My turn-Overheating!?!?

Boomhower

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First off let me say that I have read numerous other threads relating to this topic. I have read all the other opinions on HCF pumps, fans, cracked reservoirs, degauss caps, thermostat's, etc.....

Let's see if I can explain this enough to give everyone the information they need right off the bat.

I have an 02 V8 LSE. 30,xxx miles. Over the past couple of days, my wife and I have been hearing a loud noise under the hood during normal driving conditions. It's sounds like the fan is getting ready to take flight. Have never heard the fan kick on from inside the car before, only standing outside. My wife and I both work at the same place, so we ride together each day.

On the drive into work this morning, everything was fine.

My wife took the car out at lunch to run an errand, and about five min. into the drive she heard an unusual noise. She turned the radio and AC off to get a better listen to the sound and it stopped. Turned the AC back on and it made the same noise (speed 40 MPH). About 2 min. further down the road, she notices the temp. gauge was spiked. Not all the way to the red mark, but covering the H, in between the red mark and the 3/4 mark. A few min. later arriving at her destination, the temp. gauge was still spiked in the same place. She probably wasn't even in the store 10 min. and came back out, fired the car up and drove the 10 min. back to work. The car was fine on the return trip. Normal temp, half way on the gauge. Never threw a check engine temp warning, nor experienced the feel of reduced engine power or the warning of reduced engine power on the message center.

On the drive home, I was driving trying to re-enact the noise. I started off with the AC turned off. About 5 min. down the road, turned the AC on and it made the same noise (speed 40 MPH). Not really like a gurgling as described in other threads, but more like the sound of ice in a blender. Had more of a pop/click to it. The noise was coming from behind the dash on the driver's side. Could hear it plain as day, not a muffled tone. Kinda made me think it was interior instead of exterior. The temp. gauge stayed at the half way mark the entire 45 min. drive home (average speed 60 MPH) and I wasn't able to re-enact the noise again by turning the AC on or off. Still haven't been able to all night, even running at 30 and 40 MPH.

The temp spike doesn't concern me as much as the noise we heard. As I stated before, we haven't experienced any overheating issues in the past couple of days nor on either drive after the engine was shut off from the first overheat.

My question is, has anyone else had this problem or have had experience with this sound? What should be checked first? Sorry for the long read and thanks in advance guys.
 
i never had that problem but when my LS did overheat i switched out the reservoir cap for the updated one by lincoln/ford. i started with the cheapest solution first and it eventually ironed itself out. something with the old caps, try that first? i was told to try that and even though the problem came up(spiked temp) maybe everyother day it was gone in a matter of a week??
 
since the sound comes and goes w/ac cycle i think it's pretty safe to say its your fan or fan pump
 
a good test is to start the car - listen, then turn the AC on full - the fan should automatically kick in (reguardless of the engine temp). Hopefully if it's the fan or AC pump - you'll hear it....
 
Quik LS said:
a good test is to start the car - listen, then turn the AC on full - the fan should automatically kick in (reguardless of the engine temp). Hopefully if it's the fan or AC pump - you'll hear it....

The fan is behind the radiator right? Can see it from inside the bay looking over/under the intake tube? Or am i in the wrong location? Either way, I tried that last night and the fan didn't move. With or without the AC going.

However, it did overheat on me again this morning. Bells and whistles went off all over the dash, and I had to "limp" back home. Luckily I was only about 15 min. away from home. Had to kill the engine a few times at red lights, but once I got past those with increased speeds, she cooled back off. Probably helped a little that the outside temp was around 50 degrees this morning too. Still no leaking that I could tell once I got it home. I got an extended warenty from camax when we bought the car. I called them this morning and it looks lke most everything is covered under warrenty. Radiator, fan, fan pump, water pump, thermostat. No hoses. Those are just some of the things we discussed over the phone. Anyways, cost $80 to diagnose the problem if it's not covered under warrenty. I figure I'll start there, and hope the warrenty covers it. Just gotta figure out how to get it 30 miles away from my house wthout paying out the rump.
 
Sorry, I told you guys wrong. I was looking at the shroud around the fan. And of course it didn't move:cool: . I took it to the service center of our local Carmax, but before I did I replaced the original intake and filter. Just so I didn't cause any warrenty issues with it. Once I had the intake on and before I put the top cover back on the motor, I had the wife fire the car up. First with the AC off, then turned on. I had a better view of the fan with the cover off and it was working in both instances. Was I looking at the right fan? Is there another smaller fan somewhere else?
 
Alright guys, here's the scoop.

Got my car back today from Carmax. Great ppl I might add. Very freindly and professional. I've never had any dealing's with aftermarket warrenty's before, but I have certainly heard the worst about them. Anyways on to the point.

The CEL code thrown was P1285 (cylinder head over temp sensed). Tech. said the problem was the thermostat, stuck closed. Here's a break down of cost and labor for anyone interested.

Diagnosis test - 1hr. labor - $74.00
R&R - thermostat - V8 - operation - 1hr. labor - $74.00
coolant - $12.60
thermostat - $16.47

Also had them replace the front passenger side window regulator. (Also under warrenty)
Pin point test - .3hr. labor - $22.20
Regulator - 1.1 hr. labor - $81.40 + $142.17 for parts

Labor total - 3.4 hrs. - $251.60
Parts toatl - $171.24
Grand total - $422.84

I only had to pay a $50 deductible. Glad I went with the extended warrenty now. I just hope this has solved the WHOLE overheating issue and I'm not back in there again any time soon. :L though.

Thanks guys for your response's and thanks for all the other helpful information that's already posted here on LVC.
 
Good to hear you got it fixed. The same thing happened to me on Wednesday. I went to lunch and went through the drive thru at a local fast food joint. I noticed the fan was operating at a very high speed. Once I left the fan was just howling. I get on the stretch of road going back to work and the engine temp gauge went to high, the light came on and the message center had "Check Engine Temp". I immediately backed off the engine and let it coast. The temperature started going back down and all the lights went off. The temperature went back to normal once I pulled in the parking lot.

I went in and called the dealership to get the first available appointment. I took the car in Thursday morning and they said the thermostat was bad. They replaced the thermostat and flushed the system. All is good now. I guess after 92,000 miles it was time to get it replaced. I had them replace the serpentine belt too since it had not been replaced before. They also noted that the left rear knuckle bearing was very loud. They didn't fix it since I'll do that myself. However, the total bill was $175 for the thermostat replacement, radiator flush and serpentine belt replacement.
 

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