Hi folks,
I am looking for some help identifying what went wrong with my 2003 Mountaineer (4.0 V6 SOHC, RWD). I haven't done much diagnosing yet but plan to this weekend once the rain stops.
Here's the story: Several weeks ago the Wife was finishing a 300+ mile trip, got to within 5 miles of home when she saw the temp shoot up. I figure out it was the lower Thermostat Housing had failed. I end up replacing both housings, thermostat, all radiator hoses & heater hoses, water pump, and temperature sensor. I also pressure tested the cooling system afterwards to make sure the head gaskets were ok, and had no oil in coolant/coolant in oil, no steam, and no rough idle.
About a week after that with some short city drives daily, wife (again) made a 5 mile drive or so, and then said she had steam pouring out from the hood and the car had idled very rough. I get there, car ran fine but I find a freeze plug had fallen out (I'd replaced this a few years ago with a rubber-compression type plug). Again pressure tested the system and test drove it for a good 45 minutes.
The next morning (today) I go about a 5 mile drive and I notice the temp gauge starts climbing a little, but didn't go above 3/4. I get to a stop light and the car is vibrating at idle, a constant even vibration, not a ragged/rough idle of a misfire. Light turns green and I start to go but car has zero power. I pull off the road, put it in park and check hood. See nothing but do smell some steam. In park I give a little gas, engine revs just fine. Put it in drive again and zero power. Check hood again and see steam pouring out of the Air Filter Box. No steam from exhaust at this time. I turn off engine and it does not restart. Still no oil in coolant or coolant in oil, and no codes/CEL.
That's about where I am now. I'm not sure what could cause the steam to come out of the intake that way, and it was not just a little puff but a large amount of steam enough to saturate the air filter.
I wont have the time or the weather allowance to really look at things until Sunday or so, but if anyone has any ideas on where I can start looking or what may have caused either Steam from the Air Box, the shaking at low rpm, or the loss of power I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you all in advance for your time!
I am looking for some help identifying what went wrong with my 2003 Mountaineer (4.0 V6 SOHC, RWD). I haven't done much diagnosing yet but plan to this weekend once the rain stops.
Here's the story: Several weeks ago the Wife was finishing a 300+ mile trip, got to within 5 miles of home when she saw the temp shoot up. I figure out it was the lower Thermostat Housing had failed. I end up replacing both housings, thermostat, all radiator hoses & heater hoses, water pump, and temperature sensor. I also pressure tested the cooling system afterwards to make sure the head gaskets were ok, and had no oil in coolant/coolant in oil, no steam, and no rough idle.
About a week after that with some short city drives daily, wife (again) made a 5 mile drive or so, and then said she had steam pouring out from the hood and the car had idled very rough. I get there, car ran fine but I find a freeze plug had fallen out (I'd replaced this a few years ago with a rubber-compression type plug). Again pressure tested the system and test drove it for a good 45 minutes.
The next morning (today) I go about a 5 mile drive and I notice the temp gauge starts climbing a little, but didn't go above 3/4. I get to a stop light and the car is vibrating at idle, a constant even vibration, not a ragged/rough idle of a misfire. Light turns green and I start to go but car has zero power. I pull off the road, put it in park and check hood. See nothing but do smell some steam. In park I give a little gas, engine revs just fine. Put it in drive again and zero power. Check hood again and see steam pouring out of the Air Filter Box. No steam from exhaust at this time. I turn off engine and it does not restart. Still no oil in coolant or coolant in oil, and no codes/CEL.
That's about where I am now. I'm not sure what could cause the steam to come out of the intake that way, and it was not just a little puff but a large amount of steam enough to saturate the air filter.
I wont have the time or the weather allowance to really look at things until Sunday or so, but if anyone has any ideas on where I can start looking or what may have caused either Steam from the Air Box, the shaking at low rpm, or the loss of power I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you all in advance for your time!