My Taurus overheats when I drive and then come to a stop for about a minute
or more. The temperature gauge creeps up, but it doesn't top out
completely. When I get it moving again, the gauge comes down to the
mid-range (slightly above where it should be).

I cannot detect any leaks and I've taken it to a mechanic who cannot find
any leaks either. He says the fan is working fine.

So what's wrong?

Any ideas?




D

"DDAY" <DDAY (AT) nospamearthlink (DOT) net> wrote

Nothing.

The system normally gets a bit warmer when you stop. There is not as much
air moving through the radiator.

This is completely normal.

Jeff

"DDAY" <DDAY (AT) nospamearthlink (DOT) net> wrote:

Is it a 3.0 OHV?

http://blizzard.zmm.com/waterpump/

--
Yeh, I'm a Krusty old Geezer, putting up with my 'smartass' is the price
you pay..DEAL with it!

DDAY wrote:
The water pump impeller is eroded. Very common on this vintage Taurus. Do a search
for previous posts, there were a whole load of them this past summer

DDAY wrote:
http://home.sc.rr.com/estaab/water_pump.htm

Rob

Backyard Mechanic wrote:

Many thanks for the replies. The one thing that has my mechanic stumped is
that it does not overheat when it is just sitting in park running. He had
it sitting in his garage running for an hour and nothing happened.

He said that it's possible that it's cracked and leaking coolant into the
engine, but I'd rather look for cheaper explanations before I decide to junk
the car.




D

"DDAY" <DDAY (AT) nospamearthlink (DOT) net> wrote:

Maybe you'd better find a better mechanic.. if he doesnt know how to run
a test to find a leak, he's either dumb or lazy.

But before you tell him we said that...
Print the pages/pictures out and show them to your mechanic... evidently
YOU dont understand what they are saying.

Your mechanic SURELY knows that in such an engine, coolant circulation
problems might manifest differently.

I almost think you could unhook the Water Pump belt on a Vulcan v6 and it
wouldnt overheat all that bad.

--
Yeh, I'm a Krusty old Geezer, putting up with my 'smartass' is the price
you pay..DEAL with it!

Backyard Mechanic <pettyfog (AT) yaywho (DOT) com> wrote:

Awww, HELL!!!~!

Just tell the mech to change the water pump!

Here's what's happening... in normal driving - and the outside temp may
not be all that bad where you are- even a round disc might cause coolant
to circulate enough to cool the engine under load at rpm.. but there is
a heat 'latency' in the engine that shows up when you first slow the
engine down after it has done work.
Since the engine isnt running fast, the decreased circulation wont let
the coolant carry away the heat as fast as it absorbs it from the
surrounding metal.

It's the same as if you went out running on a cool day, you may not break
a sweat until you stop and sit on a bench. But if you sit long enough,
you'll quit sweating and what you HAVE put out will dry and your body
temp will return to normal.

Now... if you just go directly to the bench and sit, of course you wont
sweat.

--
Yeh, I'm a Krusty old Geezer, putting up with my 'smartass' is the price
you pay..DEAL with it!

Thanks to everyone who suggested that the problem was the waterpump. I had
the mechanic replace it and when he opened up the old one it looked like it
had melted. The blades were essentially stumps.

The mechanic said that he just had a similar problem with a water pump on a
Mercedes. The shaft had stripped out, so that it was spinning, but it was
not spinning the blades.

As to those who suggested that my mechanic was an idiot--I took it to three
mechanics and none of them figured it out. Lotsa idiots, I think.



D