so I'm driving home with no heat last night, -11 with the wind chill and I'm not happy at all.

I become even LESS happy when I pull into my driveway and my temp gauge is showing the engine running hot!

So back to the shop I go. Man I'm ANGRY!

 

sounds like low fluid to me

 

man i'm sorry to hear the new mach keeps having trouble...have them check over the basics and and get that puppy running in tip top shape. hopefully its something simple.

 

I'm actually thinking it's the thermostat, because when I started it today to warm it up, after adding fluid, the temp gauge didn't budge and I could see heat coming off the engine after 15 minutes at idle.

I shut it off and just turned the key without starting her and the needle shot up to the middle, right where it should be.

The heat was a little better, but still not great.

 

Man that stinks. I hope you get it running right.

 

Shouldn't be so bad if it's only the thermostat.

I used to have a Grand Prix that would eat thermostats. I think I went through 4 or 5 of them. It got so bad that I kept extra one at my house and I learned how to pry the one on the car open so could keep it running if it broke on the road which usually was the case.

 

Ok...bad freakin news.

It seems that my Ford dealer couldn't find a leak in her and I could smell coolant burnoff from the exhaust, after I added over a gallon of anti-freeze to her.

Ford guy is telling me that if it's burning up in the engine, it's probably the head gasket.

I so f-ing angry.

 

That stinks man. Is it under warrenty?

 

yeah, but a friend of mine is telling me that I should be asking for a whole new engine, as this one was supposed to be new. God knows how long that is going to take.

 

Its better to have happened now than in the spring when you will really want to drive it.

 

That's tough to hear... at least you do have a warranty. +1 on getting a new engine because it may also have a warranty on it as well. If you decide on getting the current one repaired/rebuilt, have it done by a performance builder - might as well throw in some "goodies" while you're at it, right? Good luck.

 

man that sucks, hope all goes well with it.

 

OK, so there is news on Adrianna....they didn't get to look at her today, so they are giving me a loaner...

More importantly, I thought my engine had a 1 year warranty on it and it turns out that it has a 3 year warranty on it, so that's good news.

Looks like everything is going to be under warranty right now, but we have to wait and see. Seems they still think it might me the head gasket, which to me is just dumb, after less than 2000 miles.

But whatever. At least I don't have to borrow my wife's car and make her get a ride home anymore....

 

just hang in there, soon as this is done you and adrianna can contiune the good times.

 

Quick update....I'm picking her up tomorrow, but they don't know what's wrong.

They added dye to the coolant and are asking me to drive her for a week, then bring her back in, so they can check her again...

 

Whats going to happen if you end up getting stranded somewhere?

 

The easiest way to tell if the head gasket is leaking is to check your oil dipstick. If theres a milky looking substance in the oil thats coolant and the head is leaking. This might not work as well if the gasket is only leaking a tiny bit, but the leak will eventually get worse.

The most common coolant leak tester is a pressure test that hooks up to the radiator cap, they should have done this and even if it didn't provide any results that should have told you they did it so you stay up to date with whats going on.

There is a specific test kit made to look for leaking head gaskets. If I remember correctly its a tube you fill with a special liquid and hook it up to your radiator or overflow tank cap, you let the motor run for a while and if exhaust gases are in the coolant, the liquid in the tube will change a certain color.

The garage you went to should have done those tests already and not just be "guessing" that its the head gasket. It sounds to me like they are scared of ripping the top end of the motor off so are delaying as much as possible. That or they know they are gonna lose money on it because its warranty work, and from what I heard Ford doesn't pay its dealerships 100% for warranty work.

keep us updated

 

Well, so far so good! I haven't lost a drop of oil or coolant since I got her back and I've been VERY diligent about checking it....I'm almost obsessed at this point.

Plus I'm carrying a gallon of coolant with me, just in case....

 

What did they do to your car? Overheating is the worst - especially when traveling across I-8 through the Arizona desert in the summer when it's 110 degrees.

 

All they did was top off the fluids and add some dye to the coolant. So really, nothing. That's what is so confusing about all of this. There aren't any leaks....I'm guessing that there was a bad mix of coolant and water inthe resoviour and it froze....one the car heated up, it just blew out the relief valve in the cap...

But that's a TOTAL guess.

She's running really well now, no complaints!