Overheated (nearly)

[HwyCruiser]

I was coming home on the usual route Friday but traffic was backed up several blocks. It was mid-70's outside, so windows down and air conditioning off.

I was keeping an eye on the gauges and all of a sudden I get a wiff of anti-freeze. Temp gauge still normal, but as soon as I pull into the other lane that just cleared my gauge jumps to 2/3! :eek:

As I continue to take a left turn to dive into a parking lot the temp falls back to normal. I pull over, shut the car off, pop the hood, and see there's a puddle of coolant on the overflow tank but nothing i can see is leaking. Left the car off for a few minutes and decided to try to make it to a gas station or home, depending on what happens.

I made it all the way home with the temp sitting at normal. Pulled into the garage and let her cool down. No anti-freeze except what's puddled on the overflow tank. Called the dealer to make an appt for today.

Picked her back up and they found a bad lower radiator hose clamp, just below the thermostat housing:

http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/data/500/1594Lower_Radiator_Hose_Clamp-med.JPG

The clamp must have been loose enough to suck in air and cause the system to "burp". IMO, the OEM clamps look less than impressive.

I wonder if re-using the clamps when the thermostat was swapped in March finally jumped up and bit me.

Pressure test a-ok now. Funny, the tech wrote on the svc ticket "drove a total of 11 miles after repair". Must have thought I was keeping track. I hope he had a little fun.

That's a load off my mind, you can't imagine what I was fearing...

- JD

[RoyLPita]

Those clamps are 50-50. We've been getting Super duty F series trucks with faulty clamps. Go figure.

[HwyCruiser]

Those clamps are 50-50. We've been getting Super duty F series trucks with faulty clamps. Go figure.

Great, something else to :argue: about...

Might be a good investment to swap these out I wonder?

- JD

[RoyLPita]

Maybe that got one stretched out too much. The truck ones would crack and break.

[Smokie]

Cruiser, I been thinking about the diagnosis the dealer gave you and it does not make sense to me, the clamp is loose enough to allow air to get sucked in; but not loose enough for anti-freeze to leak out when system is under pressure ?

The pressure on that clamp should not be different then on the radiator pressure cap, the hose is directly connected to the bottom of the radiator. I would consider these other possibilities: the thermostat malfunctioned or during stat swap not all the air was bled out of the system.

[HwyCruiser]

Smokie,

They didn't point to the clamp out to me since the svc tech had left, but I'm pretty sure I took a pic of the wrong clamp. See the other below:

http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/data/500/1594Other_lower_radiator_hose_ clamp-med.JPG

I thought the top one was it because it looked new. I can see now that it was the other end (duh), since it has some pretty obvious stains. I still didn't see any coolant on the ground, even over the weekend.

Thanks for keeping me honest. ;)

- JD

[Smokie]

I was just concerned. The second picture shows signs of a leak without a doubt, I am glad it was a simple fix. :)

[HwyCruiser]

Smokie,

Again, thanks. I'm not at all opposed to learning from those that know better since I'm not a mechanic by any streach of the imagination. I've learned quite a bit from studying this site in particular.

I basically left her in the garage over the weekend well enough alone until this morning when i could take her in to the pro's. Three reasons: the dealership is just down the street, the scv mgr / techs know more about my MM than I could ever claim to, and she's still under warrenty for another 75k.

With all the dealer bashing, right, wrong or whatever, I feel fortunate that I found one that is worth going back to. They've done all my mechanical mods and are lined up to install a PI TC on order through Dennis. Sure, people can make mistakes, but I have more confidence in these guys than anyone I've ever been to.

If not for them, I wouldn't be having as much fun with the MM as I've had. Heck, I even take my wife's Escape there ever since they fixed her brakes the first time after the Ford dealer had three stabs at it.

OK, enough of that.

- JD