Marcus H.

I'm confused at this point. Driving down the feeder of the freeway one day and when I came to a light my radiator sprung a leak just above the lower AC Cooling line. About a minute later (after I had already pulled off the road, and popped my hood) my temp gauge finally reads in the red. Why it didn't warn me sooner, i don't know. The first think I checked was my thermostat which ended up being bad (dropped it into boiling water and never budged). Thinking that was the problem, i replaced it with a safelock thermostat. Works great! In fact it works so great that my engine takes more than 45min to BEGIN heating up and my heater is no warmer than my own breath.
In more detail: warms up faster sitting still. In fact it still overheats if it sits still too long. Cools completely down when driving. Flushed and replaced cooling system. Haven't replaced cracked radiator yet and two people say it can't be repaired (one mechanic, one employee from autozone). I just don't have the money to replace it right now.
Aside from the radiator needing replacement, what else could be causing it to act like this?

Marcus H.

RyansQuick6

It's overheating because you have a busted radiator and you're slowly leaking and not allowing the system to work under pressure. Pressure and heat work together to do amazing things, and when a system is designed to work with both, but one is missing, it doesn't work well. Drive as little as possible until you can get a replacement.

Also the reason your temps pegged so fast is because air heats up faster than liquid, so when air got to the sensor, it spiked.

Marcus H.

A cracked radiator can create all that havok? That sucks. I was expecting a laundry list of other things to check and/or replace. Thanks for the quick response. Any suggestions on a good quality radiator?

TomKat

just stick with oem radiator... its v6 no need for performance radiator

DRAGUL

If money is a issue, go get one from a junk yard.

petrock

while that is an option, I wouldn’t recommend it. There is no (easy) way to make sure that the junkyard radiator isn’t gunked up with crud and won’t leak.

I agree with TomKat and get an OEM radiator. Doesn’t have to be a motorcraft, but it a “performance” radiator would be a waste of money. www.rockauto.com has a bunch of radiators from different manufacturers available for around $100-120 + tax & shipping.

Install is fairly simple & straight forward. There are a ton of right ups on the inter-tubes about how to remove and install a new radiator.

Good luck...

Daehawk

and if it gets hot idling and cools on driving then check the fan and it's sensor.

Marcus H.

10-4. The fan was replaced a week before the leak. It works properly. I'll check the sensor a soon as I get a free minute. I'm definitely going with an OEM radiator. automatic v6 hardly requires any performance parts. I'm more so asking if theres any brands to steer clear of. Some that I've priced which are OEM require me to add some sort of treatment before adding coolant other wise it voids the life time warranty. I wish I had the specifics in front of me but I dont at the moment. Actually now that I think about it these aren't OEM. Theyre OEM compliant, but significantly cheaper. Unfortunately money is a factor... or wait another two weeks before replacing it T

RyansQuick6

Dude, you're in TX, see if there's a shop that rebuilds them nearby.

DRAGUL

A junk yard radiator would not be my first choice, but it is better than what he currently has. Parts from a junkyard like this are usually guaranteed.