anothermustangdrvr
Junior Member
Hello all,
I apologize up front for the long post, just want to try to give as much info and context to hopefully help YOU to help ME!!
So I bought my 2008 GT/CS (automatic) back in September, it was a single owner with 59k miles on it, Carfax showed regular maint on it, consistent low mileage accrual over the years, everything looked good and factory original. It's been an OK car but I naively didn't realize when you buy a 17 yr old car with original parts on it still, a lot of parts are probably past their prime and need replacing. I know the entire suspension system needs replacing and I have those waiting on my kitchen table for me to get to. Please don't ask about replacing the spark plugs, it was a horrible experience like many others have posted! But that is not the issue at hand.
In December I bought one of those little dash mounted OBD Smart gauges that displays certain things, in this case Speed, RPM, ECT Temp and Battery. I've just been paranoid, with it being a fairly old used car, so one of the readings I've focused on has been the ECT temp, and I swear I've never seen that temp go over 204f in the two months before the "incident". I don't drive like a maniac, but have easily hit 90 mph at times, but most driving would be considered city driving on side streets in traffic. I would say the ECT Temp would normally range in the 197-200 range, and only occasionally getting up to that 204. This is December and January in Houston Texas; it's not exactly 90 degrees out but def not cold either, usually 70's.
So two weeks ago I had the "incident". As alluded to above, my suspension is old and gets floaty going over some bumps, divots, expansion joints, etc in Houston, and I bottomed out/smacked the front end of the Mustang twice in about 1 mile doing about 40mph. Got to my destination, checked and no leaks. Did my thing, then checked again in about 2 hrs and no leaks underneath. Temp out was probably in the high 70's, one of the hotter days recently and while driving home the ECT Temp seemed to be running a bit warmer. On the highway, doing 75'ish mph, the ECT was reading 204-206, which was higher than I can ever recall seeing the ECT temp at. Seemed to stabilize, then crept up to 208, then back to 206, then back up to 208. I decided I'd try turning on the heater to high temp/speed and try to get some of the heat out, and I turned off the A/C button, and the temp slowly crept up, to 211, so I exited into a grocery store parking lot. Popped hood, no bubbling or streams of coolant anywhere, but I noticed the radiator fan was not on. Sat there with the car running and started searching forum's and found the great suggestion of turning on the A/C to kick on the Low Speed fan (I was not aware at this time of Low/High speed fan), which it did kick on the low speed fan. So I turned off the car, let it sit for about 20 minutes, turned car on and drove home, and it stayed around the 204 range +/-2.
Obviously started reading more forums, etc, I won't bore you more, but here is what I've replaced, and I am still at the same situation where I never see the radiator fan ever running if the A/C button is not turned on.
I've dug more into forums trying to find out what is supposed to be the "normal" running temp for the car, but I find answers from 194-200, or 206-220, nothing consistent (I understand individual cars can vary, but that's a nice spread). And trying to find out what temperature the Low/High speed fans kick on is just as confusing. Also, I don't see any engine lights on and the smart gauge can tell you if there are any codes thrown and there is not. Pulling the oil dipstick, i don't see anything that would make me think there is coolant leaking in the engine.
I wish I had the Smart gauge back in September and October when it was stupid hot still, so I had a real frame of reference for temp range. So am I just crazy/paranoid, or what else could I be missing in this? Am I actually not letting it get hot enough for the high speed fan to turn on, as I've never let it get over 212f? I've not actually looked under the car to see if maybe the radiator got damaged, I just assumed it would be leaking. Thoughts or suggestions?
And many thanks in advance for taking your time to help a stranger out!
I apologize up front for the long post, just want to try to give as much info and context to hopefully help YOU to help ME!!
So I bought my 2008 GT/CS (automatic) back in September, it was a single owner with 59k miles on it, Carfax showed regular maint on it, consistent low mileage accrual over the years, everything looked good and factory original. It's been an OK car but I naively didn't realize when you buy a 17 yr old car with original parts on it still, a lot of parts are probably past their prime and need replacing. I know the entire suspension system needs replacing and I have those waiting on my kitchen table for me to get to. Please don't ask about replacing the spark plugs, it was a horrible experience like many others have posted! But that is not the issue at hand.
In December I bought one of those little dash mounted OBD Smart gauges that displays certain things, in this case Speed, RPM, ECT Temp and Battery. I've just been paranoid, with it being a fairly old used car, so one of the readings I've focused on has been the ECT temp, and I swear I've never seen that temp go over 204f in the two months before the "incident". I don't drive like a maniac, but have easily hit 90 mph at times, but most driving would be considered city driving on side streets in traffic. I would say the ECT Temp would normally range in the 197-200 range, and only occasionally getting up to that 204. This is December and January in Houston Texas; it's not exactly 90 degrees out but def not cold either, usually 70's.
So two weeks ago I had the "incident". As alluded to above, my suspension is old and gets floaty going over some bumps, divots, expansion joints, etc in Houston, and I bottomed out/smacked the front end of the Mustang twice in about 1 mile doing about 40mph. Got to my destination, checked and no leaks. Did my thing, then checked again in about 2 hrs and no leaks underneath. Temp out was probably in the high 70's, one of the hotter days recently and while driving home the ECT Temp seemed to be running a bit warmer. On the highway, doing 75'ish mph, the ECT was reading 204-206, which was higher than I can ever recall seeing the ECT temp at. Seemed to stabilize, then crept up to 208, then back to 206, then back up to 208. I decided I'd try turning on the heater to high temp/speed and try to get some of the heat out, and I turned off the A/C button, and the temp slowly crept up, to 211, so I exited into a grocery store parking lot. Popped hood, no bubbling or streams of coolant anywhere, but I noticed the radiator fan was not on. Sat there with the car running and started searching forum's and found the great suggestion of turning on the A/C to kick on the Low Speed fan (I was not aware at this time of Low/High speed fan), which it did kick on the low speed fan. So I turned off the car, let it sit for about 20 minutes, turned car on and drove home, and it stayed around the 204 range +/-2.
Obviously started reading more forums, etc, I won't bore you more, but here is what I've replaced, and I am still at the same situation where I never see the radiator fan ever running if the A/C button is not turned on.
- 40 amp cooling fan fuse & High speed relay (the contacts did not look fried/melted)
- Radiator fan assembly (plug did not look melted)
- 180 degree Thermostat
- ECT Sensor
I've dug more into forums trying to find out what is supposed to be the "normal" running temp for the car, but I find answers from 194-200, or 206-220, nothing consistent (I understand individual cars can vary, but that's a nice spread). And trying to find out what temperature the Low/High speed fans kick on is just as confusing. Also, I don't see any engine lights on and the smart gauge can tell you if there are any codes thrown and there is not. Pulling the oil dipstick, i don't see anything that would make me think there is coolant leaking in the engine.
I wish I had the Smart gauge back in September and October when it was stupid hot still, so I had a real frame of reference for temp range. So am I just crazy/paranoid, or what else could I be missing in this? Am I actually not letting it get hot enough for the high speed fan to turn on, as I've never let it get over 212f? I've not actually looked under the car to see if maybe the radiator got damaged, I just assumed it would be leaking. Thoughts or suggestions?
And many thanks in advance for taking your time to help a stranger out!
