May want to check it.

02LSE96LSC91SE84TC · September 11th, 2008, 08:52 PM

My car went into a overheat power reduced mode today. Gauge shot up to hot, temp light came on, dash said reduced power.... I pull over as soon as I could, was stuck in a construction spot and no shoulder to get on so it took about a minute to get out of dodge. I really didn't believe the car was overheating anyway. Turned it off for less than 1 minute restarted all was fine. No way it cooled to a normal temp in 1 minute so i wasn't worried i overheated but obviously knew something was up. After reading the manual and learning the car will do that before a real overheat occurs I checked the obvious. Coolant was down some but not enought to do this IMO. Looked at some bugs stuck in the condensor, not to many but started looking closer, saw some crap in there. So I pulled the header panel cover thingy and holy crap. Look at all this crap stuck in my radiator....well was stuck in there. Appearently the condensor and oil/tranny cooler get more actual highway force air cause the radiator was all kinds of jambed up. Kinda like a dead spot for crap to collect. Most flushed right out with a hose bit so much accumulated at the bottom after that I had to take a stick to loosen that crap to get it to flush out. Crazy. I never ever have seen so much crap stuck in a radiator in my life. On the plus side I'm assuming I'll have no more problems and its nice to know our cooling system can operate with half the radiator blocked from airflow.

I did notice my fan running w/o a/c on this year sometimes and never recall it doing that in the past summers. So there was some signs, but never did the gauge move from its normal 1/2 spot.

Funny thing is it was a cool 70 at most today, never a problem last week in near 90 degree weather.

I would suggest anyone capable of pulling that cover to look at theres. As far as doing the cleaning if your unsure of a safe way to do it. Common sense the coolers are delicate and you shouldn't spray you motor with water...etc.

luttersj · September 11th, 2008, 11:18 PM

Yikes. Looks to me like you hit a bird. A bird that was carrying it's nest!

I'll have to peek under the hood sometimes before it gets too cold

King03LS8 · September 12th, 2008, 12:36 AM

Why is your car that dirty under there anyway?

02LSE96LSC91SE84TC · September 12th, 2008, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King03LS8

Why is your car that dirty under there anyway?

6 years old, 90k, daily driver in summer, not a show car.

Don't make it a habit to remove underhood covers and clean, let alone clean under the hood with out removing covers. The dust is quite normal.

As far as the collection of crap, again it seems to be a spot for stuff to collect, I highly doubt mines the only one. I live in the city, don't make it a habit to drive throu leave piles, corn fields...not even any dirt roads. It was very odd to find this.

mrshl13 · September 12th, 2008, 09:39 AM

I had the same problem when mine obviously wasn't burped properly after the ps rack and sway bar were replaced. Freaked me out. I pulled off the interstate, shut down and popped the cap. Started back up and it was fine. I still stopped at the first gas station on the way home to top it off w/ coolant and kept a close eye on the level for the next 2 weeks but it's been fine since.

**chicken** · September 13th, 2008, 01:04 PM

its actually more common of a problem than most might think. some parts stores sell a tool to clean it out. its basically a long tube that attaches to the end of a garden hose with a slot cut on the bottom, on the side. you just slide the tool between the radiator and condenser and spray the hell out of it

NYC LS8 · September 13th, 2008, 02:21 PM

Been down that road with a lot of my past cars. The crap you can find between there is unreal sometimes.

02LSE96LSC91SE84TC · September 13th, 2008, 08:56 PM

Well I've never seen anywhere near this much crap in there on any car I have had. Looked like a dirty, real dirty furnace filter with a birds nest thrown at it.

97stscaddy · September 13th, 2008, 10:39 PM

Had to clean a bunch of crap like that out of mine not long after I got it. I swear it looked like a mouse built a nest in there. I don't know where all the gray fur came from but it sure made a mess.

S117MC · September 16th, 2008, 10:02 AM

Mine was full of leaves and small sticks when I bought it; less than 2" of open space near the top of the radiator. Not broken up leaves that would flush out with water either; I mean complete, full sized leaves. I had to rig up a cardboard attachment to a shop vac to get down to the ones stuck at the bottom. Now I spray the area out when I change the oil so it doesn't have a chance to get built up so bad again.

daves2000ls · September 16th, 2008, 11:10 AM

Mine was also like that, I noticed it when I was changing the VCG. So I sprayed it clean with a hose. Never had a problem from it, just thought it needed to be cleaned.

You had me scared for a second that something serious happened to your car. I notice in your sig the new 1/4 mile times are still to come. Still looking forward to seeing those.

02LSE96LSC91SE84TC · September 16th, 2008, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daves2000ls

You had me scared for a second that something serious happened to your car. I notice in your sig the new 1/4 mile times are still to come. Still looking forward to seeing those.

New times are coming

trilkb · September 16th, 2008, 06:52 PM

i noticed you said your car is a summer DD...

tracks are closing soon

02LSE96LSC91SE84TC · September 16th, 2008, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trilkb

i noticed you said your car is a summer DD...

tracks are closing soon

My track stays open till end of Nov weather allowing.

I hate swapping the wheels. So I race in spring till I feel like putting the 20s on usually May or June. Once the 20s are on I'm done racin for the summer. Then in fall I'll yank them when it starts getting cool at nite and its race time again.

Its almost time.

I like racin in cooler weather anyways. Make more power but what I really like is the car cools quickly so I can get in alot of "good" passes. I got bored with hot lappin along time ago. I go to run as fast as it can and to try to get my best. Kickin peoples azzes at the lite can be fun too.

leather&wood · November 20th, 2008, 11:37 PM

can I take off the radiator and clean it??? like hose it down and maybe spray it with degreaser??

Bosshog007 · November 21st, 2008, 10:00 AM

This just happened to me last week, the same exact way in my 2000 w/85k. the day wasn't hot, I was on the HWY, got the same msg, pulled over for a min, then started it up and it was fine. I gonna check under the hood when I get time off.

May want to check it.

Lincoln LS