2005 Lincoln LS overheats and loosing fluid

[1LoudLS]

If you have enough mix of antifreeze to water,your coolant shouldn't boil.That would indicate a bad thermostat or cooling fan not actuating,

that is not true at at all. boiling coolant point to a leak in the cooling system not allowing the system to pressurize (which would keep the coolant from boiling). a leak in the system would also support the loss of coolant.

You can remove the gasket on the overflow tank cap or just leave it a hair loose like I do.

plain and simple, that is some of the worse advice I have ever seen handed out on here...


I guess with your advanced mechanical engineering degree, you must know a lot more than the team of people who designed this car and the systems that support it...

 

[don-ohio]

Yer not being very nice OR smart,boy! I have done this for years,while YOU'VE been blowing gaskets and hoses.LOL! don-ohio ^)

 

[1LoudLS]

But can't figure out where the coolant is going no leaks on the grown. After a period of driving coolant starts boiling. The system has no air in it...

are you sure that the coolant is actually boiling or is it just some air bubbling from the bottom of the degas bottle?

the point of the degas bottle is that it is designed to remove air from the cooling system (it is also where it gets its name from: de-gas or remove gas...) it has a tube that goes down toward the bottom where it pushes air out which then bubbles to the top.




the chances are extremely high that you do have a leak somewhere... are you sure that you replaced 100% of every plastic part? most of the time somebody tells us they replaced all of the parts but are still having the same problem, it is because they didn't replace all of the parts. the last couple of times this happened, it turned out the be the radiator.

 

[1LoudLS]

Yer not being very nice OR smart,boy! I have done this for years,while YOU'VE been blowing gaskets and hoses.LOL! don-ohio ^)

I'm not being nice because I'm warning somebody seeking advice that some of the advice he has been giving is just terrible?


or


I'm not being smart listening to the group of guys who actually designed the car instead of the random person that tells people people the exact opposite of what the engineers thought was best?


either way, get over yourself.





also just out of curiosity, are you a certified mechanic? an engineer of any kind? or really any degree in the automotive field? not trying to be an ass, just trying to understand your background as to why you think that its a good idea...

 

[RigsLS]

Sounds good don-ohio ^) if it works for ya, that's what matters -<)

a leak in the system would also support the loss of coolant...

And also, the loss of coolant would supports a leak in the system!

(...where it gets its name from: de-gas or remove gas...) it has a tube that goes down toward the bottom where it pushes air out which then bubbles from the top.

it then bubbles to the top. LOL, so air gets in and it needs to go somewhere? thus to degas, off gas or remove gas.
Kinda like when you fart while in the tub? Loud ... do you! Little stinker you!

 

[don-ohio]

I'm a shade tree mechanic of 46 yrs. experience.Started wrenching on hot cars and dirt track cars at age 17. Do everything but rebuild trannys because I choose not to go thru that.
I work for poor people that can't afford repairs. I have friends that need help and I make sure they get it.
All my friends,BTW,have depressurized systems because that is the best way to keep from blowing gaskets and hoses,which I'D more than likley be asked to fix.THEY have also had NO boilover troubles except for a bad fan on an Olds Silhouette which I fixed.
I am a Union Chemical Operator at a Uranium Enrichment facility,so my mechanicking is part time and I have the funds to help others out. My wife supports this also.Yes I had to pass College courses to attain that job for the Gov't.
You're not talking to an inexperienced,or uneducated person. I have no pride about this,just stating fact.
So RUN a pressurized system if you want,but you should be open-minded about tried and true alternate methods which help older cars avoid the big overheating CAUSES(such as pressure causing nearly instantaneous loss of coolant from a blown hose) that can ruin them.
If you are only in your 30s,Loud,you might do well to listen to someone who has nearly double your life's experience.
Nuff said....do what you want. This is a free country after all. don-ohio ^)

 

[Telco]

Don may have had great luck with never overheating while keeping his system uncracked, and I'd have to wonder if he also runs without a thermostat, but really he's the only person I ever heard of who never has cooling system issues while running unpressurized on a system that depends upon that pressure to work correctly.

I once knew a guy with a Mustang, back in my teenage days before I knew anything about what goes on under the hood. Kept overheating. No matter what he did, it would overheat. He replaced almost every single part of the car, continued to overheat. Finally, some old coot at a parts store told him to replace the radiator cap. Turns out the old cap was not holding any pressure at all, and it's such a simple thing to overlook. Overheating ended that day.

A 50/50 mix boils at 226 degrees at 0 pressure, and at the 16PSI the Lincoln runs at the boiling temp is 267PSI.

On the degas bottle, you really need to remove the cover that the degas cap sticks out of and inspect the bottle. It's about the only way to see if it has the cracks. I'll also add that if you replaced the degas recently, but didn't replace the cap, the cap is still suspect. In addition, other members have found that the Dorman degas bottle and caps are not interchangeable with the Lincoln parts. If you use a Lincoln bottle you must use a Lincoln cap, if you use a Dorman bottle you must use a Dorman cap and be prepared to replace them both again in about 6 months.

 

[don-ohio]

Telco said:`if he also runs without a thermostat, but really he's the only person I ever heard of who never has cooling system issues while running unpressurized on a system that depends upon that pressure to work correctly. '

NOPE,Telco.....no decent mechanic nowadays with the engines dependant on temp switches and catalytic converters,O2 sensors,etc.,would EVER run with no thermostat.
And as far as not hearing of anyone,you have now. LOL! You should TRY the 60/40,Telco......you'd be impressed. don-ohio ^)

 

[Telco]

Thanks, but I prefer to keep my system running as it was designed. I actually have training as a vehicle mechanic, and understand why the pressure is needed and understand why a non-pressurized system would also need to be run with no thermostat. It would also need an oversized radiator. Quite frankly, I consider it to be reckless to set up someone else's vehicle to operate outside its designed parameters even if I was convinced it was a better way than the way the engineers that make a living testing this stuff designed it to be.

 

[1LoudLS]

Thanks, but I prefer to keep my system running as it was designed. I actually have training as a vehicle mechanic, and understand why the pressure is needed and understand why a non-pressurized system would also need to be run with no thermostat. It would also need an oversized radiator. Quite frankly, I consider it to be reckless to set up someone else's vehicle to operate outside its designed parameters even if I was convinced it was a better way than the way the engineers that make a living testing this stuff designed it to be.

spot on...

 

[don-ohio]

Telco wrote:`Quite frankly, I consider it to be reckless to set up someone else's vehicle to operate outside its designed parameters even if I was convinced it was a better way than the way the engineers that make a living testing this stuff designed it to be.'

That's your opinion and you're entitled to it,but you're wrong about the results.Been proven for millions of miles with NO BLOWN hoses.THINK about that.Proof is in the pudding,not some pointy-headed engineer's assertions.
I work with engineers all the time,and they turn to Operators like myself and my brother /sister operators for advice when things don't go the way they calculated.
Probably because things are not always cut and dried in the REAL world,where pressure causes weak things to fail. don-ohio ^)

 

[1LoudLS]

also just throwing this out there...

while I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that have been wrenching on old cars longer than I have. The fact remains that modern cars are fairly different from older cars. and its kinda hard to have been wrenching on modern cars for longer than anybody else (unless they are a teenager...).




if the way you did it was so much better, I have a real hard time believing that every car manufacturer wouldn't already be doing it too.

but alas, thousands of engineers out there designing new cars, and they all decided pressurized was the way to go.




but as long as you've got millions of miles of testing to verify your findings, then you're all set. I won't argue it with you anymore. good luck.






I still stand strongly by my recommendation that the OP does not try that himself. but, I'm sure hes a grown man, so he can make his own decision.

 

[1LoudLS]

you got me good rig, you got me good.

 

[RigsLS]

Stepped right into it Bud!

 

[1LoudLS]

that i did.

 

[RigsLS]

Just going to plot this down here, because it's close to the matter at hand and well ... because I can!

Can't stress enough how these LS'es get into their tenth or so year, it's gone through so many heat cycling that the entire plastic cooling system starts to deteriorate and breaks down from the inside out. There is no way around it, you can replace just one piece and be good for a little while but the rest will follow. Heat cycling and pressure throughout will lead to further parts cracking, splitting or what ever you want to call it, it takes a big ol' sh!t, it's too weak, it was not intended to last that long, they want you to open wallet every so many years. If they wanted it to last, the cost of the car would be something you couldn't afford because they'd have to price it so high cuz the public would not need to buy new cars or replacment parts as often. They'd have to make up the differance. Then there's the weight concerns and cost of build.

Anyhow, it's a proven fact these things, and I mean the entire cooling system including the degas bottle and it's PRESSURIZING cap need to be refresh as a whole in one job.

This is simply best bet, sure you may get away with replacing just an inlet pipe or thermostat but other crap is going to fail shortly thereafter or while your working on it.

It get's brittle, it will form small tiny stress crack in places you can't even see, it will let air in, it will over heat, it will give you a ride home on a cold night with no cabin heat.


Have a look at the pics from Blueberryyum, see how brittle and done his parts are from the inside out.
I've got a huge collection of pics of when I refreshed my 01 V8 Sport's cooling system although perhaps not as badly deteriorated.

10+ years and it's only a matter of time ... don't cry, just open wallet!

These are the old part after drying out its a wonder the didn't melt in my hand,
I could easily break parts of the plastic with minimum effort.

Wonder who said " hey let's use all plastic" when the design team started to design and build this car.

 

[Telco]

If they wanted it to last, the cost of the car would be something you couldn't afford because they'd have to price it so high cuz the public would not need to buy new cars or replacment parts as often.

This bit is incorrect. Millions of other cars are on the road with cooling systems made of plastic that don't require a full system replacement every 100K miles. The problem is Ford used inferior plastic in their cooling system and by the time it came out as being a real problem the cars were not only out of warranty, Lincoln was already doing away with the car so they didn't bother fixing the problem. My pickup has a 16 year old pressurized plastic coolant reservoir, for example, that is original to the truck, has close to 300K miles on it and is the factory original bottle. GM used a plastic suitable to the job. Just about every manufacturer other than Ford has the plastic figured out.

 

[don-ohio]

So when's my Degas gonna fail,guys? I've got 135K miles and 12 yrs. on that system with NO problems depressurized the last 4 yrs. and 62K miles.
You must know that pressure on plastic IS stress. Now since you HAVE stress,and my cars and all my friends cars have NO pressure stress,whose system should last longer?
I guess your engineer didn't build with the right plastic? That means MY engineer didn't either,since we have the same cars(`03 and '04 here).
So right now I'm feeling pretty good about those millions of unpressurized miles,don't ya see? don-ohio ^)

 

[1LoudLS]

cool story bro, 12 years old, 160k miles. still original degas bottle

also put about 190k miles on my Mark and never replaced any of the pressurized cooling system


yours could last another 5 years or it could just as easily blow out tomorrow... try not to confuse luck with knowing better than the designers.

 

[don-ohio]

Don't look like luck to me,Bro......just keeping pressure off the weak parts that DO get old. don-ohio ^)

 

[1LoudLS]

Don't look like luck to me,Bro......just keeping pressure off the weak parts that DO get old. don-ohio ^)

based on a few out of the billions of cars out on the roads...

 

[LS4me]

Automotive cooling are pressurized for at least one reason. That is so the engine can run hotter and thus more efficiently. The LS needs a degas bottle because the tank is lower than the highest point of the rest of the cooling system.

 

[don-ohio]

Like I said....blow your degas tanks if you want...that's YOUR business.... but pressure takes its toll,fellow LS'ers. don-ohio ^)

 

[Telco]

If it works for you, Don, knock yourself out. Just don't expect any support on it, at least from me. And with this, I shall attempt to ignore this whole debate because obviously I'm not changing your mind, and you're not changing mine.

 

[don-ohio]

If it works for you, Don, knock yourself out. Just don't expect any support on it, at least from me. And with this, I shall attempt to ignore this whole debate because obviously I'm not changing your mind, and you're not changing mine.

Sure! I don't expect any support from you on this ,Telco.NUFF said. don-ohio ^)