Mum has a 1981 XD Falcon alloy head 4.1 LTR she bought it brand new it’s got 158000 genuine km.

I’m asking for your help as I believe all you great ford owners may have the answer I’m looking for.

Mums XD engine is overheating.

Mum got the RACQ to tow it to an RACQ approved workshop.

The mechanic said what it might be and started replacing parts, then the list got bigger & bigger
See List below
1. Flush radiator A: no change
2. New Thermostat A: no change
3. New thermostat housing A: no change
4. New temp sender A: no change
5. New aftermarket temp gauge A: no change
6. Water pump A: no change
7. All New fan belts A: no change
8. All New hoses A: no change
9. New v8 radiator A: no change
10. New 7 blade fan off v8 A: no change
11. New coolant nulon A: no change
12. New spark plugs, leads & cap & rotor & coil A: no change
13. Reco dizzy & reset timing A: no change
14. New head gasket A: no change
15. Remove head again & replace with reco xf efi head A: no change
16. Replaced intake manifold with an xf one to match head & rebuild xf carby A: no change
17. Remove engine & totally rebuild acid dip, rings, bearings, seals, gaskets, oil pump, timing chain, harmonic balancer, welsh plugs, cam, lifters, bolts A: NO CHANGE

This has cost me mum thousands of dollars & it is still overheating one mark off red on the factory sports dash & also on the aftermarket gauge AFTER ONLY 20km

The mechanic said I have no idea what the hell is with this engine, He has transported the car back to Mums place with a comment of good luck getting that thing to run

Have any of you got any and I mean any ideas of how to fix this overheating

Please help if you can as Mum has no more money to spend on a different mechanic

Thank You in advance for any help

Only option i can think of now is installing thermo fans and giving that a go.

Any collapsed muffler boxes? exhaust blockage anywhere?

After running for how long does it overheat? does it drop temp if its put in neutral and reved?

I would have suggested a shot waterpump, but you say thats been changed. I'd be looking at exhaust personally.

personally i'd be wondering WHAT the guy replaced as some of the work was/is unwanted/unneeded

i don't know much about the XD but . . . . is the cooling system plumbed up correctly? are you able to tell if the thermostat is opening correctly in housing? do you have coolant flow thru radiator?? does motor have all earths connected to it and properly? does motor get hot when just idling & in park? & have you seen it happen/driven it?

contact RACQ and talk to them regarding the problem (and or MTAA or fair trading) as it seems the mechanic they recommended is just guessing and replacing at your expense -half the stuff you mentioned is not relevant or a repeat of something he already tried-he also is required to give warranty on his work not say good luck see you later.... or give some of your money back !

does it only overheat when driven - does it boil ?
as suggested may have blocked exhaust or binding brakes faulty radiator cap faulty ECU etc.

Thank you
93EB, Johnson stroker, Mad2, TedW

Hi 93EB, The v8 7 Blade fan pulls a lot of air But I will keep the thermo fan idea in mind Thank you.

Hi Johnson stroker, The exhaust muffler boxes, do rattle, the small one at the front NO it sounds hollow when I hit it with my hand, The large one at the back where the tail pipe connects it rattles a lot like it’s got a hand full of ball bearings in it.

Could this be it?.

If I remove the exhaust from the joint beside the gearbox & run it, would that tell us, if the muffler boxes are stuffed & can doing this harm the engine (I’m pretty sure it will hurt my ears *I think ear plugs will be a must and maybe hand some out to the neighbours)

Running time before overheats well in 5mins roughly it gets to ¾ temp then the thermostat opens & it drops to ¼ temp & then it just keeps going up & overheats total time about 10 – 15 mins from cold (this was done in the driveway in park & moving the rpm from 1000 rpm to 3000 rpm in short bursts I kept it at 2000 rpm for 1 - 2 mins but the temp just got hotter & hotter)

Hi Mad2, The cooling hoses look right, the thermostat is opening (correctly in the housing? don’t know can’t see).
Do I have coolant flow thru radiator? I do not know as the radiator is under pressure & too hot by the time the thermostat opens I dare not to remove radiator cap. (I think it must be as it cools down from ¾ to ¼ as I said to Johnson stroker)

The earths yes all connected one at gearbox & one from battery to engine bolt, it has a bolt into cylinder head bolt one, & six wirer from battery to car frame.
Yes have seen it overheat driving and in drive way in park idling & as I said to Johnson stroker

Hi TedW, yes I will contact RACQ & fair trading on behalf of mum as I too believe that the mechanic is in the wrong, he got as much money as he could out of my mum & then, the good luck getting that thing to run, bye!. (not good enough F**ing mechanic)

As for the brakes, I jacked up each wheel, and it spins easy, the rear wheel not at first, had to jack both wheels up and put it in Neutral, then both wheels spin in the same direction, not that easy to spin was only spinning the left rear, but both wheels turned the same direction & tail shaft turn too (so is it an LSD diff?)

I think, you & Johnson stroker may be right about the exhaust. Should I remove it at the joint beside the gearbox and run it or will this harm the engine?

Thank you all for helping

The exhaust muffler boxes, do rattle, the small one at the front NO it sounds hollow when I hit it with my hand, The large one at the back where the tail pipe connects it rattles a lot like it’s got a hand full of ball bearings in it.
A) If the front sounds hollow and the rear rattles, there is a good chance that the front has collapsed and filled the rear muffler.

If I remove the exhaust from the joint beside the gearbox & run it, would that tell us, if the muffler boxes are stuffed & can doing this harm the engine (I’m pretty sure it will hurt my ears *I think ear plugs will be a must and maybe hand some out to the neighbours)
A) Will do no harm to the engine at all. Does the car lack power when driving it?

Running time before overheats well in 5mins roughly it gets to ¾ temp then the thermostat opens & it drops to ¼ temp & then it just keeps going up & overheats total time about 10 – 15 mins from cold (this was done in the driveway in park & moving the rpm from 1000 rpm to 3000 rpm in short bursts I kept it at 2000 rpm for 1 - 2 mins but the temp just got hotter & hotter)
A) If it gets to 3/4 temp that quick and then drops to 1/4, I would suggest that the thermostat is opening too late.

The cooling hoses look right, the thermostat is opening (correctly in the housing? don’t know can’t see).
A) You can take the Thermostat and put it in hot water with a thermometer and see at what temp it opens at.

Do I have coolant flow thru radiator? I do not know as the radiator is under pressure & too hot by the time the thermostat opens I dare not to remove radiator cap. (I think it must be as it cools down from ¾ to ¼ as I said to Johnson stroker)
A) Remove the Radiator cap before starting the engine while cold and then start it. You should see flow across the top of the radiator. Check the top and bottom hoses and see what difference there is in temp while running.

Yes I will contact RACQ & fair trading on behalf of mum as I too believe that the mechanic is in the wrong, he got as much money as he could out of my mum & then, the good luck getting that thing to run, bye!. (not good enough F**ing mechanic)
A) Good idea.

As for the brakes, I jacked up each wheel, and it spins easy, the rear wheel not at first, had to jack both wheels up and put it in Neutral, then both wheels spin in the same direction, not that easy to spin was only spinning the left rear, but both wheels turned the same direction & tail shaft turn too (so is it an LSD diff?)
A) LSD.

I think, you & Johnson stroker may be right about the exhaust. Should I remove it at the joint beside the gearbox and run it or will this harm the engine?
A) Will do no harm to the engine.

these are the usual causes of overheating:

o Damaged water thermostat. .
• Damaged water pump.
• Internal engine coolant leak.
• Cooling fan inoperative.
• Plugged radiator.
o Plugged heater core.

I notice from your post, that the only one you haven't looked at is the heater core.........

CHECK HEATER CORE OPERATION
• Install radiator cap.
Start engine
• As engine starts to warm up, feel the inlet and outlet heater water hoses. They should feel the same after three or four minutes.
• Is outlet heater water hose the same temperature as the Inlet core heater water hose?

You could also bypass the heater core by disconnecting the hoses from the heater core (inside the engine bay) Use a short piece of suitable pipe and hose clamps to join the two hoses together, and the run the engine.

Never heard of a mechanic doing a full rebuild of a motor just to fix overheating issues..this indicates that the mechanic has no idea.Engine may just have an air lock in cooling system,which will cause engine to overheat quickly as you describe.Been a while since i have worked on an Xd,but pretty sure there is a bleeder valve on the thermostat housing top bolt.Set heater controls to hottest position,run engine until at operating temperature(in your case it should get hot pretty quickly),loosen bleeder valve until a steady stream of coolant flows out of it ,then re-tighten bleeder valve.Stop engine and allow to fully cool,and top up coolant level.Also have a competent exhaust shop check exhaust system for blockages.Also check that the thermostat has not been installed backwards.
If the above sorts out the overheating issues,i would get an automotive engineer to write out a full report,and seek legal advice on obtaining a refund for all un-necessary work that was carried out by the (so-called) mechanic.

Hi SWC, creeture3 & zabatron

I will go thru the list and post the results

Today I will be at the hospital for an angiogram

So I don’t see me getting much done before Friday

Thank you all for helping

Also blocked water galleries in the cylinder head and engine block. A friend had cast iron shavings left from manufacturer in the engine block that eventually migrated to the radiator on his LTD. Nearly cooked the engine.

To build on this... Pull the thermostat out and try that... Then you should have loads of flow and ideally shouldn't even make operating temp on a normal car...

Does the XD have air con (not familiar with that model)... If so the condenser could be blocked with dirt and insects and impeding air flow through the radiator... Blow it out with compressed air... The go back out the way they wedged in without too much hassle...

There is a device that fits into a heater hose and you hook up a garden hose and compressed air to it and it will sort blow the s**t out of the bottom of the block... You could find someone with one and try that too...

Cheers,
Tim

Hi to all
After getting out of hospital last week, I made some phone calls as to zabatron suggestion, called the department of transport & ask if they knew of a good Automotive engineer, they recommended only one (this is the only engineer we trust as he has done all of the courses that the dept of transport has & We phone Him for advice on what is a legal modifications under the act)

I contacted Chris & told him what has happened he stated for $350. He will write a full report of the car, not just the engine the total vehicle

I had the car towed to his workshop , he first looked at all the invoices mum had from new, then started the inspection

The engine first.
Well so far it’s not looking good.
1. The hoses are not new as hoses are hard (just cleaned to look new)
2. The radiator not new because of corrosion inside (second hand with a coat of black paint & a new NatRad sticker too look new)
3. The radiator cap second hand cleaned up to look new
4. The water pump is new
5. The thermostat housing new but the thermostat is not has corrosion
6. The cooling system has stop leak add blocking heater core
7. The cylinder head is an xf efi head. reco? ( he would like to pull it off to make sure)
8. The carby not rebuilt as no new gaskets and has leak at butterfly shaft
9. AS for the engine being acid dipped & rebuilt ( in my professional opinion NO way in hell) reasons
10. 1. Sump gasket old & weeping oil, 2. block not clean enough to have been acid dipped ( has been cleaned only), 3. welsh plugs old ( just cleaned to look new)
11. Too confirm engine not rebuilt removed spark plugs & put inspection camera down each bore no honing marks bores are glazed confirmed not rebuilt
12. Also to confirm engine not rebuilt compression test cylinder 1. 170psi 2. 170psi 3. 180psi 4. 185psi 5. 170psi 6. 165psi
13. The spark plugs & leads & cap & rotor New
14. The dizzy Not reco just cleaned up
15. The coil No just cleaned to look new ( but by removing it behind coil still dirty)

That’s all Chris told me over the phone, will be Friday, Monday before he has time to complete report & print, but has reported the mechanic in question to the Dept of transport. Told them to pull his licence to write safety certificates & to audit the business, Because if this is the standard of his work he is going to kill someone

Chris did say this a*****e should have become a car detailer he is so bloody good at it.

I have got legal advice on obtaining a full refund on all work supposedly done & reimbursement for engineer report & towing

Thank you all for your help & advice
Also, my Mum said to thank those young fellers on the net thingy
So a Big Thank you from my Mum

from us all ... no problem mate


hope to hear more re engineer

I reckon:

- get full refund from bad mechanic, and punch him in the face

- pay the good mechanic to work on your car,

- with the remaining couple of grand in your pocket, give mum a good present by taking her on a nice warm family holiday to the tropics this winter.

Win/win.

Or just supercharge her XD and turn it into a roller coaster ride.