Overheat Warning Issue

mattp · 01-03-2007, 11:51 PM

Hi guys, thought I'd see if anyone has had this issue before...
It started a few months back, I turned the car on, the thermostat on the dash beeped frantically and the needle went up into the red saying I was overheating, so I immediately turned the car off, sat there for a few minutes with the bonnet up, then tried again and it was all good. This happened a couple of times, but somehow I noticed that if I didn't turn the car off straight away it would stop beeping and drop rapidly back down to where it should be at the bottom end of NORMAL (like in the matter of 5 seconds). It's started doing it maybe once a week I guess, in the last couple of weeks, and since I'm not actually overheating (like it happens when the cars been parked all day, I get in and turn it on and it does it, before dropping back down). Would it be a thermostat issue, or what are the thoughts of others? I'm hoping it won't be too expensive, but I can't see it being major (fingers crossed!), since the car runs like a dream so seems more like it'd be a sensor or something. Any advice is much appreciated, cheers, Matt.

Casper · 02-03-2007, 12:00 AM

Yup, replace your thermostat. Has happened to a number of AU's that I know of.

au2sw · 02-03-2007, 12:05 AM

it may just be the temp sensor playing up. i thought that if the thermo was playing up, you would notice the car running hotter then usual? as the thermo wont open and close at he correct temps.

Casper · 02-03-2007, 12:07 AM

Its more a case of it sticking usually. Not at all uncommon.

mattp · 02-03-2007, 12:10 AM

I just had a bit of a read using the search function about thermostats, seems like it's worth replacing since it should be $30 or less. The cars got about 150000 kays, so worth doing anyway. Should I get the parts from Ford or will they rip me off?
To follow up au2sw's point, where is the temp sensor located, and what are they worth?

bodes-sh · 02-03-2007, 12:12 AM

i'd just go to supercheap or repco, or something for a thermostat

almo899 · 05-03-2007, 08:00 PM

I got exactly the same prob with my AU1 Forte.

Only happens on warm/hot days sometimes and doesnt beep/show overheating if the car's had a long time to cool down.

I've had the thermostat replaced, temp sensor replaced, plus radiator flush... the problem still remains!! Im absolutely stumped as to what else the prob could be.

Any further thoughts much appreciated!

mattp · 05-03-2007, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by almo899

I got exactly the same prob with my AU1 Forte.

Only happens on warm/hot days sometimes and doesnt beep/show overheating if the car's had a long time to cool down.

I've had the thermostat replaced, temp sensor replaced, plus radiator flush... the problem still remains!! Im absolutely stumped as to what else the prob could be.

Any further thoughts much appreciated!

Interesting, I'm about to do the same things, I'll let you know how I go!

**Mechan1k** · 06-03-2007, 09:12 AM

I have been going through overheating issues for a while ... and now I find it might be due to auxilliary transmission cooler location (heating the radiator too much near the coolant return hose back to the engine ... in effect reheating my coolant).

Matt .... if the car has been parked for ages (even in hot sun) ... the coolant will not be at overheating temperature ... so it won't be a thermostat issues. It will be the cylinder head temp sensor going haywire ... it is located on the driver's side rear corner of the cylinder head (behind exhaust headers).

I can understand if it did it after the car had been running ... then stopped .... and then started again (usually heat soak can cause initial overheating) .... the water pmp will get coolant flow again and cool things down quickly.

Oh ... and if you get a new thermostat ... get a genuine Ford one ... the only proper one to get for the Falcon (as aftermarket ones do cause issues)

am going through weird overheating issues myself over time ... and it only does it under load and with A/C on on warm days .... it has been very difficult to track. Here's the list of items I have already replaced to try and rectifiy the issue:

Radiator (copper core)
thermo fans (as one of them was nearly dead anyway)
all hoses
thermostat (several times ... even used a gutted one for testing).
Cylinder head temp sensors.
Water pump.
Was going to replace the head gasket but stuffed the head blots ... so dropped in a newer engine just for the hell of it ... as the head WAS NOT coming off the old engine.

Have had the cooling systems flushed numerous times ... and also an auto transmission flush a few time as well to see of there are any blockages.

Next course of action is remove the transcooler and use a U-shaped pipe in it's place and see if the old cooler was an obstruction to the condensor/radiator ... then test that extensively as well.

And then as a final measure I may just have to go a thicker radiator core ... bypass the aut trans lines from the radiator directly to my auxilliary transcooler and then have that moved elsewhere and see if it makes a difference.

bodes-sh · 06-03-2007, 09:17 AM

just a thought, but another thing worth trying might be one of those electric water pumps? from what i've read about them they supposedly flow a lot more/better than the mechanical ones, mainly at lower revs...just a thought

**Mechan1k** · 06-03-2007, 09:40 AM

I haven;t heard anything good about the EWPs ... mainly due to them failing due to electrical problems ... at least the mechanical keeps on going while the engine is running.

bodes-sh · 07-03-2007, 12:51 AM

just reading the davies craig website, in regards to ewp's their 80l/min one can also be used as a booster to the factory belt driven pump, ie run inline with the normal pump to boost coolant flow even more, that way if the motor fails, you still have the other pump as a backup