1992 Ford Taurus with a 3.8l V6 the cooling fan

First thing to check when the engine is cold is that if there is enough antifreeze in the radiator and after you run the engine for about 5/10 minuter check both the rad hoses to see if they are both at the same temperature, if the return hose which is the bottom one is cold then replace the thermostat. If both hoses are hot or same temp then make sure the radiator fan comes on?

could be a thermastat or your heater coil; try starting your vehicle aand putting ani freeze while engine is running but still relativley cool, sounds to me there isnt any fluid getting through to the heater coil

About the only thing that you didn't list is the cooling fan. Are you sure that it's working properly? Drive the car until the engine starts to get hot. After awhile you should hear the cooling fan come on. After you have driven the car for a while, park it and open up the hood. If the upper radiator hose is almost too hot to touch, then check to see if the coolant fan is running. If it isn't, then turn the AC switch to "AC MAX". If the fan still doesn't come on, then a malfunction is indicated. Try to locate the fan control relay and swap it with another relay that has the same part number. Use a relay that will allow the engine to run. Allow the engine to reach operating temperature and see if the fan comes on after switching the AC switch to "AC MAX". If the fan now operates, then replace the relay. I hope this is helpful to you. Thank you for trying Fixya.com. If this does not solve your problem, then post a comment and I will respond by getting into more advanced diagnostics.

cooling capacity is about 14 litres depending if it has a/c or not,plus the overflow bottle.

Warm the car up till the cooling fan comes on then about another 3 to 5 min. shut the engine off for about 10 min. keep repeating till the coolant flows. The upper radiator hose will get hot close to the radiator and the air from the fans is hot. Leave the radiator cap loose or off while doing this and keep the antifreeze full. Be very carefull antifreeze can go up to 230 degrees and servely burnt If you are getting air bubbles and the antifreez doesn't go down you have combustion getting into the cooling system. The most common reason for this is a blown head gasket.

I would check that the fan is good. Check the multi-relay under the black plastic cover over the radiator, also I'd check the cooling fan switch.

Hello Diggit.
There were two 3 liter engines available in 1992.
If yours is not the overhead cam equipped engine the capacity in a dry system is 11 US quarts.
If you do have the overhead cam engine it is 11.6 US quarts.
There you are.
Thank you for using FixYa !

KL

have u bled the cooling system ?warm the car and cut the car off right before the fans come on ,let sit for 30-35 minutes,see if the coolant drops in res. if so repeat process untill coolant stops droping ,then drive car regularly if overheating stops ,but monitor it because it will drop somemore/there has been reports of new and rebuilt water pumps nt having correct propelar mounted on them/ backwards etc. if this helps let me know [email protected]

Fan Relay. In the fuse box under the hood

It sounds like the cooling fan is not working. Turn on the a/c and see if it comes on. Dont forget to rate.