'97 3.8

Car is overheating. Has plenty of coolant. Driving home tonight it went from ambient to about 210 degrees in approx a mile of 35 mph and a few stop lights. Oncethe needle started moving went from 160 - 210 in about3 seconds. Without the radiator cap coolant keepsspilling out when it never did before. Car runs fine otherwise. Thermostat? Cracked head? Your input is greatly appreciated. My girl and I only have two cars, and our schedules conflict such that we need two vehicles.

 

Blown head gasket, clogged radiator. Are the fans running when it overheats?

 

Are you losing any coolant? Do you smell coolant in the exhaust? I doubt you cracked the head, you could have a blown head gasket. What does the fluid look like? Lots of buildup? Fairly clean? Check the oil. Is it milky?

 

THermostat may be stuck =P That's what mine did anyhow

 

clogged heater core? That dex-cool coolant is notorius (sp?) for gunking up. How long has it been since you flushed the system?

 

Fans run. Coolant is fine. Haven't checked the oil. I've flushed it w/in the last 15K miles. Thermostat was supposed to be a "fail open" one. Not sure how well those work though. Thanks for the help. Just curious what could cause it to spike so fast.

 

I appears I have fixed the problem. Went and bought a new thermostat. Took out the old one and it was stuck open. Put in the new one, drove it around to let it heat up and low and behold it cooled off when the t-stat opened. It never cooled off before, even at idle. Not sure if the way it stuck open possibly blocked flow or not. Haven't driven it home (sitting in a Big Lots parking lot), as I have no friends to help and the girlfriend is at work. Will pick it up tonight, and will know for sure if it is fixed. All fluids looked to be in good shape.

 

I bet its cause your car is sooooooooo fast that air is slipping right over it! Not even hitting the engine!

 

how dumb do you have to be to rag on possibly THE fastest car for mid 20k ever made [&:]. of course a 10 year old car spanking a brand new mustang isnt impressive at all

 

I wonder who he was? Must've just been a random party pooper. Oh, thread hijack, I saw a blacked out trans am pull a wheelie, thought of you spec. /thread hijack