2000 Ford Expedition Overheating

I believe it's a clutch driven fan with a temperature element in the clutch. I've had one go bad and it's a bit ot a pain to replace. You have to take off the fan shroud and disconnect the main radiator hoses to give yourself some space. The Haynes manual has a good description.

This might sound like too simple a solution, but after owning 5 expeditions, I think I may have an idea.

It is possible that the cooling system is simply not full of fluid. If, when changing the thermostat twice and other service, the system was not sufficiently bled or burped, this can happen. What happens is that people do these repairs, and then fill the radiator, but fail to completely flush the cooling system. My son had the exact same problem on his Mazda 3 (Mazda was owned by Ford then), and flushing his cooling system solved his problem.

Think of it this way: If your heater works fine, then goes cold, that usually means the heater coils which the air blows over have no hot fluid in them. As for overheating, your thermostat opens when your engine reaches a certain temperature with the intent to exchange the too-hot fluid with water cooled by the radiator, but if there is only air, or insufficient fluid in the engine after the exchange, you will overheat.

Ask your mechanic to flush/burp the cooling system completely. I hope this works.

yes. the impellor on these engines have a tendency to come off the water pump.First you can see if the pump is working by removing a heater hose then have someone to start the engine. if the water sprays a good, solid stream out then the water pump is good. if the water just barely comes out or not at all then the pump is weak or "bad".

The radiator tubes could be restricted or plugged.

I have the same problem. Not only is it uncomfortable, the sensors, computer etc. will not run properly or efficiently unless it reaches the proper operating temp. I have even put cardboard in front of the rad as well as a hot (195) thermostat & its still less than half way to the red. The only other thing left to do is either adjust the fan clutch (?) or replace it with an electric one.

it can be a number ot things, start by checking the coolant level and condition, next check it for leaks, if no leaks start by cheking the temp. on the hoses comming out ou the radiator are the both hot it they are both hot it could be the fan, or a head gasket, if one is cool to the touch and the other is hot replace the thermostat, then recheck if its still over heating the water pump may not be providing sufficient flow. it might need replacing.

Here are a few things to try. Check your Radiator cap pressure as a weak cap will boil over more quickly. Replace your Temperature sending unit. There may be 2, one is for the dash gauge and the other is for engine control. Unless you have other signs of overheating you may not be overheating at all, just a bad sender.

Next, the cooling fan clutch is what the fan blade is mounted on. This is checked by using a Timing light with a RPM tach made into it. The fan clutch "locks" at a variable temperature. In cold weather it slips internally. In hot weather it engages or "locks". A mechanic measures the RPM of the blade to the RPM of the engine. This tells if the fan clutch is slipping too much internally.

Before considering a new water pump try a free scan at Autozone or Oreillys. If your Catalytic converters are plugged the engine will overheat. You should have a Code for this problem in the onboard computer. About all you can try after this is to remove the Thermostat completely and see if the engine still overheats.

You will have to replace the New Thermostat again because the other engine controls will not work right without it. But without the thermostat you can test for collapsed Radiator hoses at say 2500RPM or above. Thats about all I can think of, the water pump would cost the most. The cap, sensor-sender, fan clutch, and hoses are not that expensive.

have your heater core pressure checked. it maybe clooged even though you had system flushed. additionally did you buy the correct thermostat? the computer is a sensitive thing and alot of other components are activated because of the temperature. the opening temp is 188-195 degrees. so you should have bought the 185 degree thermostat. i had same problem and bought the higher temp thermostat. i couldn't believe that such a small change would make a big difference. good luck.

Well it could one of two things, it could be the clutch fan (the radiator fan clutch), or the water pump. Oh, just check to see that there isn't any water in your oil, if it looks like chocolate milk then you have a possible head problem.

Sounds like the fan and temp gauge (located on the intake mainfold is screwing up) , if its head gaskets it would be smoking out the tail pipe. Have you added any antifreeze if so was it once a week if so make sure nothings leaking on the ground if there isn't then its your head gaskets that would be a first for a 4.6 which is a good motor and none I would on ever had bad heads. I would check the water pump fan first with truck off grap fan at 9 and 3 and see if it wobbels forward and backward if so it's the fan. I have come across alot of bad fans. Fan would cost $30 and up. Rate of difficulty 1-10 I give it a 4.