Overheating problems =[

[laurel760]

I've got a 2000 v6 ls....Manual transmission, yess, they only made 2300 of them, im lucky. 119,000 miles. I just bought it about eight months ago in the winter.
The first time it overheated was about two months after I bought it, it happened once, when it was hot, regular city driving, no traffic. i just put some water in it and it didn't happen again until about three months ago.
Since then, its overheated too many times to count--bad i know. The thing is it overheats randomly, theres never a specific time or variable when it overheats. Its every couple of days, sometimes at night, sometimes day. It can overheat when Im going 20 mph or 60mph, it has overheated a few times when idle, but never when im on the freeway going typically 80mph. Turning the heater on doesn't help.
I've replaced the thermostat, coolant reservoir, water pump. I also flushed the radiator.
The fan turns on, I really don't notice a difference when i turn the A/C on, I read the fan should go on HI but I don't see or hear a difference, but my friend said he did. I dont know.
I read something on another forum about the solenoids, and on another forum something about just changing the power steering pump completely. Im kinda leaning towards it being something with the solenoid????
I love my lincoln and don't wanna sell it b/c its a stick. But i work and go to school full time and just wanna fix it asap, its becoming a headache. Pleeaassse help!
Let me know if im missing any info! I know its a pain b/c theres so many forums on this specific subject. sorrrry.

 

[2000LincolnLsV6]

you should check if your degas bottle has a crack in it, or it could be a problem with the hydraulic fan

 

[Jim Henderson]

Ah LS cooling problems, muuuahhaahhhaahhhhaaaaa.

With your miles...wow that's a lot.

Common problems are Degas bottle cracks. Most if not all of the plastic cooling system piping. The upper and lower radiator hoses, not really hoses, more like plastic pipes with rubber couplings. A Ford only part I think, spendy too.

You can sometimes find the leaky part by dribbling water onto the parts and watching if the water blows all over. Or if you are nuts or have good insurance, you can hold your hand near each part and watch to see if your skin bubbles.

The system is pressurized and often you cannot see the steam but it will blow a water dribble around or surely burn your hand. So search carefully.

But several member's experience including mine, is that when one plastic part fails the others are already standing in line to be next. So best to bite the bullet and get them all done. ChaChing$$$.

When all is said and done be sure to bleed the air bubbles out of the system.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

[joegr]

I suspect that the hydraulic cooling fan is likely your problem. However, replacing the power steering pump wouldn't help there at all. The power steering pump only powers the power steering. The hydraulic cooling fan has its own hydraulic pump, and that would be the one to replace. However, unless someones poured coolant or similar into the cooling fan reservoir, replacement of the pump is probably not called for. It's more likely that you need to replace the solenoid valve on the hydraulic fan motor.

 

[hite337]

Possibly air in the system. These Ls's need to have the air bled out of the system properly. Try that after you check for leaks.
http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/tech/Lincoln-LS/CoolingSystemDraining/

 

[laurel760]

I took it to get checked out, and its the hoses after all...
they're about 300$ from the ford dealer. Doing that tomorrow, and then we'll see.
I replaced the degas bottle about two months ago.
Hopefully thats it! I live in Palm Springs and its hot as Hell.
After all is said and done, I'm considering selling it. I love it, but I'm afraid something else is gonna happen....hmmm...also it has 120k miles...

 

[milehighmikey]

I took it to get checked out, and its the hoses after all...
they're about 300$ from the ford dealer. Doing that tomorrow, and then we'll see.
I replaced the degas bottle about two months ago.
Hopefully thats it! I live in Palm Springs and its hot as Hell.
After all is said and done, I'm considering selling it. I love it, but I'm afraid something else is gonna happen....hmmm...also it has 120k miles...

Don't be paranoid, enjoy this car if you can! I have 176K on my ls "stick" now, and you should be able to get it right up there in that kind of climate.

As long as you have not totally destroyed your heads or head gaskets, you have a pretty solid ride for some time to come. Have your mechanic do a combustion gas in the coolant check for you after it is fixed. If the test is negative, you are ok. Make sure they know how to bleed the system off, or air could get trapped in the heads and lead to false or real overheating.

 

[laurel760]

After changing out the hoses, adding coolant, bleeding it, it overheated the next time I drove it. Took it to a mechanic and he said the heads are blown. So thats great. He said I bought it like that most likely. Hopefully I already fixed why it overheated and blew teh head gasket in the first place.

 

[RichieboyLS]

If your car is overheating do not drive it. A lesson I learned the hard way. It sucks though when you gotta go and there's nothing you can do about it.