96 villager overheating

[wood woman]

Hello!

My 96 villager doesn't have working air or heat. The mechanic said he'd have to pull out the dashboard to fix it. That's really not the problem, though. It's 100 degrees here this week and it's been overheating. When you turn on the heat, however, it draws heat off the engine so you can at least get where you're going without stalling. I've checked the coolant and it's full. Does anyone have any idea of what it might be? We'd really like to drive it till it drops and have had pretty good luck with it, other than doing stuff like replacing parts that have just worn slam out. BTW, it has 144,352 miles on it. Thanks.

[QuestOverload]

Does the fan kick on high? It's obvious when it does. How does it act when it's overheating (when does it do it, does it creep up or shoot up to hot, how hot has it gotten)? Does it always do it or is it random? One of ours does it at random, and I've personally replaced everything but the waterpump, which the lying previous owner said was done 6 months ago, and I've concluded that it's eaten up and not pumping right, but with a heat index of 113ºF, I'm not even touching the stupid thing right now! LOL
HTH
Questoverload

[Bob Mayo]

The first thing I would do is replace the thermostat. The part costs less than $20. and anyone who is handy with tools can replace it. Of course a shop is going to charge you over $100. to do it. If the thermostat fails to open the engine coolant cannot circulate and the engine will overheat. If that does not fix the problem you have not spent too much.

As for the AC/Heat problem.....does the blower motor turn on and blow air into the interior? If not then you could have a bad blower motor or fuse or relay. The dashboard does not have to be pulled out to replace the blower motor, only a couple panels under the passenger side dash. The part is about $75. and the labor should be no more than one hour.

[IH8SPM]

The system could also be air locked and needs to be bleed properly to remove excess air from the cooling system. In addition the may have a bad AC/heater control which does not turn on the ac. Check everything that is free and DYI then move on to be parts and mechanics. It works if you run the heater that is a sign of a small problem and not a big one.

[QuestOverload]

Originally Posted by Bob Mayo

As for the AC/Heat problem.....does the blower motor turn on and blow air into the interior? If not then you could have a bad blower motor or fuse or relay. The dashboard does not have to be pulled out to replace the blower motor, only a couple panels under the passenger side dash. The part is about $75. and the labor should be no more than one hour.

Good suggestions, I didn't even see the part about the blower fan not working. It could be the controller as was suggested, but I've never seen one make the front air quit, just the back. I'd bet money on the resistor pack on the heater box being toast and keeping the fan from getting juice. It's a Ford design straight out of 1962 and they've always been trouble, I replaced one in my 66 mustang, 91 escort and 93 villager in the same week. Came to find out the Escort one was actually good so I used it on the van, plugged right in. It's an easy DIY too, just pull the glovebox, which is a 5 minute job on a 95 and a 15 minute one on a 96, but it's still easy.

The resistor pack is ~$10-20 from PepBoys/AutoZone.ect

[Bob Mayo]

Originally Posted by QuestOverload

Good suggestions, I didn't even see the part about the blower fan not working. It could be the controller as was suggested, but I've never seen one make the front air quit, just the back. I'd bet money on the resistor pack on the heater box being toast and keeping the fan from getting juice. It's a Ford design straight out of 1962 and they've always been trouble, I replaced one in my 66 mustang, 91 escort and 93 villager in the same week. Came to find out the Escort one was actually good so I used it on the van, plugged right in. It's an easy DIY too, just pull the glovebox, which is a 5 minute job on a 95 and a 15 minute one on a 96, but it's still easy.

The resistor pack is ~$10-20 from PepBoys/AutoZone.ect

Hey QuestOverload, Ever change a front wheel bearing on a villager? See my post dated August 10. Thanks. Bob

[wood woman]

The motor that runs the fan had burnt out and had to be replaced. I guess at 144K miles it isn't surprising. This is the first time we've replaced it. It's been a pretty good vehicle and we've had it for 11 years. Thanks for all your sugguestions!