YACT

[DrPizza]

I have a 92 Ford Escort.
Had the head gasket replaced a few months ago...
Had to replace the head as well because it had a crack in it or something (warped too?)

Before, the engine light would blink on and off all the time. Temperature seemed fine.
Then, temperature gauge started going weird shortly before the head gasket went bad.

Since then, all was fine for about a week, then it started to get hot - not making it to the red, but up to the a or l in "normal" (upper end for temperature) while it had normally operated around "n" or "o" on "normal"

I replaced the thermostat, and flushed the radiator, replaced fluid, etc. (50/50 mix)
It was fine for a day or so, then went back toward hot.

As someone recommended to me, park it on an incline - I could have air in the coolant system somewhere. That worked. It went a month with no problems.

Now, it's heating up again. Plenty of oil, per the dipstick. In fact, probably about 1/2 a quart too much oil. Oil is clean. But, when I take off the oil cap, everything looks pretty dry in there, like it's had a lack of enough oil. Smells hot as well.

Oil pump? Is it hard to replace if it is?
Radiator fluid seems to be just fine.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Do you mean water pump?

 

[DrPizza]

Is it possible the oil filter is clogged and the mechanic neglected to change it when he did the head gasket?

I know virtually nothing about how oil is moved around in an engine.

 

[DrPizza]

Water pump seems to be fine. I thought that was a problem, because the radiator hoses were relatively cool after running the car - that's what prompted me to replace the thermostat. After that, the hoses got hot from radiator fluid running through them.

 

[amdskip]

How many miles are on it? It seems escorts are notorious for head gaskets.

 

[Heisenberg]

If it's an overheating problem then the oil pump wouldn't really have anything to do with that. Are you sure you don't mean the water pump?

 

[QuitBanningMe]

Water pump
thermostat
fan belt/ electric fan
radiator cao
faulty temp guage
radiator dirty(fins)

sorry not really familiar with an esccort.

Also is the fan shroud ok?

 

[BHeemsoth]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
I have a 92 Ford Escort.
Had the head gasket replaced a few months ago...
Had to replace the head as well because it had a crack in it or something (warped too?)

Before, the engine light would blink on and off all the time. Temperature seemed fine.
Then, temperature gauge started going weird shortly before the head gasket went bad.

Since then, all was fine for about a week, then it started to get hot - not making it to the red, but up to the a or l in "normal" (upper end for temperature) while it had normally operated around "n" or "o" on "normal"

I replaced the thermostat, and flushed the radiator, replaced fluid, etc. (50/50 mix)
It was fine for a day or so, then went back toward hot.

As someone recommended to me, park it on an incline - I could have air in the coolant system somewhere. That worked. It went a month with no problems.

Now, it's heating up again. Plenty of oil, per the dipstick. In fact, probably about 1/2 a quart too much oil. Oil is clean. But, when I take off the oil cap, everything looks pretty dry in there, like it's had a lack of enough oil. Smells hot as well.

Oil pump? Is it hard to replace if it is?
Radiator fluid seems to be just fine.

More likely water pump than Oil pump.

 

[DrPizza]

Oddly, when I went out to the car, I thought "what the heck" and added radiator fluid to the radiator. After about a 12 ounces, it was overflowing. The overflow reservoir was already full. It ran cool. So, apparently, I've gotta add a couple of spoonfuls of antifreeze every week? Really odd. No leaks have been noticed.

 

[DrPizza]

Oh, and oil looked fine this time - like it had been getting moved around to where it needed to be.
Last time I looked, it looked really dry.

 

[goodoptics]

radiator fan works?

 

[cavemanmoron]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Oh, and oil looked fine this time - like it had been getting moved around to where it needed to be.
Last time I looked, it looked really dry.

change the oil and filter.
Use a Motorcraft or Purolater filter.

 

[thedarkwolf]

well since its been 3 months I would hope he has figured it out by now.