Ford - Taurus :: 1995 - Overheating When Get Stuck In Slow Traffic Or At Stop Lights
Jul 1, 2012
Okay, admittedly my car isn't top of the line. But I'd rather keep it. It all started one day getting stuck in traffic. Some kid claims something broke, causing him to serve in front of a bus bus and sending the bus into a creek. Luckily, all the kids had been dropped off, and the driver wasn't hurt. In my angrier moments, I figure the kid was texting but have no proof. I was stuck in traffic for 90 minutes, and within sight of getting out of the traffic mess, there was a loud bang and it overheats. Off to the side of the road, call the wife, she picks me up. Take it to the local shop, which replaces the Radiator and the Thermostat.
From then on, if I get stuck in slow traffic or at stop lights, it heats up quick. The dash temperature gauge has the word "NORMAL" spelled vertically. After a few traffic lights, the pointer is at the O or even the N. Before the next incident (below), running too hot would cause difficulty starting unless I pumped the gas pedal, or let it cool down for awhile.
Another incident: a rather sudden loss of power driving. The mechanic claims that the catalytic converters are clogged (the car has two). He opens up one of them, "unclogs" it. This didn't solve the problem. It did seem to clear up the starting problem. There's plenty of coolant in the reservoir.
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My 2000 Ford Ranger over heats when I stop at traffic lights. I took it to Tire Kingdom and hey suggested a new thermostat and a radiator flush. I did both and it continues. What is the issue?
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Hesitation while driving mostly in city traffic.....
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I have a 2003 Taurus that runs fine until I stop at a traffic light and then has a misfire about every 5-10 seconds. This diminishes greatly if I put the car in neutral or park while I wait. I have had the spark plugs changed twice. It seems to be more severe in hotter weather. When I was visiting LA, I noticed my cab driver who was driving a 2003 Taurus always put his car into neutral at stop lights as well and when I asked him it turned out that he and all of the other 2003s in their fleet had the same problem. What is wrong?
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My Taurus will not turn off. My son calls and says the key turns back from rum but does not turn off. It will still engage the starter motor if you try. I stopped and picked up a ignition lock to install at home. I finally got the lock out while the car is still running and pop in the new one. Still will not turn off. Then the car overheats, coolant everywhere. Get the hose to try and cool it down a little. Break down and pull the distributor wire and the negative cable.
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OK, 05 v8 4.6l
I am having very random overheating for last few weeks. Started randomly one day in stop n go traffic. Thought maybe struck tstat so replaced it. Same thing...replaced water pump, fan clutch, serpentine belt, coolant reservoir cap since then. During all those replacement I flushed system with garden hose. Burped system to best of my knowledge. Still overheats randomly. Seems to happen every day now at hot times (100*). I drive around all day for work so been watching it closely. Temp gun runs 190* on tstat housing at operating temp. When it was rising up in temp I pulled over and temp gun read 200 ish.... it is in fact getting hot. Any freaking clues? Oh and have pressure tested good....combustion test good...
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So recently my car has been starting to over heat. not to the extreme but the temp needle is going past the middle. only happens when stuck in traffic but as soon as I start going it goes back down.
As far as iv noticed only thing getting me puzzled is my fans are not running when running and starting to overheat. they run when I shut the car off though. The radiator is less then a year old. fresh oil change and the coolant is fine
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My 2002 Jetta VR6 is overheating. The car only overheats when the car is not mobile. If I get stuck in straffic or just let it idle it will over heat. What could it be?
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I have a 2000 Subaru Outback with a little over 162,000 miles. About 3 years ago I had the head gaskets replaced. This past March the car started over heating while on the highway driving back to Boston from New Jersey. It has been doing this intermittently since then, and I have had two mechanics look at it.
The first mechanic, who is my beloved mechanic in Maine (where I am originally from), checked the sensors and relays. He even replaced the relays for free, and it still overheated on the way back from Maine to Boston. Needless to say I did not give him enough time to really look at my car to figure out the problem.
I then went to my back up mechanic in Boston, who kept the car for about 4 days. He said there are no leaks and the car did not actually over heat while with him. He had one of his guys drive the car home at night and back to the shop in traffic in the AM, and had it run for hours while on a lift, and on the ground. Still no overheating. However, he did say that the car was eating up coolant, which indicated to him that there might be a head gasket problem.
I was a little upset by this diagnosis because I had them replaced already, and also because I am getting married this summer so this obviously is not the right time to be buying a new car. I should mention that both mechanics looked at my car at the end of August. I have still been driving and watching the coolant.
The car is still randomly overheating but i tend to notice it happen more while in stop and go traffic and when I accelerate. The needle will go all the way up to red, stay there for a few seconds and then slowly creep down. This happened this morning, and I had checked the coolant yesterday and it was full! I checked it again at lunch time to see if it had used all the coolant during rush hour and it was still full. This chain of events seems to keep happening and I constantly check the coolant. Since August I have only had to fill it once. I have also noticed that when I open the radiator cap the coolant is not sitting level like I've been told it should. I've put a decent amount of work into the car and everything else runs perfectly.
Is it possible that this is a pumping or air bubble problem, and not a head gasket?
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I drive a 2004 Honda Civic. About a month ago, my car started to overheat. The next day, I took it into the shop,and they said the thermostat was sticking,and I had a small leak in the radiator. I got a new thermostat, radiator (they did not have anyone to repair), and flushed the system.
A few days later, the car started to overheat again, and quickly went down. We thought it was a fluke. A few days later, it did the same thing and we took it back to the shop. They said nothing was wrong and let the car run with the radiator cap off for a while in case there was a bubble. Since then, it has has started to overheat a few more times. So the, problem is not all the time, just every so often. Several parts have already been replaced, as noted.
What we have found in common is that each time it starts to overheat, we are in stop and go traffic. It has always been hot outside too (but it is summer). When we begin to move at a regular pace, the car temp goes down. I live in a city, so it is impossible not to get in stop and go traffic on a regular basis. Not everytime we are in stop and go traffic it does this, but since the repairs, it has never overheated while moving at a regular pace.
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1995 dodge neon... When I turn the car off, it burps, or bubbles air into the overfill tank. Car now also overheats when idling or in stop and go traffic. Temperature goes down when running heater.Not sure if it is the water pump or an issue with the radiator.
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I have a 1995 Chevy Silverado 1500 Ext. Cab Z71 4x4 that I've had since '97. Last year it started over-heating, the temperature stays exactly where it is supposed to when I'm running down the highway, but starts to over-heat when I slow down to make a turn (up to about 230), but cools back down at an idle. The Truck has a standard 5.7L TBI 350
Trying to remedy this problem I've changed the thermostat 4 times (with a 160, 180, and 195), changed the radiator, changed the map sensor (thinking that it might be leaning the fuel out to much), changed both temperature sensors, replaced the water pump 3 times (the 3rd time I ordered a Flowcooler waterpump from Summit), changed the instrument cluster and computer thinking it might be electrical, replaced the catalytic converter (thinking it might be restricted), I even replaced every hose on the motor, I then installed a brand-new GM 5.7L 350 crate engine but it did the same thing.
After installing the new engine I replaced the knock sensor, the O2 sensor, changed the throttle body (with one from another motor i had for my son's '94), replaced the distributor, replaced the injectors, checked and made sure there wasn't and blockage in the center intake, cut the exhaust at the catalytic converter just to make sure there was no restrictions.
I recently tried a manual temp gauge just to see if the motor was actually getting hot, which it is.
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I have a 1997 Corolla with 150k miles.
I had my catalytic converter and flex pipe replaced this summer. Lately, my car has been idling rough. While stuck in some horrific stop and go traffic three weeks ago, it started to make noises as if it would stall out. It didn't, but it still sometimes makes those noises.
The car seems fine on the highway. No loss of power. I did think that the hood felt too warm on a recent trip, but the temperature gauge in the car showed no issue.
The car hesitated when I tried to start it last week, but normally starts fine. It was the first cold day of the year.
I saw some white smoke come out of the tailpipe last week. It only happened once. Coolant and oil levels are fine. The spark plugs look good.
The fill pipe has been leaking gas for several months. It leaks if the tank is more than half full and it drips a bit of gas when I fill up. Two mechanics have not been able to find the leak and have told me not to replace it until it is a problem, given the age of my car.
I took it to a mechanic today (not the one who replaced the cat). He told me that the rough idling is due to the new flex pipe being shorter than what was originally there. He assured me that the car is fine to drive long distances and that there was nothing wrong with it. There's no check engine light or anything on the dash to indicate a problem.
I should be relieved, but I'm not. I've lost confidence in my car. Can the stalling noises and rough idling be explained away by a changed exhaust system? Or are these signs of a problem about to happen?
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I have a 2000 ford taurus V6. It sputters going up hills and at stop lights. I've serviced the motor and fixed two cracked vacuum hoses. No engine lights are on. Not sure what to do next....
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I recently had 2 coils replaces and 4 spark plugs (CODES SHOWING ACCORDING TO GOODYEAR) replaced because the engine light was ON. Now My car intermittently shuts off without warning, but will restart about 1 or 2 minutes later showing CHECK GAS CAP on dashboard. Went back to Goodyear thinking maybe faulty parts. They ask if any lights are on like the check engine light, they tell me if not they don't know, come back if it continues. I thought maybe it's my battery.
The guys at Battery Bills connected a devise to the battery that shows green if it's charged, YELLOW if it needs to be driven more(or issue) RED(not enough power PROBLEM) and I when back to them yesterday and they rechecked...Battery is fully charged. They said the alternator is good also, I'm not too sure they checked.Later after work I fuel up a the Chevron instead of Costco thinking maybe the gas??? My car starts then dies, the battery signal device is showing red.
I get a jump, the second the cables are connected to my battery the device shows green, my car starts right up. Pull out to the traffic light, car shuts off, but restarts. I was told to drive my car at least 30 minutes away from home and back about once a week, to keep battery charged because I live less than 10 minutes away from wherever I drive to....so I DRIVE about 5 minutes in my car starts to stutter(hesitate) twice, but smooths out and I also notice the RPM gauge is showing 0???? NO ERROR LIGHTS or CHECK ENGINE ARE SHOWING ON THE DASHBOARD so I continue home at a lost. My car is a 2010 Accent with 57,100 miles....
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2006 4.6l / Stalls at stop signs, red lights, and slow turns. My truck has been doing this for 3 years. Throws a code for crank position sensor, also will say unexpected low idle which would explain why so many of us have low oil pressure while this is happening. So after years of worrying and reading these forums and stalling at stop signs I take to the shop. And it was the throttle body needed cleaned. No more problems. Runs like a new one. I have used Lucas fuel treatment for years in this truck. Im a big fan of their products. When this problem began I was adding Lucas with every tank of fuel.
I buy it by the gallon jug. I used some Lucas from this same jug on the wifeys Denali and her truck stalled out once or twice. She wouldn't ever let me add any to her gas again lol, I argued with her that it wasn't because of the Lucas additive. Never the less it never stalled again. Maybe I got a bad batch, maybe I used too much, or maybe it had nothing to do with the additive. But I thought it needed to be mentioned since it is supposed to be a cleaner, and since I carried it in my tool box and added it to almost every tank of fuel. I was adding about 7 ounces per tank. Who knows? But the problem with this truck is that the throttle body did need cleaned.
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A few months ago I bought a used 2007 Mercedes C280. Overall, I've been very happy with the car. The first month or so was heavy on longer highway driving, and it seemed to be getting decent gas mileage. The last couple of months have been mostly short range city driving, and the mileage seems significantly less. I wonder about the idle speed, on the assumption that it may be wasting a lot of gas sitting at stop lights and in traffic. The tachometer reading isn't always consistent at idle, but fairly often it's up close to 9,000 rpm. What should I be seeing, and does this need attention?
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I have a 1998 Ford Taurus SE 6cyl 24 valve Duratec with about 135k miles on it. It has started to overheat. It has a closed system with the thermostat on the bottom passenger side. It isn't leaking coolant but it does boil when it heats up and you can hear it whistle/pop around the overflow cap. I have drained the whole system using the petcock valve and have changed out the thermostat (which because of its location requires all the fluid to be changed or you get green rain). So, new thermostat, new coolant, still overheats. The defroster air is blowing cold. It has a belt driven water pump but I haven't touched this. Both electric fans are working.
I don't see anything in the oil. It is still a nice dark color, not milky or anything. I saw no oil in the coolant I drained. When it first starts, there is a few seconds of puffs of white/gray smoke but it is very light and goes away quickly. There is no water running out the tailpipes.
My question is, what is your guess on the cause? I'm at the point with the car, with its age and miles that I'm not willing to dump a lot of extra $$ into it -- so there will be no head gasket change -- but don't want to junk it if its something simple. I do most of my own work on my cars. How can I diagnose it further? Should I just change the water pump and if that doesn't work then what?
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I have a 1995 Toyota Camry, 4 Cylinder that has just started stalling when I step on the gas after a complete stop. After that, the car will not start for over an hour and will last only a few miles after that. this has happened 3 times so far. I have changed out the fuel pump but that did not do the trick.
I also noticed that when it was cold this past winter and I was on the highway the temperature would decrease a lot. But regular city driving the temperature seemed fine. Well now that it's warm again, the car shuts off at just above the halfway mark. So this morning I changed out the Thermostat and now it's running hotter than ever, the heat does not work at all, and the car will not start. (it started up fine after the thermostat install but the engine temp was high and heat was not blowing warm) I'm hoping it's not a bigger issue.
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Battery was replaced about three weeks ago after noticing slow cranking start-ups. Prior to that, the most recent repair was to replace a faulty coil assembly and ignition wires about nine months ago. The faulty coil assembly caused the car to sputter and lose power.
Currently, after the car has been run for at least a half-hour, and after the engine has been off for a few minutes, 5 or so, the engine will barely crank or won't turn over at all on re-start. I found that after letting the car rest and cool for a little while, I can get it to start, but it cranks very slowly. Once started, the car runs fine. The car always starts fine and cranks over very strongly if the engine is cold.
I've had the charging system and alternator checked, and everything appears to be normal. I've not had any warning lights illuminate on the dash. Fluid levels are all normal. The engine runs fine and does not overheat. Battery connections are tight and wires look okay. What could be done to diagnose the problem?
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1999 Ford Taurus V6 DOHC Battle Wagon. It will not start. It is barely turning over so I started with the battery. Battery is good so I then cleaned all connections to the starter with no change. Still turning over but only barely. Took the starter off and had it tested at O'Reilly's and the starter is also good according to them. I guess my next step would be to start replacing the wiring from battery to starter? After that I am not too sure on a direction to go. On a side note, my cousin did not think it was very funny when I told him that the title was already signed and that it was his problem now.
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