Overheating

[jps]

2004 Tbird. Lots of overheating issues over the last 6 months. Dealer thought it was electronic. It was not. Ford tech said to try a new thermostat in October 07. Seemed to work. Shortly after, if idling for a long time, steam seemed to drift out of the engine compartment, but I could not reproduce for the dealer. Last week, another overheat, temp went to max, all dash lights on and when I pulled over, shut down for 2 minutes and A OK. Dealer has it, they did a pressure test and found a coolant leak at the thermostat housing. $500 thankyou. Part is ordered. Does this fix sound reasonable? JPS

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[George]

jps, Your problem sounds very similar to Traci's problem on this thread:

2002 2003 2004 2005 Ford Thunderbird Thermostat Housing Water Pumps

If you are having trouble with your cooling system on your 2002, 2003, 2004 or 2005 Ford Thunderbird here are some useful parts used in the repairs. Note, a 2002 Thunderbird has a different thermostat housing than 2003-2004-2005. The water pump & thermostat are the same. You can upgrade the...

forums.fordthunderbirdforum.com

Either way please do keep us informed. Is it fair to assume that since you mentioned $500. that you are out of warranty?? Hopefully not..

Also jps, on an earlier thread you mentioned you had; " I have an 04 with electrical/computer? problems. Randomly temp gauge goes to hot, cooling fan runs with no reason, all warning lights come on. If I pull over and shut down for a fee minutes, start up and all is well. Ford dealer is no help. Help!"
It appears that the cooling issue could be related to this problem. Is your current dealer a Ford dealer or Lincoln dealer?
Since the Lincoln LS has the same drive train sometimes members get better results changing dealers for service. From what I hear, the LS, of which there are a lot more than TBirds, has had similar issues.

 

[Steak]

I have an 03- Three times in February after starting the car which was still cold- (Missouri) my temp gauge would go to hot and the cooling fan would run for no reason. The first two times I pulled over shut the car off and restarted it and the temp gauge went back to normal- The last time I let the car run- the temp gauge went all the way to the top (Hot) I thought the car was going to over heat. After 30 sec or so the fan kicked off and the temp gauge went back to Normal. Since the last incident the temp gauge has been normal. I have it at the Ford Dealer for routine Maintenance and I showed the post TSB 01211 cooling fan inop at times. The dealer is replacing the cooling fan today. I'm thankful for the extended warranty-($ 700) repair. Hopefully this will fix the problem. I also had a left rear caliper leaking that is also covered under warranty. I have (36000 miles) on my t-bird-

 

[Steak]

update- my cooling fan on my 03 is electric- the one that is referenced in the TSB is hydraulic- if that make sense to anyone. Anyway they did not replace the cooling fan- ran some tests and it did not act up (temp gauge) it's been a month since it went Hot and I drive around 50 miles a day. The tech at the dealer thought my 03 had the 02 original cooling fan and when they ordered it and it came in it was different. At least it has been documented in case I have any future issues. 🙁

 

[George]

Steak:
THe 2002 has hydraulic fans and 2003-2005 have electric fans. That's why the difference when the tech got the fan.