Stuck in a motel and running out of money...

[karenhetzer]

Please anyone? I've got the same problem as 'allpro' below. My temp gauge suddenly spikes to H. I've been sitting in a motel room for two days while mechanics have replaced things that didn't need replacing. I apologize for posting this twice, but I literally am running out of money and need some answers quick. This is my post in allpros thread:

I also have a 2002 Ford Ranger and I'm having the same problem with my gauge needle spiking suddenly to H....which scares me and I immediately turn the heater on, and whether its that, that makes it go back down or not I'm not sure, but another 10mins. or so and it does it again.
I'm sitting in a motel room now for the second day while mechanics try to figure it out. It is running hot about 235. So far I've had the thermostat replaced, the fan clutch replaced, the water pumped checked, they have it on pressure overnight, but while I was there and it was hooked up it was maintaining pressure. I asked about the radiator.....they felt it was too new to be the problem (2002) but I guess will check it if nothing else presents itself to be the problem.
I'm so frustrated and upset over the expense so far and no answer to this....does anyone have other ideas what to look for?
They also pulled the spark plugs and check for the possibility of cracked block (I think I was trying to listen in, but some stuff I don't understand.

 

[Mbrooks420]

How far did you run it hot? How many times did it heat cycle past normal? If it
"suddenly" shoots up from normal to overheating i would suspect a gauge or temp sender problem. It should take a few minutes for an engine to heat up from normal to overheating. If it held a pressure test, and with the other parts you replaced there isn't a whole lot more it could be. I had a Skylark once that would idle fine for 45 minutes, but when you drove it it would overheat. It had a very minor head gasket leak and would only leak and overheat under load. Good luck, I hope you find something cheap wrong with it today.

 

[karenhetzer]

Has soon as it shot up to H I would turn on the heater and pull over asap, so only a couple of minutes at most. This all started on Thursday and first happened after driving about 4-5 hours with no problems. I always keep an eye on the dash, glancing every few moments, especially on long trips. What its doing now, is it drives fine for about 15-20 minutes, the needle dead center, then I start to see it go slightly towards H, but only about 1/16 of an inch or so, then it suddenly pops over to the H, no gradual movement, but a sudden shot over to it. Like I mentioned, it scares me so I turn the heater on till I can pull over, and the needle will go back to center after a moment or two. I sat for awhile and headed back to the mechanic and when I was just about there (15-20 mins driving) it did it again.

 

[jshafer]

It does kinda sound like a gauge problem. Did the shop verify it was actually getting hot?

 

[aldive]

Is it boiling over?

How was the actual temperature of the coolant measured?

Is it loosing coolant?

 

[Mbrooks420]

A temp sender runs about $20 and may be worth replacing, before getting into more detailed and expensive diagnosing, and part swapping.

 

[karenhetzer]

He said it was reading 235 and should be no more than 210. I just called over there and he said it held pressure all night, so no leak problems, and that all he can think is that it may be the radiator. He's in the process of putting a new one in and if thats not it, will take it back out.

No boiling over when I was driving it.
I asked them yesterday about a 'sender' and that was ruled out.....not sure how or why.

This guy worked for Ford for over ten years (til he opened his own shop) so it worries me that he seems to be baffled.
I tried emailing 'allpro' to see if he found an answer to his situation, but no reply

 

[Turdle]

I wonder how the temerature was checked--if it was with a scantool, this doesn't rule out a bad sender--

Where are you now? maybe someone is near who could help out--

 

[karenhetzer]

but what about the temp being high? I'm in Valdosta Ga.

 

[Turdle]

I am wondering which method was used to check actual temperature--

Did they replace the hoses? The lower radiator hose can collapse when hot--blocking coolant flow. Since the water pump "sucks" from the lower hose--it can collapse easy--

 

[karenhetzer]

Here's what happened today....they tried a new radiator and that was not the problem so they put my original one back in.
After checking everything mentioned above and more, they decided to check the catalytic converter. They put the truck up to check it and told me that .....now don't quote me on this......the pipe in front of it was extremely hot, hotter than they felt it should normally be, which led them to think there's an obstruction somewhere in the converter. They put a little hole in there somewhere to release the exhaust pressure, which they thought was backing up and creating the overheating in the engine. They test drove it for about 45 mins and everything remained fine. They advised me I could go on to Atlanta, but to replace the catalytic converter on arrival.
Any thoughts on this guys?? What a looooong three days this has been.a

 

[Mbrooks420]

Usually a clogged cat will cause a noticeable decrease in performance. A good muffler shop can easily replace a cat. I'd think your looking at $175-250, unless you go with oem parts which I wouldn't bother doing.

 

[karenhetzer]

Truck has seemed a bit sluggish lately. So does the diagnosis make sense? After three days of trying this and that, I'm a bit hesitant to trust this is the answer. Guess I'm going to have to though and move on, see what happens. Oh and for those who mentioned the sender, it was part of the thermostat assembly (unique to a new design ford did), so that was automatically replaced.

 

[mtwheelin]

Even if the cat is bad that still doesnt explain the sudden jump in temp by the time the needle is all the way to the H i would think it would be boiling over. It might be the gage. My truck has the same problem and it is the gage, the thing jumps all over the place.

 

[bdfrenchy]

It may very well be a head gasket.....What might be happening is there is a leak on the exust side of the of the head gasket .... your coolent is going out the muffler so it wouldn't be noticed as much ... when they did the pressuer test itf that val was closed it would hold press.

 

[karenhetzer]

Thanks everybody. After leaving those mechanics, the problem continued. I made it to Atlanta and went to a Ford Dealership to see if they could help. Well they couldn't apparently because I still have the problem. They repaired the hole the first mechanics made in my pipe, and they replaced a sender (don't know which one), but that didn't solve anything.

I finally made it to my destination (Philly). When I finally left Geogia, I drove for hours without a hitch before turning on the AC. It only ran for a few moments before the air started to turn warm. I turned it off, and a moment later the gauge needle shot to H. I turned on the heater (not sure I really had to) and a moment later the needle went back down. I continued to drive. About an hour or so later it shot up again (with no AC on) and I repeated the heater thing (not really knowing if that was helping). Still I continued to drive. I stopped for the night. The following day I drove several more hours without the AC on and made it to Philly with no more spiking of the needle.
Its a mystery to me. The truck is running fine, its not overheating, and when I get some money, I'll speak to someone else about the problem. Between the two mechanics and unexpected motel stays.....I'm broke.

 

[Mbrooks420]

I'd have an alternate gauge put in to see how hot it's running really. I would have an aftermarket sender used on the new gauge. If the AC is running hot, I'd assume the motor is overheating quite a bit. If you overheat the motor enough times, or hot enough it will ruin it.

 

[02oxfordwhitev8]

you may think of this as sort of an old wives tale but you can get some of the excess heat out of the engine by cranking the heat all the way up drive a little stop let it cool back down and repeat it until you get home. and i would suggest flushing the radiator draining the collant refilling it and checking all the radiator hoses for cracks and if they are starting to come off of there connectionns

 

[jad2411]

He was running out of money 2 years ago, I'm pretty sure that he's not there anymore....

 

[A Wise Guy]

He was running out of money 2 years ago, I'm pretty sure that he's not there anymore....

I would hate to see that hotel bill. 695 days.