2004 Drove w/ Overheated Engine

[Uccello Tuono]

Waiting to find out if I damaged the engine, curious to hear opinions and possibly suggestions.

2004 with 45K miles, driving home Saturday with about 1 mile remaining when steam began pouring from under the hood. Pulled over, shut off the engine, found the plastic center manifold in the upper radiator hose had cracked, coolant bubbling out. I let the car rest about 15 minutes, and it didn't seem that all the coolant had leaked out, and since about half a mile from home decided to press on. Big mistake, by the time I reached my driveway the temperature gauge was at H and the hitherto unknown overheating warning light/chime alerting. Turned off the Bird and realized nearly all the coolant was gone as now only a small amount leaking onto the ground. Cleaned the engine as much as possible and hosed down the driveway so animals wouldn't lap up any coolant.

Ordered a new hose, which arrived Tuesday, but here in North Texas we're having actual winter weather, so just too cold to install and attempt to flush and fill the system. I hope to do so in the next few days, but the anticipation is brutal. I don't think these engines are terribly robust, have I possibly damaged the head gasket or caused other damage? Should I change the thermostat since the engine overheated? The water pump?

I can probably just about pull off those items, but anything more complicated will require a trip to a mechanic, and since the only work not done by myself was having all the fluids changed about four years ago (I've done all the oil changes and replaced spark plugs/COPs and one window regulator), and after 16 years of company cars and a daily driver only a few months out of factory warranty, I don't even have a regular mechanic to turn to. The last person I used retired.

I'm wondering if it's possible the car didn't overheat as much as might be suggested by the gauge and warning light, or if the overheating may not be sufficient to cause meaningful damage; my concern is everything will seem all right now, but problems will arise down the road. I've looked online and some sites suggest there could be catastrophic damage with even very minimal/short term overheating. One site said drain the oil and look for signs of coolant, others offered other tests I may or may not be able to complete, but wondering if anybody has had any practical experience with their own Thunderbird overheating.

Valuable lesson learned - although I was nearly home seems I should've had the car towed, or let it sit for an hour, walked home and gotten water, filled the tank and then driven it the last half mile.

I feel really awful because I've always tried to take such good care of the Thunderbird. The last time I had a car overheat was probably in the late 1980s, a 1978 Toyota Celica and I never had any damage, that car ran another hundred thousand miles past that incident.

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[Bob Alvord]

Waiting to find out if I damaged the engine, curious to hear opinions and possibly suggestions.

2004 with 45K miles, driving home Saturday with about 1 mile remaining when steam began pouring from under the hood. Pulled over, shut off the engine, found the plastic center manifold in the upper radiator hose had cracked, coolant bubbling out. I let the car rest about 15 minutes, and it didn't seem that all the coolant had leaked out, and since about half a mile from home decided to press on. Big mistake, by the time I reached my driveway the temperature gauge was at H and the hitherto unknown overheating warning light/chime alerting. Turned off the Bird and realized nearly all the coolant was gone as now only a small amount leaking onto the ground. Cleaned the engine as much as possible and hosed down the driveway so animals wouldn't lap up any coolant.

Ordered a new hose, which arrived Tuesday, but here in North Texas we're having actual winter weather, so just too cold to install and attempt to flush and fill the system. I hope to do so in the next few days, but the anticipation is brutal. I don't think these engines are terribly robust, have I possibly damaged the head gasket or caused other damage? Should I change the thermostat since the engine overheated? The water pump?

I can probably just about pull off those items, but anything more complicated will require a trip to a mechanic, and since the only work not done by myself was having all the fluids changed about four years ago (I've done all the oil changes and replaced spark plugs/COPs and one window regulator), and after 16 years of company cars and a daily driver only a few months out of factory warranty, I don't even have a regular mechanic to turn to. The last person I used retired.

I'm wondering if it's possible the car didn't overheat as much as might be suggested by the gauge and warning light, or if the overheating may not be sufficient to cause meaningful damage; my concern is everything will seem all right now, but problems will arise down the road. I've looked online and some sites suggest there could be catastrophic damage with even very minimal/short term overheating. One site said drain the oil and look for signs of coolant, others offered other tests I may or may not be able to complete, but wondering if anybody has had any practical experience with their own Thunderbird overheating.

Valuable lesson learned - although I was nearly home seems I should've had the car towed, or let it sit for an hour, walked home and gotten water, filled the tank and then driven it the last half mile.

I feel really awful because I've always tried to take such good care of the Thunderbird. The last time I had a car overheat was probably in the late 1980s, a 1978 Toyota Celica and I never had any damage, that car ran another hundred thousand miles past that incident.

Mine overheated about the same distance, it was the heater control valve. I changed out the valve and have driven over 200 miles with no problems.

 

[cochon]

Waiting to find out if I damaged the engine, curious to hear opinions and possibly suggestions.

2004 with 45K miles, driving home Saturday with about 1 mile remaining when steam began pouring from under the hood. Pulled over, shut off the engine, found the plastic center manifold in the upper radiator hose had cracked, coolant bubbling out. I let the car rest about 15 minutes, and it didn't seem that all the coolant had leaked out, and since about half a mile from home decided to press on. Big mistake, by the time I reached my driveway the temperature gauge was at H and the hitherto unknown overheating warning light/chime alerting. Turned off the Bird and realized nearly all the coolant was gone as now only a small amount leaking onto the ground. Cleaned the engine as much as possible and hosed down the driveway so animals wouldn't lap up any coolant.

Ordered a new hose, which arrived Tuesday, but here in North Texas we're having actual winter weather, so just too cold to install and attempt to flush and fill the system. I hope to do so in the next few days, but the anticipation is brutal. I don't think these engines are terribly robust, have I possibly damaged the head gasket or caused other damage? Should I change the thermostat since the engine overheated? The water pump?

I can probably just about pull off those items, but anything more complicated will require a trip to a mechanic, and since the only work not done by myself was having all the fluids changed about four years ago (I've done all the oil changes and replaced spark plugs/COPs and one window regulator), and after 16 years of company cars and a daily driver only a few months out of factory warranty, I don't even have a regular mechanic to turn to. The last person I used retired.

I'm wondering if it's possible the car didn't overheat as much as might be suggested by the gauge and warning light, or if the overheating may not be sufficient to cause meaningful damage; my concern is everything will seem all right now, but problems will arise down the road. I've looked online and some sites suggest there could be catastrophic damage with even very minimal/short term overheating. One site said drain the oil and look for signs of coolant, others offered other tests I may or may not be able to complete, but wondering if anybody has had any practical experience with their own Thunderbird overheating.

Valuable lesson learned - although I was nearly home seems I should've had the car towed, or let it sit for an hour, walked home and gotten water, filled the tank and then driven it the last half mile.

I feel really awful because I've always tried to take such good care of the Thunderbird. The last time I had a car overheat was probably in the late 1980s, a 1978 Toyota Celica and I never had any damage, that car ran another hundred thousand miles past that incident.

No need to despair quite yet, as it sounds like the temps didn't go quite high enuf to trigger the PCM into limp mode. But it's time for a proactive replacement of all the 'plastic' coolant parts; since one's already failed, the others won't be far behind. That includes the upper and lower hose assemblies (they both have plastic center sections), the crossover manifold and associated the t'stat cover and cap (the thermostat too, but wouldn't worry about the water pump), and ... unfortunately ... the 45 degree pipe that runs between the top of the block and the crossover manifold. The latter item is the difficult one due to access; Ford's service procedure calls for removal of the intake manifold for accessing the rear bolts (which is the way I did it on my 2003 at about 65k miles). Also think about replacing the degas bottle; it's 'white' plastic versus black, but also prone to deterioration and cracking.

That said, if your immediate problem is limited to the upper hose ass'y, that not a terribly difficult replacement to do as a short term fix. You'll want to pick up a tool for the hose clamps (google 'radiator hose clamp pliers'). Be very careful when removing and reconnecting the upper hose end to the t'stat cover (you don't want to break any more plastic). Also, once you get into the job, you'll find that a small heater hose tees into the upper hose assembly from the bottom; I'd suspect that your sudden failure happened where the small hose tees into the mid point to the upper hose assembly.

Hopefully that'll be enuf to get your 'bird operational while you shop for a reliable shop.

 

[LAMBERTB]

My 2004 bird with similar mileage suffered same overheating several years ago while on a interstate bridge, only mine went into full limp mode before I could exit the bridge and stop. The primary cause of failure was the thermostat (plastic) housing had warped and cracked. As noted above, I had all the hoses, DCCV valve, Thermostat & housing, oil and coolant changed. After repairs the shop conducted a oil analysis test on the old motor oil, pressure tested the coolant system, compression test on engine, and a emissions test, all passed to say the engine was not hurt by the overheating incident. So, hopefully, you will also be so lucky.
I also want to note these cars run hotter than most normally, the thermostat range is narrow such that the dash temperature gauge is near useless as it will go from midrange normal to high alarm instantly and usually after the fact of the overheating.

 

[cochon]

My 2004 bird with similar mileage suffered same overheating several years ago while on a interstate bridge, only mine went into full limp mode before I could exit the bridge and stop. The primary cause of failure was the thermostat (plastic) housing had warped and cracked. As noted above, I had all the hoses, DCCV valve, Thermostat & housing, oil and coolant changed. After repairs the shop conducted a oil analysis test on the old motor oil, pressure tested the coolant system, compression test on engine, and a emissions test, all passed to say the engine was not hurt by the overheating incident. So, hopefully, you will also be so lucky.
I also want to note these cars run hotter than most normally, the thermostat range is narrow such that the dash temperature gauge is near useless as it will go from midrange normal to high alarm instantly and usually after the fact of the overheating.

Good point about the temp indicator, but there's a reason for the apparent 'narrow' range: The dashboard indicator is designed to look like a 'gauge' but it's really only a readout indicator from the PCM. Like a glorified idiot light? As you go from cold to operating temperature, the PCM gradually moves the 'gauge' from cold to the midpoint, but then continues to keep the 'gauge' at midpoint while the actual coolant temperature varies, as long as the true temperature from the coolant sensor stays somewhere within an acceptable bracket. If memory serves, that's about a 30+ degree swing. It's only once the temps have already risen above an acceptable normal that the PCM will start to move the 'gauge' above the midpoint. Which accounts for the sorry fact that the 'gauge' doesn't give you much warning.

But if you need diagnostic info, and connect an OBDII device to an appropriate cellphone, tablet, or laptop 'app', you can then monitor the direct readout from the coolant temperature sensor and see exactly what's happening in real time.

 

[Uccello Tuono]

Good point about the temp indicator, but there's a reason for the apparent 'narrow' range: The dashboard indicator is designed to look like a 'gauge' but it's really only a readout indicator from the PCM. Like a glorified idiot light? As you go from cold to operating temperature, the PCM gradually moves the 'gauge' from cold to the midpoint, but then continues to keep the 'gauge' at midpoint while the actual coolant temperature varies, as long as the true temperature from the coolant sensor stays somewhere within an acceptable bracket. If memory serves, that's about a 30+ degree swing. It's only once the temps have already risen above an acceptable normal that the PCM will start to move the 'gauge' above the midpoint. Which accounts for the sorry fact that the 'gauge' doesn't give you much warning.

But if you need diagnostic info, and connect an OBDII device to an appropriate cellphone, tablet, or laptop 'app', you can then monitor the direct readout from the coolant temperature sensor and see exactly what's happening in real time.

That explains why while monitoring the temperature "gauge" it almost immediately jumped up to H and the light came on. At that point, could see my house and had the engine stopped within about 15 seconds. Sure hoping no damage, but guess I'll know soon enough. Glad you mentioned diagnostics, I think my brother-in-law has a scan tool, I'll ask him to scan and see if that shows anything. Much appreciated.

 

[LAMBERTB]

Here is a related post of mine from two years ago; The sensor is located under the intake manifold to read cylinder head temperature and is hard wired to the PCM . It has a operating range of 140f to 248f.Both times I had a overheating issue due to failed thermostat housings, I did not get any early warning from the gauge before the dash engine lights came on. That is why I do not depend on it. After the last failure over a year ago, I got a small digital OBD2 reader gauge that connects to the port under the dash and sits on the dash permanently. It is reading the same sensor data in real time. It is a Ancel P10 OBD2 HUB I ordered from Walmart for about $40.00. I also use it to check and clear codes among other things. A handy tool I also use as a full time instrument. You can find them cheaper on eBay that is bluetooth wireless and reads to your phone. I am old school and not smart phone savey.

You will also want to pay close attention to following the "burping" procedure when refilling your coolant system after the repair. Not properly getting the air out of the system is another common cause for overheating problems. If you have a shop do the work, make sure they are aware of issue and even better, have the ability to add coolant under a vacuum. Also ask if they can do a pressurized leak test with dye after the repairs.

 

[biddle]

2004 with 45K miles,

Hear this one a lot, people like to focus on the miles, not age. The car rolled off the assembly line about 22 years ago. Over two decades and long enough to be born, go through elementary school, high school, and college.

I let the car rest about 15 minutes, and it didn't seem that all the coolant had leaked out, and since about half a mile from home decided to press on. Big mistake, by the time I reached my driveway the temperature gauge was at H and the hitherto unknown overheating warning light/chime alerting. Turned off the Bird and realized nearly all the coolant was gone as now only a small amount leaking onto the ground.

Oh my, you are definitely old enough to know better! The engine takes several hours to cool off and reheats quickly! Coolant loss puts air in the system etc. I had this happen years ago, pulled over and towed the car to the shop. Tow trucks aren't that expensive and my auto insurance pays for it.

 

[Frankie the Fink]

I don't know if these birds have aluminum heads but even cast heads can warp from overheating and/or cylinders can get galled. You may get lucky and I hope so but continuing to drive a car with overheating or oil pressure issues is just asking for trouble.