I'd love some help with this: I have recently bought a 1996 Sable LS with the Duratec engine. I didn't notice, nor did the mechanic I hired to check it out, that it overheats. It takes a while to do it, 10 minutes, so I didn't drive it far enough before buying.


Here's what happens: When driving in stop and go street level traffic, and the a/c on, the temperature will slowly rise until it is at the top of the guage. With the a/c off, the temp stops about 1/4 inch from top of the operating limit. At high speeds, it'll drop a little from that. The mechanic says the fans are working properly. The water pump and thermostat were replaced, but the problem persists. The radiator was flushed. Mechanic said coolant looked good. He's puzzling over what to do next. He doesn't want to spend money unnecessarily, which I appreciate, but I have reasons to get this fixed and don't mind spending some money.


Any suggestions?

you sure its actually overheating? do you see any steam coming out of the hood? it could just be a bad sensor or a bad gauge if its not the radiator, thermostat, or water pump... i dont know though i would actually have to be there to try and figure this one out...

Thanks for the reply. Yes, a couple of indications of actual overheating. One is that it sprayed powerfully upon investigation. More significantly, the AAMCO guy who rebuilt the transmission measured the temperature. (He's someone I knew in another part of my life, so he went beyond the call of duty.) I haven't let it get hot enough for steam to be created. When I turn off the AC, the gauge drops some.


The mechanic working on it is going to try some head gasket magic gunk. He's not confident, but it's just something to try before I give up and take a big loss. He said it worked on another customer's car that he continues to maintain with no further overheating problems.


Anybody's experience would be helpful though. I'd love to find something we could hang our hats on.

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It sounds like your gauge is not indicating properly. The sensor should be taken out and an external monitor plugged in instead, to see if it is truly overheating. Is that what you meant with the mechanic/transmission/measuring temperature???


Overheating occurs way before you will see any steam. Steam only means that the coolant has gone beyond it's boiling point.


It is absolutely normal for the temperature to raise with a/c on or drop with a/c off. If a/c is on, the air compressor is working, therefor the engine has to do more work. Works the other way around as well.


Greetings!