Radiator cooling fans airplane LOUD Overheating 2004

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Nitpicker

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Thunderbird Year
2004
Does this car have one or two cooling fans? After driving a few minutes, with engine temp gauge exactly between H and C, "it" or "they" begin sounding like a prop plane getting ready for takeoff. Anyone else experienced this? What could be the cause?
 

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I'm having the same issue... As long as I am moving down the road, I don't seem to be over heating, however, if i park in the garage (closed area) and let it set for a 15 minutes or so ( it's 90 degrees plus where I live), the gauge will show it is getting hot. I get no warning lights , and i'm not throwing any codes. Appears to me I'm not get full circulation through the system and will have to wait for the weekend to test further by pulling things apart, haha. The only test I performed so far was to unhook the upper radiator hose at the radiator to drain off about 16 - 20 ounces of fluid. However, the overflow / reservoir tank didn't change and is still at the full level. I did bled the air from the system using the bleeder port right next to the reservoir tank.

Areas of concern are the thermostat is sticking closed; the valve that allows coolant to circulate through the heat core is stuck or even the heater core itself. Have you tried turning running your heater on high, no A/C, to see if it helps any?
 
rthenry145 said:
I'm having the same issue... As long as I am moving down the road, I don't seem to be over heating, however, if i park in the garage (closed area) and let it set for a 15 minutes or so ( it's 90 degrees plus where I live), the gauge will show it is getting hot. I get no warning lights , and i'm not throwing any codes. Appears to me I'm not get full circulation through the system and will have to wait for the weekend to test further by pulling things apart, haha. The only test I performed so far was to unhook the upper radiator hose at the radiator to drain off about 16 - 20 ounces of fluid. However, the overflow / reservoir tank didn't change and is still at the full level. I did bled the air from the system using the bleeder port right next to the reservoir tank.

Areas of concern are the thermostat is sticking closed; the valve that allows coolant to circulate through the heat core is stuck or even the heater core itself. Have you tried turning running your heater on high, no A/C, to see if it helps any?
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Will try these tips; thanks!
 
Nitpicker said:
Does this car have one or two cooling fans? After driving a few minutes, with engine temp gauge exactly between H and C, "it" or "they" begin sounding like a prop plane getting ready for takeoff. Anyone else experienced this? What could be the cause?
Click to expand...
My 2004 jumps right to the midpoint within 1-2 minutes too. No issues with fan noise.
 
My mechanic found overheating caused by a couple of small cracks that had developed in the moulded black plastic piping in coolant system. These cracks happen mainly at the bends vs. straight piping. Repair totaled almost $600, due primarily to labor involved in accessing parts, and parts available only from Ford dealer.
 
I've got an 03. I blew an upper radiator hose going down interstate 2 summers ago. Replace that, then last summer I started smelling anti freeze and I would have to put a 16oz cup of water into system about every week and a half. So I replaced lower radiator hose and thermostat housing, that took care of it for a while then 6 months later started smelling antifreeze again then back to adding 16oz of coolant every week or so. Haven't been able to find leak. Been adding water all summer, now it is turning back to Fall, so I thought I would add some coolant stop leak.

Did that today. 70 degrees today - drove it for 15 minutes and fans came on, I've only heard the fans come on once and that is when I blew the upper radiator hose. Like somebody said - they sound like an F15 spooling up. Now they came on today after adding radiator stop leak and it was only 70 out there. Radiator and over flow reservoir are up to mark. I've never used "stop leak" before because I've always been afraid it would stop up something it wasn't suppose to. But after trying to find this leak for almost 2 years to no avail - I gave in and added the "stop leak" and now the effing fans are running wide open. Temp gauge is in normal position though. Guess I screwed up - AGAIN!

I have an OBD reader - but I don't think it can read temp like the one "Tbird forum moderator" shows.
 
I am on my way to get my 02 and just had the controller between the PCM and the fan replaced. My OBD reader says it runs at just over 200 degrees all the time.
 
Gus what is a PCM - some kind of control module?? Can I ask what that cost?

Drove the car this morning to McDonalds to get a Diet Coke and to see if I could get the fans to come on. They didn't come on, park car went inside and spent 15 minutes there. On drive home fans came on. 68 degrees outside. Even with top down at 40mph you can hear the dam fans. Like somebody said they sound like an F15. Pulled car into garage, and scared the hell out of dog inside the house because of the noise.

Temp gauge is in center. All this because of can of "leak stop". I guess I will try flushing the system and see if that helps.
 
The 02 has a hydrolicly controlled cooling fan. The PCM or powertrain control module tells the fan how fast to run. (According to my advisor) On my car the fluid control switch was not responding to commands from the PCM. Once it was replaced everything was fine. The 03's and on, they did not use this setup.

My fan makes no sounds at all so, I have no idea what is going on with yours. Does not sound like fun. Could it be a bad bearing in the fan itself?
 
Gus, yeah the fan in my 03 is electric. I should have left well enough alone. I only drive the thing maybe a max of 5 miles away from home, then it sits while I play golf or get something to eat then back home. Been putting a 16oz glass of water into it about once every 10 days or so, but with winter coming on I thought I would try and stop the leak with "stop/leak", so I wouldn't have to go through so much antifreeze.

Now I'm guessing - "stop/leak" clogged something up, that wasn't suppose to be clogged. The fans never ran until I put in the stop/leak.

Had this Tbird for over 6 years and every time I've ever got more than 5 miles from home it has broke down.

Thanks for the input.
 
Elsie said:
Gus, yeah the fan in my 03 is electric. I should have left well enough alone. I only drive the thing maybe a max of 5 miles away from home, then it sits while I play golf or get something to eat then back home. Been putting a 16oz glass of water into it about once every 10 days or so, but with winter coming on I thought I would try and stop the leak with "stop/leak", so I wouldn't have to go through so much antifreeze.

Now I'm guessing - "stop/leak" clogged something up, that wasn't suppose to be clogged. The fans never ran until I put in the stop/leak.

Had this Tbird for over 6 years and every time I've ever got more than 5 miles from home it has broke down.

Thanks for the input.
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I drive mine to and from San Diego every week. About 200 miles round trip. I overheated last Friday and was towed to the Ford dealer. I was lucky he had the part and said he had a parts Gug that can find just about anything. I got lucky for sure
 
Hello,

I'm new to thunderbirds and I just purchased an 05 thunderbird with 19K miles. It runs well but the cooling fan comes on right away and runs non-stop. It is not overheating and doesn't show any signs of overheating that I know of. Could someone please point me in the right direction?

Scott
 
Scott2728 said:
Hello,

I'm new to thunderbirds and I just purchased an 05 thunderbird with 19K miles. It runs well but the cooling fan comes on right away and runs non-stop. It is not overheating and doesn't show any signs of overheating that I know of. Could someone please point me in the right direction?

Scott
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To those with cooling fan that runs loudly & continuously, even with temp gauge in middle of C & H. I'm the 04 owner who made first post in this thread. Tbird cooling system uses sections of rigid, black "bakelite" tubing that are mostly straight but with a couple of elbows. My non-dealer mechanic found some small cracks in these parts, particularly at the elbows. He replaced both pieces (had to get them from Ford dealer) and fixed my problem. Even though my temp gauge didn't indicate overheating, and I wasn't seeing any antifreeze drips on my garage floor, engine was overheating enough for fan controller to kick in. Hope this helps. This forum has certainly helped me.
 
One thing that can cause overheating that is not very obvious is a faulty coolant cap. If they do not keep proper pressure the car will overheat quickly. Over pressure can cause hoses to blow.
 
Nitpicker said:
To those with cooling fan that runs loudly & continuously, even with temp gauge in middle of C & H. I'm the 04 owner who made first post in this thread. Tbird cooling system uses sections of rigid, black "bakelite" tubing that are mostly straight but with a couple of elbows. My non-dealer mechanic found some small cracks in these parts, particularly at the elbows. He replaced both pieces (had to get them from Ford dealer) and fixed my problem. Even though my temp gauge didn't indicate overheating, and I wasn't seeing any antifreeze drips on my garage floor, engine was overheating enough for fan controller to kick in. Hope this helps. This forum has certainly helped me.
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We’re is this black tube your talking about ,pt # right left side ?
 
Just curious, how how do these cars run. My odc reader says that I am running at 210 degrees. I know these things run hot, but how hot it hot. Mine is an 02. Is that normal?
 
Well I finally got my bird back on the road. It has been basically sitting on sidelines since September when it developed a number of leaks. Promised myself I would have it on road by opening day of baseball season. All the hoses and plastic fittings, coolant inlet pipe have been replaced. Then it started leaking at water pump. Had local mechanic replace water pump. Think I've got all the leaks fixed but the cooling fans are still running full bore.

Drove it around tonight for half an hour or so, split between city driving and highway. Temp gauge is right in the middle, gauge doesn't seem to climb any but fans are running full bore - 55 degrees outside. Before last September I never heard the fans come on until I blew the upper radiator hose. Now driving around when it is only 55 - they sound like an F15 taxing into the garage. I've bleed the system exactly as described in book. Temp gauge isn't climbing so they are doing their job keeping temp in check. To me - they shouldn't be running when it is 55 degrees outside, 95 - yes, 55-???

Just want to bring this subject up to see if anybody else's 03 electric fans run an unusual amount of time.?

Tomorrow I'm going to add a bottle of "Water Wetter" and see if that helps.

All this stuff with the fans running too much started when I put a can of "Stop Leak" in the system back in September. I'm hoping I don't need a new radiator.
 
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