Hi, my name's Loralyn and I'm a 21 year old girl who just bought a 30 year old car. The Mav and I have been through a lot together in the past couple of months, but I'm about ready to call it quits and break up with it.:16suspect It's a v8 302 with a/c. I'm having problems with the car over heating. So far, I've... -flushed the radiator more times than I can count -put a new thermostat it (I knew it couldn't be THAT easy to fix the problem) -put a new (BRAND new) radiator on -checked the lines, they're all great -got two new radiator caps (one of each kind) -rigged up an overflow tank -my next move is to put a new water pump in- that's this weekend. It all started when the original radiator cracked. I replaced it with a brand new radiator, which quickly started overheating. The radiator fluid would overflow and would spill out more than HALF of the amount in the radiator, which is what I figured was causing this overheating. I then bought a new cap from oreilly's (just the push down and turn kind). This cap didn't have the right fit b/c it was still overflowing and then over heating. I bought a cap with the red lever that closes the system a little tighter and added a home-made overflow tank. This fixed the problem for a little while. As soon as that was done, the heater hose decided to crack, so I trimmed that down and tightened it back up; everything was fine. All of the sudden, out of no where, it started to overheat again this week. I know that the engine got pretty hot b/c it started making that god aweful noise that engines make when they're trying not to explode. (really loud, higher pitched squalling noise) I assume that this was due to my water pump going out b/c that's just about the last of the new part replacement options. I have that new water pump sitting in my garage, my weekend is entirely dedicated to replacing that. Until then, I'm just filling it up with water constantly and driving it as normal. (this is my only source of transportation). With this car, it's been one thing after another. It's only got 58K original miles on it, so it really shouldn't be acting up like this. Are there any secrets anyone out there knows about getting this damn car to behave? And also, does anyone know exactly what the overflow situation is on this car? There's an overflow hose that comes from the top of the radiator and runs down along the side, but that doesn't do too much for keeping the radiator full. When I put that second cap with the lever on and added an overflow jug, it seemed to make a WORLD of difference. Also, this past week, a tacking noise started in the engine. I figured that I might've just gotten all of the gunk lose in the engine and oil, so I changed the oil tonight. Ever since I did that, I've noticed a blueish/whiteish smoke coming from teh exhaust. Other than burning oil, what could this mean? I know that this could be a cracked head gasket, radiator fluid in the gaskets, or the seals and rings in the engine have finally given way which would mean an engine rebuild. I need help! Please!
Was there oil in the coolant or is there coolant in the oil? I would do a compression check and make sure your engine didn't overheat and blow a head gasket.
Overheating AND a "tacking noise" sounds like a blown head gasket...but don't give up on that. Sounds bad, but most of us could fix it with 2 hours and $50 worth of gaskets...so it isn't THAT big of a deal. The low miles makes no difference on the head gaskets. They usually go out when the engine overheats, especially several times. So when the radiator was busted and it over heated all those times, that may have led to the gasket failure. Worst case scenario, you may need to take the heads in and have them machined flat before you swap the gaskets, again, not really expensive. Definitely nothing to give the car up for... Good luck, and Hope this doesn't deter you from making it happen...
Welcome aboard. I agree with the guys above. It's probably not that bad of a problem but if you don't figure it out pretty soon, I'd recommend getting a professional radiator shop to test the system out for you. Might save you a lot of expense and headaches for a little money. Good luck and keep us posted.
Ditto with above. Sounds like you could have blown a head gasket if it got the engine hot enough to make that god awful noise we all hate to hear.
the blown head gasket is one... but here is another possible problem when i put the head gaskets on my car, my helper did not make sure that the gasket was facing the correct position on the passenger side of the engine. there are holes in the head gaskets to make sure the water flows the correct way. well since the gasket was on wrong, the engine would get hot and boil over, because the water on the passenger side could not flow. make sure of this when you put the new gasket back on and is there any possibility that the gaskets were replaced before you got the car, or is it obvious enough that they have not been replaced. welcome aboard.. and good luck.. im sure that there is someone in here around the Oklahoma City area that could help you out.
i had a similar problem on my mav and threw so much money at fixes. like everyone else has said it sounds like the head gasket. mine was letting exaust gasses into the coolant and causing a boilover problem. if you are getting smoke then i would most likely lean toward replacement. don't let it keep overheating or you could be buying new heads as well. good luck.
Welcome Loralyn! another thing not yet mentioned is when you did the above repairs did you "purge" the air out of the system, by this I mean getting the air all the way out before just filling and driving away, not trying to insult you, just asking to see if you knew about purging. what I generally do is fill with a 50/50 mixture but don't fill all the way to the top, start up engine and run at normal idle with the heater on full/full fan to get fluid circulating and leave rad cap off,watch your fluid level and as the engine needs it and the thermostast opens just keep filling slowly until it won't take anymore,then put the cap on and go for a drive,go for a few miles and return home and let the motor coll for awhile then remove cap and check your fluid level and adjust as needed. hope this helps some,take care. wayne
I'll touch on a couple things I didn't see mentioned to give you some basics... You did good to put on an overflow tank. It sounds like you were wondering why it didn't have one to begin with. Back when your car was made, the factory just didn't put them. The overflow tube just vented onto the ground. When pressure exceeded the pound limit of the cap... whoooosh, onto the ground. No problem back then. They weren't very 'green' then and every gas station had a full serve lane where a man topped up your oil and water when you filled up. Now it's your responsibility to keep it topped up and keep the antifreeze from blowing into the street. You know the tree huggers next to you at the red light are about to stroke out watching your antifreeze drip under the front of the car... Check your lower radiator hose... Very important. You can flush your engine and replace every part in the cooling system but the lower radiator hose, and you can still overheat and blow a gasket. If your lower hose has a spring inside, you are generally okay. If not, pay close attention to how 'soft' it feels. Any spongyness (word??) to it at all and it could be sucking shut when you drive. That is the inlet to the engine. It can look perfect at idle, but suck shut when you rev the engine even a little. That particular problem has driven me batty more than once before I figured it out. It once caused me to change 3 (yes 3!) head gaskets on the side of I-10 in BFE within 12 hours! Another tip that might help you in the future, make sure you run a fan shroud. With the marginal cooling system on a V8/AC equipped Maverick, you need a shroud even when everything is perfect. You can get by without one, but if any part of the system becomes marginal, or you have a string of really hot days, a shroud can make the difference between hot and TOO HOT. Only run a cap that is rated for about 12-16 lbs, and only if everything is up to snuff. Something folks don't consider is that the radiator cap blows off pressure because if it didn't, the pressure would find the next weakest point in the system and blow it out. They make stronger caps, but if you have too much cap pressure, you are just tempting something more critical to give... Like say, maybe your head gaskets! (Or your heater core!) So resist buying a mega lb cap. 16 is even a little high if your engine has never been into. On the other side of the coin, your cooling system must have pressure to cool. It must have no air trapped as mentioned. It also must have a thermostat. Resist the urge to remove it completely. The water will actually travel too fast through the radiator and not have time to release it's heat before going back into the block and gathering more. You can also find a radiator pressure testing tool. You may be able to go to your local parts house and get them to hook it up. It looks like a little bicycle air pump with a radiator cap on the end of the hose. You just put it in place of your rad cap and pump it up... NOT TOO MUCH. You just put in about as much pressure as you expect your cap to hold. Now watch the gauge. If it holds steady for a little while, you are fine. If it drops after a few minutes, your water is going somewhere it shouldn't. Sometimes you can tell by hissing or dripping. If pressure holds steady, your head gaskets should be good. Again, not too much test pressure... Go and pump 20-25 lbs in there and you might cause a leak that wasn't there under standard operating pressure. Important: If you do have pressure leak down on the test, and cannot find where it went, check the plugs. You do not want to have a blown gasket, then get water in the cylinder, then try to run the car. Water does not compress and you can break things by letting the engine try to compress it. Good luck! Hope it is something super simple! Best case, it is the lower hose, AND you didn't hurt anything else when it overheated. Dave
