2000 LS Overheating but not really!!!

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fishbone1

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I have a 2000 LS Sport. It appears as if it is overheating but I am 99.9% certain it is not. I hear the fan increase in speed...the temp gauge increases steadily and very quickly till the care goes into reduced power mode...I pull over....I turn the car off.....I immediately turn the car back on....FM!! the car is running pefectly and the temp gauge is sitting just below the halfway mark. This has happened maybe 10 times in the last month. Could a bad coolant temp sensor cause this problem? I need help from an LS guru. Thanks
 
I have this problem too, and have not pin pointed this yet. I have also found that if you turn the a/c on and just let it sit there it will start to "overheat". If you ever find out what the prom is let me know.
 
same

I have the problem too. I have found, that if you are going down the road on a straightaway you can shift to neutral, cut off car, then restart, and it may take once or twice at times but it'll usually unstick whatever is causing it. This appears to be VERY common lately, how many miles do you guys have on your cars, mine has roughly 80k. Too bad they dojn't recall this damn thing, I bet the Big guys at FLM know about it all too well but are playing ignorant to avoid a recall. Please let me :soapbox: know if anyone isolates this damn thing.
 
If all your cars are around this age and mileage, you might want to try replacing the Coolant Temperature Sender and see if that doesn't fix your problem. It isn't expensive. Sometimes, they can become "coated" and cause issues. Worth a try!
 
This may sound stupid, but I've ran into this a few times already on a couple of car. Recently with my son's Mark VIII.... Change the RADIATOR CAP.... If they start to release pressure to soon this will cause your car to run hot.... It's worth a try. Cheap fix. Cap's don't last forever.. Good luck.
 
Yeah sounds like the coolant sensor. Don't know about inexpensive. Apple to oranges but my Wife's Villager hsa 2 sensors and they are about $80 a pop.

If you are cheap like me, you could pull the sensor and do a resistance check. I have not yet seen a manual for the LS but somewhere there has got to be a temperature reference chart for theses sensors. By measuring resistance at room temp, and maybe boiling water and maybe freezing, you can see how well your sensor matches the curve and determine if it is the sensor.

The sensors on most(just a few of mine that had this) cars I have played with have the sensor on or very near the thermostat housing. If it has wires on it and looks kind of like a short mini sparkplug and it is in the water jacket you have probably found it.

Most trouble shooting guides I have traced similar problems, usually point to the temp sensor as a likely culprit. In my expereince this isn't always so, but enough to take a look, and it is usually easy to fix. Don't know about cheap.

Good Luck.

Jim Henderson
 
it may also be the CHT sensor (cylinder hear temperature). it's in the top of the head, under the intake manifold, just inside of cylinder number 7.

the wires stick out and can rub on the bottom of the intake - causing them to either break or bare and short.
 
Over Heating and reduced power

You have the dreaded Hydrol. Cooling Fan Failure. The dealer will charge about 1300 to replace it. The part is 500 and the labor is about 10 hours.
 
also go to Auto Zone and get them to down load the codes (its a free service). That will tell you if it is the Hydrol. Fan.
 
I had the same problem. I had a faulty Reservoir cap. Your cap needs to hold like 16psi if I can remember. If it does not your cooling system will not circulate properly. Be you go drop'n $85 bucks on snesors try the cap for $12 bucks. once I replaced the cap I never had the problem since.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate the help. I will start with the cheap stuff first. I will see if I can find the wires coming from the CHT sensor and check them out. I really feel this is an electronic issue and not a cooling problem. I have never seen a car that was really overheating drop back to normal operating temp in less than 15 seconds. Plus, the car can go for days or weeks without the problem occurring. Thanks again for all the responses. When I find the problem I will let everyone know.
 
the CHT is under the plastic intake - pain to get to - believe me (I've had my intake of several times with Supercharger test fitting.

pull the intake tube
undo the fuel line
undo all the vacuum hoses
drain the coolant
pull the intake
....



I can give you full instructions if you are serious.
 
Quik LS,
I am not afraid to work on the car. I did both valve cover gaskets a few months ago. But I may buy the coolant temp sensor first and give that a try. Hopefully it is easier to get to than the CHT. But if I have to pull the intake I will.
What worries me is that my wife is wanting to get rid of the car because of its unpredictabilty. So, I need to get it fixed soon or I am going to have a new Toyota Avalon in the driveway.
I may be asking for your help soon. Thanks
 
I was wondering if you guys found out if this fixed your problem. I just bought a 2002 LS V8 with ~28k miles. I just had this problem for the first time. The temp started to rise, warning lights, and check engine temp message on the display. Like I said I just bought the car, do you think I should take it back to the dealer and have them look at it?

Thanks
 
fishbone1 said:
Quik LS,
I am not afraid to work on the car. I did both valve cover gaskets a few months ago. But I may buy the coolant temp sensor first and give that a try. Hopefully it is easier to get to than the CHT. But if I have to pull the intake I will.
What worries me is that my wife is wanting to get rid of the car because of its unpredictabilty. So, I need to get it fixed soon or I am going to have a new Toyota Avalon in the driveway.
I may be asking for your help soon. Thanks
Click to expand...

cool. The CHT sensor once remove is throw away and needs to be replaced. It a 'crush' tip that you screw into the hole in the head and after the tip makes contact with the inside, you keep going and crush the tip against the metal inside.

Removing the intake isn't a hard, just a bunch of little steps.
 
2002 LS V8 said:
I was wondering if you guys found out if this fixed your problem. I just bought a 2002 LS V8 with ~28k miles. I just had this problem for the first time. The temp started to rise, warning lights, and check engine temp message on the display. Like I said I just bought the car, do you think I should take it back to the dealer and have them look at it?

Thanks
Click to expand...

The key is to determine if the car is actually overheating or not. If it is - then there are a bunch of things on the cooling side (pressure, thermostat, ...etc), if not - then it's likely a sensor.
 
I have this problem as well on my 2001 Lincoln LS, I do have a check engine light on, had it checked by my buddy that owns a carlot, CE Light reveals it needs an O2 Sensor, we cleared the code just to see what would happen, It ran GREAT and didn't overheat...UNTIL the check engine light came back on. I was told that that if the car is running too lean, or vise versa, that it will cause the car to overheat, and that the O2 sensors can cause this problem. I am going to have them replaced and see what happen. Knock on wood that it fixes it.
 
I still haven't got around to the LS yet. I have been working on my house. But I appreciate everyones opinions. Thanks
 
The LS has become a serious pain in the ass the last week or so. It was messing up 5 or 6 times a day. The fan blowing like a hurricane(very noisy). The temp indicator pegging and sending the car into reduced power mode. Then turn the car off and on a couple of times and it was good to go for a while. A couple of weeks ago I replaced the reservoir cap and that seemed to make the problem worse. Last night I replaced the thermostat and filled and purged the system. I have driven the car 10 times today and no problems yet. That hasn't happened in at least 2 weeks. I have my fingers crossed. Could air in my system have caused my problems. How is the air getting there if it is the problem?
 
had the same problem... stealership replaced resorvoir cap and did something to the thermostat(didnt replace said that it was sticking) also tighted bottom radiator hose clamp
 
this is exactly why my lincoln went into the shop:

your problem is one of the following
1. Thermostat
2. Radiator (mine was cracked)
3. A/C Condenser (also cracked)
4. bleed your whole system, there are plenty of discussions on how to do this, or why it is the way it is
5. rad. cap
 
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