[hershy314]

I tried searching for the answer but wasn't getting anywhere. Lately, I've noticed my temp gauge was always reading below normal, but everything seemed fine. I thought maybe I had a bad thermostat so I replaced it, and I had the same problem. Today while I was in line for food I noticed my temp gauge wasn't rising even after an hour of sitting in line. Also noticed that my heat wasn't warming up. I think my heater core is clogged, as I'm not losing any coolant. Is there something I can do to test my theory? I really can't afford to have a mechanic look at it. Thanks for any help. This is on a 2002 Taurus SES with the flex fuel engine.

 

[helifino]

If the car runs below normal temp for long enough it will throw a check engine light. If no CEL, you should get a scanner on it to see what the car thinks the temp is. You can get an obd interface pretty cheap off Amazon and use the free FORscan software to read it. See post here for info, and recommended interfaces.

 

[ice445]

What was the temp of the replacement thermostat you used?

 

[hershy314]

What was the temp of the replacement thermostat you used?

192 F

 

[hershy314]

If the car runs below normal temp for long enough it will throw a check engine light. If no CEL, you should get a scanner on it to see what the car thinks the temp is. You can get an obd interface pretty cheap off Amazon and use the free FORscan software to read it. See post here for info, and recommended interfaces.

I had one of those scanners but it would never read the ecu, I kind of think it was a bad scanner cause I tried it in another car and same thing. I ended up taking the Taurus to a mechanic, the thermostat I replaced ended up being bad. But still wasn't getting much heat from the vents so they are going to flush out the heater core and see what that does. If that doesn't work then I'll have to use a heater that sits on the dash, the car isn't worth the cost of replacing a heater core.

 

[Automender12345]

192 F

That's too low it should be 197 degrees. Motorcraft thermometers seem to work better in these cars because aftermarket ones don't have the same reaction time and seem to provide much lower heat levels. Also make sure the thermostat was installed properly in the right direction.

 

[hershy314]

That's too low it should be 197 degrees. Motorcraft thermometers seem to work better in these cars because aftermarket ones don't have the same reaction time and seem to provide much lower heat levels. Also make sure the thermostat was installed properly in the right direction.

I had a mechanic look at it and it ended up being a bad thermostat. He replaced it with a "better quality" one and now my heat works good.

 

[jkrommel53]

I had that problem with my 04 sable. The thermostat fixed the temp gauge. It wasn't easy flushing the core but I have heat now. That gold antifreeze seams like it clogs easy over time.