Joe's running this thread? F*ck you are cool, just for saying that! Honestly this is not how we do it around here, you made need to move onto another forum if this was your hopes. PS: Neither you or the Kid, tell me where, when and how to post. Put in some time with real contributions and perhaps I'll think about it.
Joe ... you are running this thread just in case you were not aware!
@barryt83
Barry, I received your two PM from today. I'll address them here like I do with others that contact me for repair information.
Honestly, you have to understand these Lincoln LS cooling systems are made up of nearly 90% all plastics. Notorious and prone to failure due to excessive heat cycling.
What happens is the plastics eventually begin to rot from the inside out, this is a well documented issue on this forum with these cars. We all go through it expect one individual who's slightly delusional and seems to think it's due to the pressure the system is under and thus attempts to reduce such in hope of prolonging the inevitable, which is plastic parts needing replacement.
What happens is the plastics give way and form tiny hairline crack that allow air to be sucked in and coolant to be ejected out.
Look for white residue on and around the cooling system, this is coolant that has leaked out and dried up. Also look for the level in the degas bottle to reduce and see after a drive if it's leaking coolant directly behind the front drivers wheel, this would then indicate that the degas bottle has formed hairline cracks at the very back of the bottle up against the firewall as they all do. At such a point you should already be over heating and experiencing no heat from the dash symptoms.
I understand what you are saying with respect to only overheating when in city driving and it seems to reside when out on the highways. However, think of the air movement up against the radiator when moving along faster, obviously it's able to keep it'self cool at such a point.
At 154,000 miles and having just taken ownership of this vehicle it's possible that the previous owner in fact already began the Re&Re of these plastic cooling system parts ... we don't know that.
I'd hate to be the one to tell you that you simply need to replace all plastic parts and this will solve your problem. Just in the case as you mentioned it looks like the thermostat housing was already removed or replaced??? I'm not sure, I'm not there to look at it.
You can take the water pump out of the equation, they are seldom the culprit, they tend to outlast the vehicle.
If you are not able to get a solid stream or nice constant drip from the bleed valve having followed the bleed procedure AND you seem to have thought that there may not actually be a thermostat in that housing, then it's time to roll up the sleeves and open it up and take a look.
Now myself, I'd want to kind of have a look around and in my wallet and perhaps have a few good new OEM parts on hand before deciding to tackle this. Just in case!
These cooling systems after the 10yr+ mark or 100K mi, begin to have issue. Often members have reported that stuff simply crumbles apart as the begin to open it. We've seen fill caps stuck on so hard then when forced off, it tears it's self from the body as it breaks apart. We've seen inlet and outlet pipe blow pieces off it'self. Mind ya, no degas bottle has ever been reported as "Exploding" that was only in a fairy tale, like once upon a time ...
The general advice is that the entire system needs to be replaced as a whole in one shot with OEM Ford parts, all throughout. No Dorman products and no excuses to cover up bull crap stories afterwards. If it's old and broke it simply needs fixing with real parts and best not to beat around the bushes with fairy tale stories.
I can tell you now, as has already been mentioned above, you have an issue with air in the system, this is why you are not able to successfully bleed it correctly or fully. this air in the system will cause over heating as well as produce no heat from the climate control. Depending on the current level of coolant it's going to act differently and give you mixed results.
From what I can read above, you have a leak in the system somewhere, it's taking in air and exposing coolant somewhere. Only when you are able to fully complete the bleed procedure to the point where you are getting a solid stream coming from the bleed valve can you say it's air tight and no air in the system and functional as design intended.
It's completely possible the previous owner removed the thermostat in hopes of circumventing an issue. We don't know that.
As Joe (whom is running this thread as per a delusional individual) already mentioned in post#3 and as already stated by all on plenty of other threads related to this subject, the system needs to be overhauled.
You are most welcome and can certainly try and replace a part here, a part there and next month another part or two but it's going to be a hair pulling experience I can only imagine. Just please don't wast your time running to the local pull-it yards and grab more aging plastic parts in hope of remedying this issue, not going to happen, if it does, not for very long, that's for sure.
The system deteriorates as a whole due to excessive heat cycling as time goes by. It simply requires opening of the wallet and rebuild with new OEM parts.
Thermostat or not, if the level in the degas bottle continues to drop after refilling and bleeding and it continues to overheat then there is a leak in the system somewhere. On a first GEN LS 00 to 02 we could possibly blame the Hydraulic controlled cooling fan system not working as intended but in your case on the second GEN 03 to 06, the fan is an electrical set up, controlled by the PCM. Ensure that it goes full speed when you turn the A/C on to confirm it's function.
I'm not sure what parts you ordered or not but good luck to you, replace as many parts as possible, I'd go for a complete rebuild, degas bottle and all. Specially at that age. If you see browning of the plastic parts on the outside or near the connections to hoses it's a dead give away the system is on original parts and needs a rebuild. If you find that all those plastic cooling system parts appear to have a nice clean deep black look to them from the outside, it's very possible it's already been replaced and it possibly just didn't work out for the previous owner thus the sale.
Wouldn't hurt to drain the coolant from the bottom of the rad and open the Thermostat cap to see if you can in fact see the Thermostat itself, if you think there is none HOWEVER, this is not the root cause of your problem. There is air in the system and it's not able to bleed properly and it's thus overheating.
Let's get you some parts in and let us (sorry I mean Joe) know when you are ready to start wrenching. The list in the link he posted was provided by a stand up member named SoulSoak and he did a bang up job reporting and detailing all that is involved in correcting this ever so often common problem. Kudo's to him for sure. (sure beats some of the other ill advice that's been spread like fairy dust in all sorts of threads)
Bottom line: air in system, unable to bleed, has open in closed loop system somewhere, allows air in and coolant out, thus overheats. Re&Re cooling system, including degas bottle. (PRESSURIZED)
PS: when you go to add new coolant, do burp/massage the upper and lower rad hoses as you continue to add coolant to the full level, you can even start the car, have someone hold higher revs while you add coolant to the fill neck until she'll take no more. Put the cap on and perform the bleed procedure to the letter. Don't take too long adding coolant at the fill neck while it's running, if you do and the Thermostat opens, you'll most likely have a mess on your hands.
GLWR
Let Joe know if you need anymore help, right Joe?
LOL
