Intermittent AC probs - leading to dump of coolant

Trixie

Trixie

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Well, Trixi the car started having problems a few months ago. It started once in traffic where the car for apparently no reason started overheating. It did hit the red before I noticed (the warning tipped me off) and it would go back to normal operating temps at highway speeds. Hubby said connection was loose so he fixed it (finally).

A couple weeks ago, went down the street for a Margarita (this place makes the BEST except for San Antonio) with a friend, and we noticed air coming out was hot. No overheating, but again, before I drove to the city a week later had hubby fix the connection which he said was loose. Trip to the city - no problem.

Today, ran a few errands, noticed air blowing both hot and cold. Kept eye on temp gauge. Was OK for a while, then all of a sudden she starts to heat up. Turn on heat, just barely make it home before it hits red. Park, turn off car, and then the coolant takes a huge dump on the driveway. :eek:

Can't tell where it came from, but it looks like a splash towards the front tires, as if it just SHOT out from somewhere. I was too busy listening to the squeaky sound coming from the tranny to pay attention. (Yes, I'm having shifting issues which Hubby says I'm making up.)

So, where do I have hubby start looking or do we just have her towed somewhere?
 
Sounds like it never really got the air bubbles out of the cooling system from the first time......That's the way mine acted too..... until I finally got it filled. Drive it until it got to operating temp....go home, let it cool enough to open crossover....fill with 50/50 until it starts rising in the overflow bottle. Go for another drive and repeat. Took me 3 or 4 tries...don't exactly remember.....

Mine all started with the serp belt blowing off.......

Ummm, you said a squeaking noise???? MAYBE your belt is slipping???? If so, put a gaterback belt on... Oh--- this will ALSO exhibit the prob you are having with the A/C.
 
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She would surely see a mess under the car at ALL times with that problem....not just when she stopped and shut it off.
 
Hubby thinks it's the connection to the fan, and the coolant was just the overflow. He keeps fixing the loose connection, and showed me where it was and showed me how the fan will only work intermittently.

Is it possible to replace that connection since he can't seem to make it stay?
 
I believe that the Lincoln dealer has a pigtail that you can use. Cut off the old connector and solder in the new pigtail.
 
It's the fan alright, but not just the harness connector. The connector on the motor itself is toast.

That's why the AC was blowing warm - the fan gave up. It can be intermittent but eventually will be full time.

Mine died like that and a new fan motor was the fix.

But you'll still need to top off the coolant and burp the cooling system. Once it spews out the overflow bottle, it will be low and draw in air.
 
I will open the cross over plug tonight. The power supply connection on the fan is intermittant. When it originally showed up about a year (maybe 2) we just cleaned everything up with contact cleaner. There is evidance of a poor connection (arcing) in the form of burn marks on the hot side. When the fan is not working it can be activated by slightly applying a side load (pushing) on the connector. Last week I cleaned up the connector, crimped it a little, and added a little contact grease but it looks like that did not work. My guess is the conenctor is wearling or comming loose on the fan side. I will take the fan out tonight and take a closer look.

Oh, the coolant simply spewed out the overflow tank. It is only down in the tank a few cups. It does not take very much coolant to make a big mess.
 
Called a couple places - one guy suggested hard wiring the fan if it's just a connection problem. Is that possible? He said the fan assembly is very expensive (around $500).
 
Call Max at 5 star for a price, i had to replace my fan like 2 years ago. It was buring out the fuse.
The fan needs to be hooked up to the control module, it needs to vary its speed or turn on/off depending on conditions.
 
I would never hardwire it bypassing the existing circuitry. There is a connector right on the fan motor. If you wiggle it the fan cuts in and out. I was originally thinking the loose connection was between the male&female connectors but it looks like it is on the fan side.
 
it is not that hard to replace the fan if that is the route you have to go and can't fix the conection. you just have to force the old one out and the new one in.
 
Trixie said:
Called a couple places - one guy suggested hard wiring the fan if it's just a connection problem. Is that possible? He said the fan assembly is very expensive (around $500).
Click to expand...

I got mine from Jaimie for alot less than that. Also sent you a PM.
 
Be2lose said:
I got mine from Jaimie for alot less than that. Also sent you a PM.
Click to expand...

Got the PM. Thank you. Yes, I told the guy I can get parts cheaper. He was really cool about it, and was willing to just take a look at what was going on, but I didn't want to drive the car over there if it wasn't going to be worked on.
 
Can't you buy just the motor if you wanted to? I replaced the cooling fan on my Cougar for less then $100....maybe the Mark is different. But heck, if Jamie or someone can get you cheap parts, I'd go there.
 
Do NOT buy a complete fan!

You only need the fan motor.

The one for the '93 was $50-$60 or so. Simple 1 hour job. But like Steve said, forcing the old one out is a pain. Of course, the same goes for installing it back with the new motor.

You can grind off the rivet heads and punch the rivets out to remove the old motor from the assembly. Then remove the clip securing the fan blade.

When you pick up the new motor, while you're at the parts store, get some stainless steel bolts and nylok nuts to fit the bolt-holes in the motor mounting tabs.
 
The dealer by here priced the fan assembly at $450. What a rip off! Teh dealer even said that price was rediculous. When I took a closer look at hers I cannot see how the motor is removable. It looked like it is staked and riveted in place. Regardless, there was nothing wrong with the fan. Turned out to be a connector problem on the pigtail said. Dealer told me they no longer sell it. I jumpered the pigtail over to the fan motor side to allow me to rule out an intermittent connection in the fan motor.When I dissasembled pigtail connector one ofthe contacts was misformed. I was able to reform it with a screwdriver and it fits nice and tight now. The only problem is that the connector housing was rether dried out and cracked durring dissasembly. it is not in multiple pieces, just cracked. I was abelto reassemble it. I just added a little duct tape as a backup untill we can find one. I hate all these electrical conenctors. They are sooooo easy to break.

Think about it.....her car is now held together with duct tape. She must be a redneck!
 
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