94 escort LX wagon 1.9L... (180,000k miles). Fan works with diagnose jump (STI to EEC), doesn't work under normal running (near overheat,etc..). Cat Conv going bad ("check engine" light 'smells funny'), could problems be related(?) and where is the "coolant temperature switch" as opposed to the "coolant temperature sending unit"? P.S. I know where the "sending unit" is... Where is the "switch"?

For anything like that Rhonda, you need a hands-on technician like our Experts Larry Ng or Jeff Armer. You can't just guess and say let's swap out the ECM, BCM, PCM, or your 'EEC' and "that'll fix it". You diagnose first using a $5,000 pro grade bi-directional scan tool computer. The computer scan tool diagnoses all the modules and sensors on the computer network and pinpoints the issue. As Larry states, it is more like something supplying wrong data to the ECM, so you replace that, not the ECM. Also modules like that especially the ECM have to be programmed with the VIN Number and the registered mileage. You can't do this stuff yourself.

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It sounds like your water pump is shot. The small antifreeze leak is the coolant probably coming from the weep hole on the water pump. If you ran the car while the temperature was up, you may have to watch the head gaskets from now on as they may be shot. Water pumps wear out around 100k to 150k miles usually.

Hello and welcome to FixYa! If you have overheating problem, it can lead to multipleissues. You may be running on low coolant that's why the vehicle overheats. Ifthat's the case, please add coolant and make sure that it sits on the rightlevel, too much coolant can cause overheating too for coolant will overflow. The vehicle may have a faulty or worn out radiator blowermotor that's why it overheats. If that's the case then you will need a blowermotor replacement to resolve the issue. If the radiator is clogged with dirt and rusts this issueoccurs too. The coolant doesn't flow normally on the cooling system if it'sclogged. If that's the case, I strongly suggest that you have the radiatorflushed to drain out dirt and rusts. If you think that the radiator served youenough then it's better to have it replaced. Please do check the radiator hoses, If you have worn outhoses it can cause coolant leakage which can result to overheating. A tiny holeis good enough for the vehicle to overheat. A faulty thermostat sensor can cause the issue too. If youhave worn out thermostat, the fan may not trigger that's why the fan won't workwhen under stressed conditions. A blown radiator blower fuse can cause thisissue too so I suggest that you check the radiator blower fuse and replace itwhen necessary. What causes the radiator blower fan fuse to blow? It's becauseof a failing radiator blower motor, If that's the case have the radiator blowerfan motor replaced. If the fluid in radiator doesn't circulate then it meansthat you have a blown head gasket or a faulty water pump. I suggest that you gofor the water pump replacement first specially if you think that it's near theend of it's service life. Usually, water pops out the radiator when engine isreved (a sign of faulty water pump and possible blown head gasket). Hope you find this information helpful enough and thank youfor using FixYa! Have a good one!

Is the engine running on all four cylinders, no missfire? If so, check the engine and transmission mounts, there are four, one at the top right hand side, one at the top of transmission on the left hand side, and one on front of transmission bell housing, and one in the rear transmission bell housing, any of them that are bad can cause this vibration. Hope this helps, let me know.

Check the coolant temperature with the car stopped. At idle with the hood up keep the thermometer in the coolant. Confirm if the coolant is not overheating but the engine is!!

Run the A/C keeping the thermometer in the coolant and allow the fan to kick on.

If with the A/C on the engine doesn't overheat then it confirms that the low speed on the fan motor is not working. Read the description of the Taurus where the low speed is used for normal operation when temperature is required but the high speed is activated when the A/C is on. The circuit is simple.

In your case the low speed has to be activated for the A/C to go into the high speed. The fact that the high speed is working and low speed is not indicates the low speed of the fan is defective.

Other problems such as the thermostat or plugged cooling system(radiator clogged) could be the root problem!

Hope this helps?

I have bypassed this same issue when we had our Escort wagon! I tried a new blower motor relay and no luck, from my research this is a common problem, i opted to go for the aftermarket fan relay from Advanced auto, it worked perfectly! anyhow the relay is behind the driver's side headlight underneath the black box Good luck!

you've got a possible blockage in the head or block.

That sounds like a bad clutch

some water from the tail pipe is normal but if the car is running bad then it is possible the head gasket is blown. on the escorts that i have owned i have found that the main relay is usually burned and needs to be replaced. it is possible that the fan is dragging and burning this relay up if this relay is good then you may be better off taking it to the electrical shop.

check the vacuum diagram located under the hood this should rovide you with what you need.