Question-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
1999 Ford Taurus
Could a Differential Pressure Feedback EGR sensor have broken from having overheated from a lack of coolant in the engine? Likewise, could a broken thermostat have been caused by driving the automobile with no coolant in the engine? What would happen to the area where coolant flows if the car is driven without coolant - when i replaced the coolant after the dealer drained it and did not inform me of this action, the coolant was black from having passed through the system once.
I am trying to determine whether any of these recent problems in the week since my car was last in the shop are related (they replaced the alternator) - I want to know if the problems i asked about above were caused by the dealer either trying to sabotage my car by draining all of the engine's coolant, or if it was from their plain ignorance.
Thank you very much for your help
Answer -
Greg-
I would tend to shy away from the idea that they purposely attempted to damage your car. They certainly sound negligent...but to damage it on purpose would be pretty spiteful. And yes, all of the problems you listed could be caused by a lack of coolant altogether. Most engine parts an corresponding sensors and euqipment are made to run at the high end of operating temperature...preferably around 240 degrees or lower. Running an engine without any coolant would exceed that rather highly in a short period of time. I doubt the actual coolant passages would be damaged, but other parts can be severly damaged due to overheating, things like gaskets. I would ask the shop to repair any damage you have now as well as do a leakdown and compression test to make sure the head gaskets are in good shape. Head gaskets in particular are vulnerable to problems if the engine overheats. Hope this helps.
Steve
While the dealer was determining the cause of the dashboard battery light coming on, is it possible to have drained the liquid in order to find the problem? Also, could the coolant have been taken out as part of the repair process, which was the alternator?
AnswerGreg-
I honestly can't see a reason to remove the coolant in either instance. Unless the needed to remove something like the water pump to get to the alternator, it doesn't make much sense. Tauruses aren't really my specialty and dealerships have their own little ways of doing things, but I just don't see why they did it. Hell...you could probably just ask them. There's absolutely no reason to drain the coolant for a check engine light so you can rule that out as a justification. Hope this helps.
Steve
