead you if I'm wrong!?) So, if the pump turns cw on the outside, looking at the impeller on the inside, it will be turning ccw, so the offset blade at the top of the impeller will be ahead to the left. It will be towards the direction that the blades are pushing the coolant. The reverse will result in diminished capacity due to the wrong angle of the blade will trap fluid in the impeller so that it cannot develop much pressure.

Rod, have you heard of these pumps having a rated spec for pressure and volume? In a situation like this, clogged components, and impeller failure, it'd be nice for diagnostic purposes. At the very least, a home mechanic could see if it delivers enough volume.

[shorod]

Originally Posted by tripletdaddy

Rod, have you heard of these pumps having a rated spec for pressure and volume? In a situation like this, clogged components, and impeller failure, it'd be nice for diagnostic purposes. At the very least, a home mechanic could see if it delivers enough volume.

Never seen a spec for the pump flow. The only cooling system specs I've seen are for pressure rating, thermostat temp, and when the cooling fans kick in. I've never looked for a flow spec though either.

-Rod

[tripletdaddy]

Without testing it for myself, I have a strong impression that the bypass hose and the heater hose where they leave the back side of the im at the tstat should have decent flow, close to that of a garden hose whose water is slow enough to be clear but fast enough to have full low pressure flow gently arcing from it. You should have similiar flow exiting the heater core returning to the pump indicating a clean core.