2000 Mercury Sable Mercury Sable DOHC

2000 MERCURY SABLE
16,000 MILES • 6 CYL • 2WD • AUTOMATIC
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MAXWS
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A few months ago I lost heat in the car so I checked the coolant and saw that it was low. I added some more and the heat went back to normal in the car. After a week, I lost heat again and I saw that it need more coolant. I checked for a hose leak and found nothing. Also the engine had been operating at normal temperature. A few days later, the car stalled and although I was able to make it home, the car ran poorly and hotter than normal. I understand that this might be a blown head gasket, but it doesn't seem to have very many symptoms (no smell, no coolant or water in the oil, no smoking). I'm assuming the car has lost manifold vacuum because I lost power in the brakes. I was told it might be the intake manifold gasket, but if this is the case, where is all the coolant going? Thanks for any help you can give.
May 3, 2010 at 4:12 PM
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JACOBANDNICKOLAS
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The coolant has to be going somewhere. Are you sure there are no leaks, nothing in the oil, and the exhaust isn't white.
Jun 10, 2010 at 9:14 AM
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MAXWS
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Turns out the car had two unrelated problems that occurred around the same time, leading me to believe they were linked. I though the head gasket went because it was losing coolant and there was no manifold vacuum. The problem was I had a small coolant leak that was dripping in a weird spot that was hard to see (that's why there was no coolant on the ground). As for the vacuum leak, it was a pcv valve. I fixed both problems and the car is back to normal. Thanks for the help.
Jun 10, 2010 at 5:13 PM
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JACOBANDNICKOLAS
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I'm glad you found the problems. Let us know if you have questions in the future, and thanks for using 2carpros.com.

Joe
Jun 11, 2010 at 11:54 PM