2002 e150 need help - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

daneek155 · 03-27-2011, 19:43

hey i am new here so hi..
here is my story i have a 2002 ford e150 v8 5.4
i bought the van couple days ago and this is what it has been doing every morning. i start driving it and about 5 min down the free way my heat will stop working and than my engine temp will rise all the way to the h so i shut the engine off and roll for like 10 seconds than start it up and the heat comes back on and the van will temp will stay good the remander of the day...

done this 4 times in a row everymorning..

so i changed the thermostat and had the same problem,,, it feels like the coolant overflow is not that hot..

next what i did is got the old thermostat and removed the inside of it so it is always open... van been running good for last 2 days and my temp stays at c and i have basically no heat. Any ideas of what my problem could be..

i am not loosing coolant, only once when it came out my overflow... oil level is good.

One more thing i noticed on the last time my temp spicked that the coolant resovoir was really full.

**djzx3** · 03-27-2011, 20:00

Once in a while you can get a bad part from the auto store, I would suggest fully testing the new thermostat. Just put it in a pot of water on the stove and heat it up until it opens, and have a temperature sensor in there (I.E cooking thermometer or w/e) and watch it until the thermometer says it's at.....190 degree's, and then make sure it closes when it cools back down.

This is how I have tested mine on a few cars, including my 2.0l Zetec focus. And amazingly it does prove to be a good way to test a thermostat.

daneek155 · 03-27-2011, 20:05

ok thanks man i will try that now

**djzx3** · 03-27-2011, 20:15

Yup just make sure not to over heat it, and cook it. If it doesn't open when it hits 210, then it's bad. IDK of any car that runs hotter then 210. Highest I've heard of was my 86 Rivera, and it was 195 thermostat.

daneek155 · 03-27-2011, 20:21

well i just got the water temp to 200 and it does open fine....

**djzx3** · 03-27-2011, 20:38

So it doesn't seem to be the thermostat, does anyone got any other idea's for this? IDK van engine's soo well.

daneek155 · 03-27-2011, 20:40

yeah me neither. thanks for the help. any other ideas

**jwko** · 03-27-2011, 21:00

Could be a bad water pump or clogged cooling system. Sometimes the impeller on the water pump will rot away and cant circulate the coolant. Radiator could be stopped up also.

daneek155 · 03-28-2011, 04:41

its weird that after it gets hot and cools down than it will work good, everything heat and engine temp stay the same........Would a bad water pump do that,, i thought that they just leak or the coolant doesnt get puched through the system at all..... same with the clog part,, could it be a bad headgasket leaking a little???

daneek155 · 03-28-2011, 10:23

Would a air bubble in the coolant system cause something like this