failsafe mode is COOL!!!! GARRR@#$!@#

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First big issue ive had with the car, since i bought it over a year ago. and who knows, maybe its not so big.

Comming home today it "overheated" the reason i put it in quote ill say later. anyways, failsafe mode came on. "engine power reduced". drove it up the interstate 1-2 miles, got off at the exit quickly found a place to park. the whole time up the interstate i had the heat blasting on high and i was doing 55-60mph. i found the place to park, i shut it off. i let it sit for 3-5 !SECONDS! , turned it on, engine temp was normal. i said what in the hell is going on. got back on the road. temp gauge started twicting higher and higher till it reached max temp and said engine power reduced. this time it didnt go into failsafe mode, i shut it off at a light, turned it on....once again temp was normal. problem is im getting a very very loud whirring sound, almost like a power steering pump when u turn the wheels, but it hapens when i brake and accelerate from 0 to about 5-10mph.

any ideas? im thinking my temp sending unit could be bad for sure. other then that i have no clue what the whirring is, it seems as if its comming from the middle of the engine though, which cant be good.
 
I had the same overheating crap. Same year/engine as you. My problem was a faulty Cylinder head temp sensor. But I didn't have the whirring you are describing.
 
Not a cheap fix. I believe there were some people who switched to an electric fan instead. I can't remember if it was cheaper to do it that way, but I'd assume it would be if you were doing it yourself. That hydraulic fan assembly is a good chunk of money...
 
:q:q:q:q....


is there a reason it would be sparratic? it happened about a month ago too. had an issue, went away, i drove it 200-ish miles on a trip, and havent had an issue untill now. and the fact that the car wasnt really over heating was weird. ive never seen a car cool down to operating temp from overheating within 3 seconds

aslong as its not this stupid "RESTORE" engine lubricant thats causing problems then im happy.
 
If I were you I'd switch to an electric unit. I know you have to upgrade the alternator but from what I've read the hydraulic units use a good chunk of the car's power that the electric doesnt
 
Could be tstat, but that still doesn't explain the whirring sound he's referring to.
 
I know but it's always a good bet to start with. When mine over heated, it was a clogged coolant pump and then the reservoir cracked, but it also had that loud whirring noise.
 
thanks for the info guys.

the whirring sound has me confused.

it would be nice to go electric though if it takes alot of the cars power.
 
alright well i just went out and messed with it.

started it up no noise. let it run for awhile. revved it, held it at higher rpms. didnt overheat or anything. hydraulic fan is working it seems. low and high speeds. i turned the a/c on and held it at 2000rpm. after about 15 seconds the whirring noise came back. could this be because of the fan? i had the hood open and revved it from the throttle body and listened. sounded like it was comming from the top pulley right in the center. is this perhaps the waterpump?

anyone have a diagram of pulleys?
 
Running hot on the highway is an indication of a stuck thermostat.
And that "whirr" noise is the fan blowing as much air as it can trying to cool the engine off. That means its working the way its supposed to.
 
The way the hydraulic fans work is they come on when the engine is getting hot. The fan coming on is the whirring noise you're hearing. I still think your best bet is to replace the thermostat.
 
alright well. t-stats are cheap. i dont mind replaceing one. i do have one question though, where the hell is it? i dont see anything that resembles a thermostat housing on the front/top of the engine.

that kind of makes sense but still doesnt. ill replace it to get it out of the way though i guess. ive still never ever ever in my whole entire life seen a car cool down from max temp to normal operating temp in literally 3 seconds, and maintain that normal operating temp until drivin again with a stuck t-stat.
 
Could be the thermostat is sticking at a certain spot, when the car turns off the pressure in the cooling system changes, and mixed with the hot coolant that is stuck behind it, the thermostat might pop loose and open to where it should which wold allow full flow through the engine. Now theres a lot of cool antifreeze flowing across the thermostat which might cause it to go back to the position it was in when it got stuck, and start all over again. That is kinda weird, but I bet if you put your hand on the lower radiator hose when it does this its probably substantially cooler than the upper hose is.

To find the thermostat, follow the upper radiator hose to where it meets the engine. You will have to remove the cover that says Lincoln V8 to get access to it.
 
i will replace the thermostat then.

maybe im not used to what a hydraulic fan sounds like when its operating at those speeds. and that is what the whirring sound is.

how do you check the fluid level?
 
Engine driven fans (obviously by name) are dependent on the turning of the engine to power them, rather than electric motors. Because of this they need to be able to move more air at idle speed in order to cool the engine. They can't just turn on and off like an electric. This is often accomplished by changing the angle of the blades on the fan, which causes them to make more noise when they spin at higher speeds. Think of it like a leaf blower, the more throttle you give it, the louder the sound from the turbine gets. In a way you can think of your engine as an 8 cylinder, 4 stroke, leaf blower. :p

The fan fluid reservoir is on the passenger side of the engine. There is a picture of a fan on the cap.
 
it just came to me what it sounds like...

imagine a 03-04 mustang cobra with a kenne bell supercharger on it...

yea...it sounds like that. not all the time tho. only after its been running awhile.

edit: wow, youve got to be kidding me. i thought i had 2 power steering resevoirs. well...its full...of powersteering fluid, but that should work right?
 
id love the sound of it too, if my car was supposed to be making that sound!
 
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