Please help me if you can!!!

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KC96LSC

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Please someone help me!!! I have been dealing with this for a long time now. I have changed out all cooling parts for the most part. Water pump,Stat and Radiator. Oh yea, VCRM too. The temp would be just above the A right where it should be. Then if I went up a hill or a lot of stop and go, it would heat up to the top of the M and the fan would come on. I was driving it around like that for a few weeks. I've had the car from day one and the temp would always stay right at it's original spot just above the A no mater what. So it still wasn't right.

Then out of the blue, a couple days ago it now varies between the L and middle of the A. If I do the stop and go or go up a hill, it will try to go up to the M but wont go all the way to it. To ad on to this, once the car has heated up the fan is coming on when the needle is at the middle of the A. so the fan is coming on at the wrong spot. I went an got a temp censor and was going to put it in, but they gave me the wrong one. I do know how to refill the water and burp it properly. I have spent the last 2+ hours reading everyone's overheating threads again. For the 5th time! The fan seams to work fine. Any idea would be appreciated.
 
Really have to keep an eye on that fan. Mine seemed to be fine also, yet was intermittent. And while you know how to burp the system at the crossover, when was the last time you did? You may also want to try with the nose of the car jacked up on end. If you find you are burping it often, you have a small leak somewhere that may suck in air when cooling down and brining in air.
 
That is all good advice Unity, thank you. I have put 3 thermostats in it the last 2 summers trying to figure it out. I will raise the front and burp it. What really is odd to me is the fan comes on when it gets to the middle of the A, it was just working right and would come on when it hit the middle of the M. But now that the temp needle is only going to the middle of the A when it heats up. The fan comes on there. Does that make any sense? Any thoughts on that?
 
So the car isnt overheating? Leave it the fock alone! :lol:

As the cars get older the gauges will become less accurate as their contacts get dirty or they just wear out. The car may only change 4* in temp but move the gauge a good ammount.

Personaly I wouldnt worry about it. Another thing you can do is splice in an aftermarket temp gauge into the crossovers temp sensor and watch it for a bit. Bet the car says close to 204* when not loaded and 212* when it is loaded.

If the stock gauge is pointing in the "NORMAL" range then it is normal.
 
I'm not 100% sure but I thought 1996 was a bastard OBD11 computer. If thats the case I would hook up a code scanner that can read sensors live time. I have a middle road cheap Actron scanner that you can read temp reading in a actual #. I just leave it hooked up and go for a ride and now you can see what temp motor is running and what the gauge is telling you. OBD11 stuff is cool that way.

If everything looks ok then stick by Lasers words "if it ain't broken don't fix it"
 
Oh yeah, forgot his car was a 96. Find anyone with a Ford based XCal and hook it to the data port to see what the real temps are.
 
LaserSVT as much as I respect your knowledge brother and I do.. I have a hard time going by that rule. If the gauge is off I want to find out what is worn out and fix it. If it's not working right, I could possibly blow the motor. I know that's the extreme but you know what I mean. It was fine a week ago, with the exception that it would heat up a little when I would go up hills or a lot of stop and go driving. But now it moves from the middle of the L up to the M and back and forth. What really has me concerned is the fan is coming on when the needle is at the middle of the A. It has never done that before, it's always come on when I turn on the AC or the needle goes to the middle of the M. I'm going to take your advice and run another gauge just to check it out
and also take Unity's advice and lift the front and burp it again. Thanks for the input guys.
 
Right on the Mark said:
I'm not 100% sure but I thought 1996 was a bastard OBD11 computer. If thats the case I would hook up a code scanner that can read sensors live time. I have a middle road cheap Actron scanner that you can read temp reading in a actual #. I just leave it hooked up and go for a ride and now you can see what temp motor is running and what the gauge is telling you. OBD11 stuff is cool that way.

If everything looks ok then stick by Lasers words "if it ain't broken don't fix it"
Click to expand...

I just have to find someone that can do that for me:) Thanks Right on
 
Thats kinda my point. The fans on/off temps havent changed. The computer tells the fan to go low speed at xxx* and high speed at xxx* or if the AC is on. The gauge itself seems to be reading something other then what it used to and thats just how it goes with these cars.

See the gauges ability to point is also voltage based. So in hotter temps when the cars fan is on and AC on and cabin fan is at max and the alt is really hot it puts out less voltage. That voltage change is enough to move the gauge a little.

But to properly verify that the car is still opperating correctly you need a secondary gauge. The best way would be with an XCal (it can be locked to a different car) hooked to the data port. That way you can have an accurate digital readout of temp. If you see a temp spike under load then you can switch the XCal to read the knock sensors. Higher temps are usually an indication of detonation. If there is detonation there will be knock. If the sensors read knock then they will retard timing. The XCal can show you at what RPM, load and how much timing the knock sensors are doing to the motor.
 
Greg, it's good to see you back. If you want to drive out to Blue Springs today we'll hook up our scanner from work and see what the actual temp is. Give me a call if you want to. 872 4376.
 
Greg I have an X-cal call me if you can't make it out to blue springs. My number is 8162002571. You still need to see the new mark! Also did you check your coolant cap? It could be the weak link.
 
There is nothing strange about the OBDll in a 1996. The only thing that is strange is that that year is the only year of Gen 1 to have OBDll. You may want to replace your sensors, but remember that there is always going to be some variance from car to car on the normal temp readings. Both of my 1996 Marks set at different letters under driving conditions and will move according to heat input. The important thing is that once the fan come on they also cool down to their normal readings.
 
get a bluetooth obdII scanner and read it off your phone while your driving and see how much it changes
 
Thanks for the input everyone. I went out to chargerxr today and we checked the temp, it was running normal. Basically 196 to 207 under load, then the fan came on and cooled it right down. When things change on my car, I probably get to concerned about things not being the same as before doing the work. We also got my AC back up and working properly. I feel much better now that I've seen it with my own eye's. BIG THANKS Roger!

Mike, it's good to be back. I hear you got a new GenII. We need to set up a time to meet up so I can take a look at it. I hope all is going good for you. Thanks again everyone.

Greg
 
Good deal Greg, glad it worked out. You didnt happen to check your voltage did you? A failing alt can cause gauges and sensors to change their reading when it suddenly drops voltage from heat soak.
 
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