[Dirtrider]

I have a 98 Taurus and it had blown head gasket when I got it .replaced the head gasket and the has been running fine.inalso noticed when I got he car the cooling system was riddled with rust.I had to also replace the heater core and the water pump and thermostat.now that the summer has started I have had temp problems and the car has been wanting to run hot and even get close to overheating.the car started to get hot the other night And as I was pulling over to shut it off it died.i was close to the house so I towed it home cooled it off and filled with fresh coolent and it started right up.assuming that the thermostat was sticking from other accurances early in the week I removed it and am running without one for now.the car feels like it has a slight very slight miss at idle but runs normal.we were worried about the heads and gasket but it doesn't show any signs of head or gasket trouble no milky oil No smoke from tail pipe or water exiting tailpipe no Milky trans fluid.when I left my dads house the resevore was full when I got home about a 10 min drive the resevore was empty the car did not get hot on the way home but their was no signs of were the water went.need some advice.I'm almost shure the radiator needs replaced cause it's probably clogged with rust.I think the car will run cool as long as I don't run the ac but I don't think the radiator can keep up with the air on.

 

[KhanTyranitar]

Did you get the head milled when you replaced the gasket?

 

[Dirtrider]

Nope we just cleaned it up real good on looked for any problem areas and it seemed to be ok

 

[KhanTyranitar]

There is your problem. When an engine overheats, the head warps, which breaks the seal on the gasket. The new gasket will fail to seal properly either, resulting in recurring problems. When you replace the head gasket, you should always get the head machined flat, or at least checked for flatness. I've been down that road before, so not grilling you, just passing on experience.

 

[the_intimidator_02]

There is your problem. When an engine overheats, the head warps, which breaks the seal on the gasket. The new gasket will fail to seal properly either, resulting in recurring problems. When you replace the head gasket, you should always get the head machined flat, or at least checked for flatness. I've been down that road before, so not grilling you, just passing on experience.

:werd:

Anytime you have an engine overheat, the heads need to be checked over for warping. There is a tolerance to how much warpage is allowed, but it's very minimal.

 

[Dirtrider]

But I'm having no sign of head gasket trouble and I recently found out that the resouvor cap was bad

 

[RamonArcos]

Opposite of what happenned to me, My car overheated I found out that the resoivoir had a crack in the bottom so i replaced it and got an extra at pick n pull, thought it was over then gaskets went south, good experience though.

 

[BigPip]

I would check the temperature that the fans turn on. I had a similar experiance and even though the fans were turning on, they were turning on too hot. I replaced the sensor and switch but the problem was in my ecu. Also, my car runs MUCH cooler with the A/C on then off.

 

[Tommy2tone]

Way to scare the new guy off with brow beating over what he should have done, rather than addressing the current problem.

Dirtrider, I hope you got the overheating problem fixed. Sounds like you needed to flush the cooling system out with Super Radiator Cleaner or something similar, then keep an eye on the oil. Cooling fan sensor was also a good suggestion.

The coolant reservoir on these cars are notorious for cracking from repeated thermal expansion. Yours could have leaked empty from that, and you might not have noticed it.

 

[soundu]

there are MANY places for the coolant to leak. The degass tanks tend to
crack at the bottom. Take it out, flush it out, and look for any cracks
If there are any, replace it. The cap can leak pressure too. The heater bypass hoses tend to leak too. mine was leaking at the T joint on the passenger side. I took the plastic compression fit joint off and replaced it with hard T fittings and hose clamps. Problem solved cheaply.

If the system does not stay pressurized, you have issues. Or over pressure. I made a ghetto pressure gauge for about $15 of harbor freight parts. I got a gauge, t fitting, and two hose barbs from harbor freight,
I then inserted this gauge into the small line going to the degass tank.
I left it hooked up until i was sure i had all my issues solved. You can pressure test with a degass cap kit, buts its kind of hard to drive around
with that on.

also, make sure you flush out the radiator core fins. take off the fans, take
off the bottom shield, and have at it with a hose/nossle and flush from both sides and the bottom. Do be sure you put the thermostat back in
the right direction when you did it.