Odd Focus cooling problem

Lately, I've been having a problem with the cooling system on my car that
has both me and the dealer at a loss for an explanation.

The car is a 2001 (North American market) Focus ZTS. It has the 2.0L Zetec
engine and automatic transaxle. When I drive around town, the temperature
gauge indicates that the car is running warmer than normal. (I used the
dash's "test mode" to get an exact number: 112 deg C, where normal appears
to be about 106C.) What's more worrisome to me is that when I take it out
on the open road, and drive at highway speeds, the needle travels nearly all
the way to the red zone, staying at 118 deg C. Once, it made it to the red
zone (120C) but quickly dropped back down to 118C. Strangely, the car will
lose a degree or two sitting at a light, but will warm up once back
underway.

For the first seven years I drove it, the temperature needle never went past
the halfway mark, so this behavior is pretty alarming. I took it to the
dealer, and they did the following:

* Pressure test on the coolant system, and discovered a crack in the coolant
recovery tank. Replaced tank, and the thermostat. That was a problem,
but apparently not *the* problem, since it had no effect on the
temperature.
* Re-ran the pressure test. No leaks found.
* Tested the engine block. No leaks there, either. (Thank goodness!)
* Checked the coolant flow through the radiator. Situation normal.
* Checked the thermostat again. Normal.
* Checked the fan and associated relays. They seemed fine. (Actually, I
could have told them that. I can hear the fan roaring at high speed after
just about every highway trip.)
* Checked the temperature sender and gauge. They also seemed to be working
normally.

They spoke with Ford Engineering, which claimed that up to three-quarters of
the gauge is normal (!), so they suggested they I drive it for a while, and
let them know if the temperature went much higher than that.

So, does anyone know what the normal range of temperature is for this
engine? I suspect 117-118C is too high. Perhaps more importantly, has
anyone else here seen this problem?
--
Benjamin Robinson bjr7.RemoveThis@freenet.tlh.fl.us
This message may or may not contain sarcastic content; your burden to decide
"I'm naked, clueless, and f-e-e-e-ling good!" -- Ratbert

* Checked the coolant flow through the radiator. Situation normal.

did you just check if there was flow or did you check if there was the
proper amount of flow?


"Benjamin Robinson" <bjr7 RemoveThis @freenet.tlh.fl.us> wrote in message
news:47d9edfd.17795376@news.east.earthlink.net...
> Lately, I've been having a problem with the cooling system on my car that
> has both me and the dealer at a loss for an explanation.
>
> The car is a 2001 (North American market) Focus ZTS. It has the 2.0L
> Zetec
> engine and automatic transaxle. When I drive around town, the temperature
> gauge indicates that the car is running warmer than normal. (I used the
> dash's "test mode" to get an exact number: 112 deg C, where normal
> appears
> to be about 106C.) What's more worrisome to me is that when I take it out
> on the open road, and drive at highway speeds, the needle travels nearly
> all
> the way to the red zone, staying at 118 deg C. Once, it made it to the
> red
> zone (120C) but quickly dropped back down to 118C. Strangely, the car
> will
> lose a degree or two sitting at a light, but will warm up once back
> underway.
>
> For the first seven years I drove it, the temperature needle never went
> past
> the halfway mark, so this behavior is pretty alarming. I took it to the
> dealer, and they did the following:
>
> * Pressure test on the coolant system, and discovered a crack in the
> coolant
> recovery tank. Replaced tank, and the thermostat. That was a problem,
> but apparently not *the* problem, since it had no effect on the
> temperature.
> * Re-ran the pressure test. No leaks found.
> * Tested the engine block. No leaks there, either. (Thank goodness!)
> * Checked the coolant flow through the radiator. Situation normal.
> * Checked the thermostat again. Normal.
> * Checked the fan and associated relays. They seemed fine. (Actually, I
> could have told them that. I can hear the fan roaring at high speed
> after
> just about every highway trip.)
> * Checked the temperature sender and gauge. They also seemed to be
> working
> normally.
>
> They spoke with Ford Engineering, which claimed that up to three-quarters
> of
> the gauge is normal (!), so they suggested they I drive it for a while,
> and
> let them know if the temperature went much higher than that.
>
> So, does anyone know what the normal range of temperature is for this
> engine? I suspect 117-118C is too high. Perhaps more importantly, has
> anyone else here seen this problem?
> --
> Benjamin Robinson
> bjr7 RemoveThis @freenet.tlh.fl.us
> This message may or may not contain sarcastic content; your burden to
> decide
> "I'm naked, clueless, and f-e-e-e-ling good!" -- Ratbert