running hot with ac on

C

cruisincapri80

Registered
well after learning a valuable lesson about thermostats i finallly got around to pulling hte scrap atant thermo out of my car and putting in a motocraft also changed the electric fan motor and with the ac off the car seems to run right in the middle or a little above the middle of the stock temp gauge while going down the highway but if i turn the ac on it slowly climbs until it hits the top of the normal range turn the ac back off it comes back down to the a and just sits there any ideas???
 
RE: running hot with ac on

Welcome. :D

The AC condensor is in front of the radiator. Heat is removed from both via vehicle movement or the cooling fan. It sounds as if you have an airflow problem or possibly a radiator problem. Check and/or clean the condensor, the radiator and the space between. That should cure any airflow issues. If the issue persists, have the cooling system flushed to clean out the passages in the radiator.

Good luck! :)
 
RE: running hot with ac on

Check your coolant levels. Is it time for your radiator to be flushed? Is the fan turning on?

How many miles on the car? It is possible that the fins have just gotten extremly dirty?

Try taking the black cover off (the one thats attached with velcro) and spraying high pressure warter through the condensor. If You go holy crap thats dirty, try doing it through your radiator.
 
RE: running hot with ac on

After you flush your system, using "Water Wetter" will knock your temperature down by a letter on your gauge. The stuff is great.
 
RE: running hot with ac on

sorry should have posted year and mileage originally its a 96 with 182,000 the condensor and radiator both appear to be clean and obstruction free, the fan does run, coolant is full and it doesn't seem to leak at, all not with this thermostat any way i actually got the rubber o-ring this time it only gets to the point of overheating if the temp is over 85 i'm considering getting an actual gauge to put in temporarily so i can maybe see where this new thermostat is opening it didn't have heat all last winter and the cooling system has been giving me grief since i got it. the ce light is on i had a code reader on it and it said "secondary air thermactor pump switch A malfunction" no clue what it means but?? there is also a fuse that isn't labeled in the repair manual or the owners manual that keeps blowing everytime i replace it... its a 30a in position two in the high current fuse panel under the hood the car seems to run fine other than on start up when warm it misses a little then as soon as i drive it it clears upbut it was doing that before this fuse started blowing really starting to puzzle me everything on these cars is incredibly complicated what is this water wetter and where do i find it?? thanks for any help
 
RE: running hot with ac on

Man thats hard to read at times lol. Punctuation and capitalization are greatly appreciated by me.

Watter wetter or similar can be found at most major parts stores.

While youre there, pick up a can of SeaFoam Deep Creep (Spray kind, not the kind in a bottle that goes in ur gas tank, or the trans fixing kind) and put some of it through your TB while the car is warm then drive it like you stole it. See if freeing up some of the carbon helps youre heating and missing problems.
 
RE: running hot with ac on

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
Man thats hard to read at times lol. Punctuation and capitalization are greatly appreciated by me.Watter wetter or similar can be found at most major parts stores.While youre there, pick up a can of SeaFoam Deep Creep (Spray kind, not the kind in a bottle that goes in ur gas tank, or the trans fixing kind) and put some of it through your TB while the car is warm then drive it like you stole it. See if freeing up some of the carbon helps youre heating and missing problems.
[/div]

Wow, they've got it in a spray! Sea Foam should be awesome as a spray.

And to elaborate, water wetter is a fluid that you put in with the coolant, and leave it in. Comes in a pint bottle I think.
 
RE: running hot with ac on

Sorry for not typing properly, you would think the way they force kids to take keyboarding classes these days i would use the skills i learned but i tend not to. I ran a can of sea foam (in the tank) through it last week and drive it like I stole it daily, didn't know there was any other way to drive. Are the electric fans in our marks single speed,or do they operate in two different speeds activated at different times via the coolant temp sensor and computer?
 
RE: running hot with ac on

They are a 2 speed motor.

Seafoam in the TB helps break up crap off the sensors althoguh if it was gonna fix your overheating problem, running it through the gas tank would have done it.

I love seafoam. I couldnt find my PB blaster so I used it for unrusting some rusted screws. Worked awesome screws came out easy without the fear of rounding them out.

Also fixed a lot of the idle problem with my mom's 100K mile Mercury Tracer.

I hear you can also put it in your oil right before an oil change and it'll get that sludge that likes to sit in your valve covers and lifter valley. As well as everywhere else helping your car run more efficently.

And I heard it cures cancer, and single handedly caused hitler to kill himself.

(The last three are unconfirmed by my tests.)
 
RE: running hot with ac on

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
They are a 2 speed motor.
[/div]

For troubleshooting purposes, the fan is considered a single speed fan. It is not a two speed motor but a variable speed motor. At 'low speed', the fan is fed 1/2 the system voltage. As required, the VCRM ramps up the fan voltage to 100% of the system voltage for variable speeds of 50% to 100%. Both the EEC and AC signals are inputs to the VCRM for speed control output of the cooling fan.
 
RE: running hot with ac on

So theoretically the vcrm module not increasing the fan voltage could be causing it to run hot while going down the highway?? It seems now that the temp has dropped back down under 90 (way to hot for northern mn)it doesn't overheat but still runs hotter than i would like to see it... I really love my car but it seems to be turning into the never ending battle
 
RE: running hot with ac on

Strict maitenance throughout the life of your car is the key to that battle.

And it shouldnt be over heating due to the fan on the highway, the air passing over the radiator should cool it.

Is it time for an oil change, what weight of oil do you put in it? If you don't change it yourself, go check your last repair sheet and make sure it reads 5W30 or 10W30 and not 10w40 or something similar.

Consider switching to synthetic oil if you haven't already. You will run cooler with it. When I say synthetic I mean Mobil 1 or AMSOil. NOT Penzoil, Quaker State, Walmart Brand etc. They are NOT PAO "true" synthetic oils do not waste your time and money on them. Cheapest I have found Mobil 1 Full Synthetic (Silver cap, not the 15,000 mile stuff) is at Wal Mart. AFAIK Walmart only sell fram and K&N (aka fram) filters. Don't buy one. Buy a decent one (like the Mobil 1s) at a parts store.

If all else fails, use band aids until it gets better. Its really easy to take out the radiator and fan, cosider taking it out, changing your coolant, and cleaning it and your condensor throughly.
 
RE: running hot with ac on

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
Strict maitenance throughout the life of your car is the key to that battle.And it shouldnt be over heating due to the fan on the highway, the air passing over the radiator should cool it.Is it time for an oil change, what weight of oil do you put in it? If you don't change it yourself, go check your last repair sheet and make sure it reads 5W30 or 10W30 and not 10w40 or something similar.Consider switching to synthetic oil if you haven't already. You will run cooler with it. When I say synthetic I mean Mobil 1 or AMSOil. NOT Penzoil, Quaker State, Walmart Brand etc. They are NOT PAO "true" synthetic oils do not waste your time and money on them. Cheapest I have found Mobil 1 Full Synthetic (Silver cap, not the 15,000 mile stuff) is at Wal Mart. AFAIK Walmart only sell fram and K&N (aka fram) filters. Don't buy one. Buy a decent one (like the Mobil 1s) at a parts store.If all else fails, use band aids until it gets better. Its really easy to take out the radiator and fan, cosider taking it out, changing your coolant, and cleaning it and your condensor throughly.
[/div]

My local Walmart carried Motorcraft brand oil filters...go figure.
 
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