| Author |
Message |
    
C. Ross
| | Posted on Monday, June 17, 2002 - 07:53 pm: | 
|
I was slow cruising the local dream neighborhood today with the A/C turned on high and the Disco got hot. The needle was almost in the red. I immediately turned the A/C off and turned the heater on high. The heater helped lower the temp but it still would heat up at stop lights. On the highway it cooled down to the mid level.
When I got home the electric fans wouldn't come on. Upon further review they do come on with the A/C turned on. However, in the last couple of weeks the fans would stay on after I shut the engine off, now they don't.
The Disco has about 93K on the clock and has been running fine. Any ideas...?
I searched the archives and my trusty  haynes manual to no avail.
It doesn't appear to be the fan clutch, coolant level, or crud stuck in between the radiator/fan. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Ross |
jay
| | Posted on Monday, June 17, 2002 - 08:41 pm: |
|
My '95 disco needed a new radiator at about 90K - it was completely blocked even though I always had the coolant changed every 30K.
Take it to be recored. |
Dee
| | Posted on Monday, June 17, 2002 - 09:03 pm: |
|
Look at the anti freeze how old is it? is there stuff floating around in the tank?
Its hard to advise without seeing but you have several options,
Least expensive change the anti-ferze
Or have the cooling system back flushed and pressure tested. dont waste time with the prestone home kits
With 90k on the clock you may need to take the radiator out and have it RODDED out, (( A shop will un-solder the top and bottom cap and clean the inner tubes the re-solder the ends))
You dont need to replace the core unless its dammaged or the tubes are rotting
Any good radiator shop can handle this.
I change the thermostat when i do a back flush
Several other items to check, check the pump for leaks and if you can free turn it listen to it, The viscous should engage the fan when the engine reaches a gets hoter than normal check that also |
Blue (Bluegill)
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 12:24 pm: |
|
I just had the same symptoms and it was just a bad thermostat. I just replaced tstat and did a partial flush of the coolant and I'm running fine.
Dealer tstat is $19. Napa has a replacement tstat supplied by Beck Arnley, part # 143-0730, for about $10. BAP Import Auto Parts has a Motorad tstat, part # 2000 192 for $9. The Motorad tstat even has the jiggle pin.
Simple job -
drain coolant below level of tstat,
remove 2 bolts,
pull cover/hose,
swap tstats (make sure jiggle pin is at top),
OEM tstat:
Motorad tstat:
replace cover & bolts,
refill expansion tank,
check tank periodically and keep it filled to the seam (half-way point of tank). |
Blue (Bluegill)
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 12:25 pm: |
|
the real pictures are much better
 |
Blue (Bluegill)
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 12:26 pm: |
|
 |
Blue (Bluegill)
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 12:27 pm: |
|
 |
Dee
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 01:01 pm: |
|
Also if any one needs a replacement radiator fill plug I have brass ones in stock not the POS plastic types
Dee
[email protected] |
Paul T. Schram (Paulschram)
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 02:00 pm: |
|
Blue:
I was doing just fine Visualizing what "your image here" looked like. In fact, my visualizations (including visions of Hooters wait staff assisting) mere better than the pics...
Must be all the Dead shows...
Peace,
paul |
Paul T. Schram (Paulschram)
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 02:01 pm: |
|
D'oh, it "must have been the roses".
Paul |
bryan
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 02:04 pm: |
|
Now you tell me ;) I had to buy a new plastic plug last week. I was very lucky to get the old one out, as head snapped off during removal. |
Dee
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 02:27 pm: |
|
I had to source a plug for someone and all the POS black plastic ones were back ordered, I did find a brass replacement plug with o-ring not a pipe plug |
Mike J. (Mudd)
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 02:32 pm: |
|
My temp did the same thing had my radiator rodded out $120 and now my A/C is back on high up hill and no overheat problems. It sure sucks to have to run your heater in the summer. Mike |
Dean Brown (Deanbrown3d)
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 02:36 pm: |
|
Ross - do as Blue says. But you can check if it is the tstat by just taking it out, putting the housing back, and running the vehicle for 5 minutes. If its ok, then you know it was the tstat, otherwise look elsewhere. Heck in the summer you can take the damn thing out and leave it out |
Blue (Bluegill)
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 02:56 pm: |
|
if you look at the dates on the pictures you'll see that I ran for 2 days with no tstat. hell, it never ran better |
Dee
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 03:08 pm: |
|
Blue what is the averag temp in your area? In warm climates most gas cars will run fine without a tstat. I had a MBZ turbo diesel it did not run without the correct temp range tstat |
Blue (Bluegill)
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 03:35 pm: |
|
well, right now it's about 110+ degrees out there - the last thing my engine needs right now is help staying warm What I need is help cooling the thing down in the garage so I can work on it - some surfaces are still too hot to touch in the morning..."Honey, the Disco needs AC in the garage...LOL"
average low in January is only 38 degrees (F). |
Dee
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 04:02 pm: |
|
Yep, thats why San Diego has all those AZ plates driving around on the weekends LOL, yep toss the tstat.. |
bryan
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 04:08 pm: |
|
Blue,
I think I need AC in the garage as well. The wife comes home from work after running the disco 10 minutes and it gets hot enough in the garage that I'm thinking about turning it into a public sauna to help pay for disco repairs ;-) All kidding aside, it does seem to hold the heat for long periods of time, yet my temp gauge never seems to jump past mid-range while driving...I think I'll go ahead and replace the thermostat just to be on the safe side, I've heard high heat does odd things to an aluminum block. |
C. Ross
| | Posted on Friday, June 21, 2002 - 12:48 am: |
|
Thanks to Blue and everyone else. It was the thermostat. I swapped it out and it is even better than before it heated up.
This is why I love this place...
Thanks again,
Ross Edwards
1997 Disco LSE
1997 Disco SE "Mall Crawler" For Sale |
|
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page