Ok, black fluid is not good. This could be a sign that oil may be getting into your coolant which would indicate a leaking head gasket. However, if the fluid has never been changed, and or green coolant added to the orange fluid, that can make the fluid look black also.
Having to add coolant means you have a leak. You will need to find the leak. If it is not leaking to the outside, it most likely is leaking at the intake manifold gasket. The fluid would be burned thru the engine, and that is why you cant see the leak.
Ok, why it over heats. Well, its not the thermostat if it takes that long to overheat. If the fans are not running, that is probably the reason for the overheating. If I remember correctly, you should have two fans that sit behind your radiator. One is the condensor fan, and the other is the coolant fan. The condensor fan should run whenever you select your air conditioning on and the compressor clutch is engaged. The second fan is commanded on by the PCM as needed for cooling. I belive the PCM gets its information from the ECT (Engine Coolant Temperature) sensor. It might not be a bad idea to replace that sensor.
These fans have their on relay to control them, and maxi-fuse #1 and #3 60amp for power. All of this should be checked to determine why the fans are not running.
On a side note, I would have the fluid drained, flushed and replaced. And manitor the fluid consumption and find out where it is going.
Wednesday, August 16th, 2006 AT 1:49 PM
