2001 SE starts itself without key and leak coolant!!! - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

longshot93 · 02-22-2009, 06:12

My moms 2001 se has been a great car, but lately things are begining to fall apart. it has 105k on the clock and runs great.

today we were leaving for church trying to get heat to de-frost the windows, but it never came. I opened the door and immediatley smelled the sweet smell of antifreeze. I popped the hood and saw a hose leading to the heater core, leaking quite rapidly. I t was leaking right on top of the cat and causing a great deal of steam. I told my mom to come look at why there was no heat, she then TRIED to turn the car off to avoid overheating it. She turned the key to off and pulled it out of the ignition but the car still ran. I pulled the airfilter and starved it for air by putting my hand in the air duct after the air filter. after a short period of time (1min - 2min) the car then restarted without the key. I starved it again and disconnected the negative battery terminal to prevent it from starting again.

It does have remote start, but she did cycle the key...

questions are...

1) can you replace the hose without replacing the heater core (pretty please!! I read how its done, and almost cried)

2) why the hell is the car starting without the key

Sterling_Six · 02-22-2009, 09:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by longshot93

My moms 2001 se has been a great car, but lately things are begining to fall apart. it has 105k on the clock and runs great.

today we were leaving for church trying to get heat to de-frost the windows, but it never came. I opened the door and immediatley smelled the sweet smell of antifreeze. I popped the hood and saw a hose leading to the heater core, leaking quite rapidly. I t was leaking right on top of the cat and causing a great deal of steam. I told my mom to come look at why there was no heat, she then TRIED to turn the car off to avoid overheating it. She turned the key to off and pulled it out of the ignition but the car still ran. I pulled the airfilter and starved it for air by putting my hand in the air duct after the air filter. after a short period of time (1min - 2min) the car then restarted without the key. I starved it again and disconnected the negative battery terminal to prevent it from starting again.

It does have remote start, but she did cycle the key...

questions are...

1) can you replace the hose without replacing the heater core (pretty please!! I read how its done, and almost cried)

2) why the hell is the car starting without the key

Hello and good day:

WOW...This is Stumper...The hose can be removed without taking out the Heater Core....But it is a little difficult.

As far as this Re-starting of the car...I would have no clue.

The Guys that are more knowledgeable in this would be "T-Bird...Shoz, or Jwko". I will send out a P/M to them to ask if they would review this post.

Good luck, and good repairing.

SHOZ123 · 02-22-2009, 10:20

I'd say your remote start is screwed up.

**tbird100636** · 02-22-2009, 18:50

Key procedure for aftermarket remote starts when getting ready to drive is turn the key on and step on the brake. The car should shut off by steping on the brake without putting the key in. You can disable the remote start completely by disconnecting the module. As far as the heater hose, it is not part of the heater core, but rather crimped to a heater tube mounted to the firewall. I'm more leaning towards the tube being rotted out, as I've seen it a couple times before. Get a small mirror and examine the tubes for rot, especially where the leak is.

longshot93 · 02-22-2009, 19:17

I thought some photos might help with the diagnosis. as for the car running and starting, we got it to quit, it had something to do with the remote start (I dont think we ever tapped the brakes). Thanks to all the fast replies!!

**chipset** · 02-23-2009, 07:36

Replace the steel piping with hose. They are rotted out. I had to replace all my steel
pipe in my 94 - 95 taurus. same set up. If your car starts all by itself you have a seriously miss adjusted fail safe switch also. It is located under the hood ( should be )
and when the hood opens the switch grounds out the remote start stopping a false start. there should also be a switch under the dash that disconnects everything.

**tbird100636** · 02-23-2009, 18:41

Yep, tube looks to be rotted out. Does take some time to do the tube assembly, you'll have to remove the cowl screens and the wiper module to be able to get it out and in. The last one I did was a few years ago, and there was one hose going from the tubes to the engine that I had to reuse, it was crimped onto the original but not the new one, I cut the crimp and removed the hose. I just used a regular hose clamp for it.