[waylonsmith]

i have a 2001 3.8 l mustang. i have checked and changed almost everything their is to check and change and i have still not solved my overheating problem. is their some kind of common problem people run into that nobody knows about. any questions comments concerns would be great thanks.

[stephen]

Make sure there is enough coolant, that the system is bled out, and that the cooling system (especially the radiator) is not clogged. Also replace the thermostat. If it's still overheating you might want it checked for a blown head gasket or cracked head.

[walt1120]

did you replace the thermostat?

if your still leaking coolant and you have replaced/checked everything in the coolant system you might have a warped head which is bad news for you. probably the worst possible scenario.

if your not leaking coolant, it could be something as stupid as your radiator fan not coming on and causing the overheating.

[AndyG47]

If you replaced the theromostat make sure you put it in right side up. I know it sounds stupid but sometimes it's the simple things that mess up.


Buddy did his plugs and wires on his Pontiac GTP - fired the car up and it was misfiring. I asked him if he crossed a wire and he said no. Half hour later after a phone call to another GTP guy he knows he finds he did cross a wire. All I did was look at him to which he responded "Don't even say it."

[dgt_mustang]

i had an overheating problem that did not happen on a regular basis, it was every now and the, i noticed the fan under the hood was not coming on, it ended up being a relay inside of a box that housed three other relays.

[waylonsmith]

well i have checked the relays, replaced the radiator and theromostat, and radiator cap and have flushed the system several times. also if this helps i replaced two valves last fall in the car on the left head. they were both the back two exhaust valves. also did a full tune up before that if it helps to know, like replaced coil and all plugs and wires, oil etc. could i have done something wrong when i put the head back on?

[waylonsmith]

also i have checked the fan its's also okay

[mp4 player]

Why did you have a head off?

Also, did you bleed all the air out of the system with the coolant flush?

[waylonsmith]

had the head off because my car lost alot of power and was runnig really rough my father told me that it was the valves so i took it off and had to replace two. they were both not sealing all the way when they closed it ran okay after that but thats when the overheating issue started. i also did flush the system with coolant flush and lifted the front of the car up and bled it of any air then let it down to level ground and bled it again using the screw on top of the system.

[stephen]

Are you sure you got the head gasket in the right way around? The head gasket on some Ford engines (including the 3.8L V6) plugs off water passages in the front of the engine and leaves those in the back open. It's possible to get it on wrong and then there won't be proper water circulation to the back cylinders. Also did you replace the head bolts with new and torque them correctly?

[waylonsmith]

i talked to the guys down at the advanced auto and they said try to replace the water pump since i have replaced everything but that so i did and that seems to have fixed the problem. it makes no since to me at all given that my old water pump seemed fine but it didnt over heat anymore. i was also wondering what the best mixture and best coolant to use in my car.

[stephen]

Originally Posted by waylonsmith i talked to the guys down at the advanced auto and they said try to replace the water pump since i have replaced everything but that so i did and that seems to have fixed the problem. it makes no since to me at all given that my old water pump seemed fine but it didnt over heat anymore. i was also wondering what the best mixture and best coolant to use in my car.

I've always used Prestone in a 50% mix.

[Lumoon]

Depends on the winter in your area. If you live some where it gets ridiculously cold I'd go 60% antifreeze 40% water in the winter and 50-50 in the summer, its what I run in the big rig if I know I'm going to be running up north. (Dakotas)

[ggipson79]

Originally Posted by dgt_mustang i had an overheating problem that did not happen on a regular basis, it was every now and the, i noticed the fan under the hood was not coming on, it ended up being a relay inside of a box that housed three other relays.

I have a 2003 3.8L auto.
The Relay he is talking about here is call the "CCRM" (cant remember what it stands for "Constant Cooling Relay Module" or something like this)- I know because I also had to replace it due to overheating. My fan would not come on (unless I ran a wire directly to my battery) and it was controlled by this doo-hickey. If you go to Ford they will want around $300 and they have been on back-order. I took mine off and called around to some junk yards and picked one up last year for about $40. TAKE IT WITH YOU and MAKE SURE TO MATCH UP THE #'S!!!! It is located under the front passenger-side fender. This thing controls EVERYTHING it seemed! I want to say it is about a 6 x6" square-ish box mounted under your fender-well (again, passenger side).

Then I started overheating again about a week ago. Turned out (so I dont have to go in and tell you that I replaced all the small stuff like thermostat,etc...) it ended up being my Alternator. It was not producing enough voltage/amps to power the CCRM, therefore it was not kicking in my electric fan.

Yea.....blew me away! (and so did the brand new price tag of $215.00) but I have had no more over heating AND other little things I noticed are also working (like my gauges were acting up a little, sometimes it acted like it didnt want to start).