This is reguarding this vehicled I previously listed in the classifieds.
www.feoa.net
There was no interest so I parked it and now that I have another car lined up to be my daily driver. I borrowed a friends car in the interim but I'm buying a Civic in May from a different friend who just bought a Tacoma for his new daily. Anyway, without all the pressure I was able to come back to this situation with a much clearer head and less emotional investment.
I have been idling the car in the driveway every few days trying to burn up the last of the gas in the tank so it doesn't rot and cause problems later, and I noticed two things.
First is the issue with the temperature sensor reading dropping seems to only happen when the engine is revved and it started happening right after the thermostat was replaced (as well as the air intake gasket due to the first overheating event.) Some searching here turned up the information that the sensor for the temperature gauge runs from somewhere near the thermostat to the ground terminal of the battery so possibly there is an intermittent connection there that I need to check? Anyone else had the temperature guage that seems to be displaying a value correctly suddenly drop (displaying an impossibly low value) as the engine revs? Another thing that started right after the thermostat was replaced is that instead of the guage pointing to the bottom hatch mark before the car is started and starts to warm up it starts about 4mm to the left/under the bottom hatch mark of the temperature guage.
Second, last night I also noticed that the engine fan seems to work...intermittently/strangely? It only turns on when the engine is hot AND the A/C button is active (reguardless of which setting the slider that selects Max A/C, Front Vents, Front/Floor, Floor, Defrost, is on). In addition the cabin fan seems to also need to be on at least the first setting for the engine fan to come on. I do remember the guy that sold it to me told me that "these old Escorts don't run the engine fan unless the A/C button is on". I had at first believed him, but when I found this forum and couldn't find anyone here talking about that I kind of decided he didn't know what he was talking about. The first overheating event happened on the first cold night of winter '22 and I had driven across town with the heat on but not the A/C button on. The overheating happened as I had the car idling in the driveway at my destination, perhaps because the engine fan wasn't running? Has anyone here ever heard of the engine fan not working without the A/C button and the cabin fan turned on? Maybe the guy I brought it from did some sort of aftermarket wiring and didn't want to explicitly state that since I hadn't made an offer or paid for the car it at that point in the conversation.
There is a third thing that might be part of the problem although it's a longer shot. Right after I bought the car late in '22 I had to replace my plugs, wires, fuel pump, fuel filter, and a few injectors when I got the car because it developed a misfire code and had a long crank issue that didn't turn up in my test drive. I wonder if maybe the catalytic converted might be clogged or something causing backpressure in the exhaust...like I said it's a long shot possibility but I was having emissions (o2 sensor) codes and replaced both of those but there's still a rattle sound when the engine is under load and the smell of exhaust in the cabin that also started right after the overheating incident. The exhaust coming out of the tailpipe still feels like it's coming out with strong pressure so that might be a completely different issue.
I still need to have another mechanic take a look at the engine and give me a second opinion on that because I don't actually have any verification that there is coolant leaking and none has leaked during this testing so I am starting to doubt the mechanic that told me he thought the engine is warped or cracked, so I am considering these other possibilities before I take the car to a junkyard. It might not be reliable enough in this condition to be a daily driver but I wouldn't mind having it just for a fun weekend ride.
White 96 Ford Escort LX 1.9L SEFI
For sale: 1996 Ford Escort LX Sedan 1.9L SEFI White with suspected cracked head or block. Good conditioned cosmetically, no parts missing. Starts and drives, but overheats after ~30min. Here's the saga. Bought at the end of August, the original listing read: "CLEAN 1996 Ford Escort. 92k...
www.feoa.net
There was no interest so I parked it and now that I have another car lined up to be my daily driver. I borrowed a friends car in the interim but I'm buying a Civic in May from a different friend who just bought a Tacoma for his new daily. Anyway, without all the pressure I was able to come back to this situation with a much clearer head and less emotional investment.
I have been idling the car in the driveway every few days trying to burn up the last of the gas in the tank so it doesn't rot and cause problems later, and I noticed two things.
First is the issue with the temperature sensor reading dropping seems to only happen when the engine is revved and it started happening right after the thermostat was replaced (as well as the air intake gasket due to the first overheating event.) Some searching here turned up the information that the sensor for the temperature gauge runs from somewhere near the thermostat to the ground terminal of the battery so possibly there is an intermittent connection there that I need to check? Anyone else had the temperature guage that seems to be displaying a value correctly suddenly drop (displaying an impossibly low value) as the engine revs? Another thing that started right after the thermostat was replaced is that instead of the guage pointing to the bottom hatch mark before the car is started and starts to warm up it starts about 4mm to the left/under the bottom hatch mark of the temperature guage.
Second, last night I also noticed that the engine fan seems to work...intermittently/strangely? It only turns on when the engine is hot AND the A/C button is active (reguardless of which setting the slider that selects Max A/C, Front Vents, Front/Floor, Floor, Defrost, is on). In addition the cabin fan seems to also need to be on at least the first setting for the engine fan to come on. I do remember the guy that sold it to me told me that "these old Escorts don't run the engine fan unless the A/C button is on". I had at first believed him, but when I found this forum and couldn't find anyone here talking about that I kind of decided he didn't know what he was talking about. The first overheating event happened on the first cold night of winter '22 and I had driven across town with the heat on but not the A/C button on. The overheating happened as I had the car idling in the driveway at my destination, perhaps because the engine fan wasn't running? Has anyone here ever heard of the engine fan not working without the A/C button and the cabin fan turned on? Maybe the guy I brought it from did some sort of aftermarket wiring and didn't want to explicitly state that since I hadn't made an offer or paid for the car it at that point in the conversation.
There is a third thing that might be part of the problem although it's a longer shot. Right after I bought the car late in '22 I had to replace my plugs, wires, fuel pump, fuel filter, and a few injectors when I got the car because it developed a misfire code and had a long crank issue that didn't turn up in my test drive. I wonder if maybe the catalytic converted might be clogged or something causing backpressure in the exhaust...like I said it's a long shot possibility but I was having emissions (o2 sensor) codes and replaced both of those but there's still a rattle sound when the engine is under load and the smell of exhaust in the cabin that also started right after the overheating incident. The exhaust coming out of the tailpipe still feels like it's coming out with strong pressure so that might be a completely different issue.
I still need to have another mechanic take a look at the engine and give me a second opinion on that because I don't actually have any verification that there is coolant leaking and none has leaked during this testing so I am starting to doubt the mechanic that told me he thought the engine is warped or cracked, so I am considering these other possibilities before I take the car to a junkyard. It might not be reliable enough in this condition to be a daily driver but I wouldn't mind having it just for a fun weekend ride.
