1993 ford taurus overheated and water start coming out of the overflow tank. What could that be from?

The big question is it overheating because of coolant loss (a leak or leaks) or is the overheating caused by a jammed thermostat, blocked radiator or the cooling fan not working.
This is the confusing chicken-and-egg situation that often faces the diagnostician, especially as when checked the coolant level is likely to be low in both cases and overheating can create coolant leaks...
Furthermore when an older engine overheats a lot or boils it can begin a chain of events that causes great expense and inconvenience over an extended period of time...

In your case it would seem the coolant is low because of a leak and that is what caused the overheating. Clearly you need to trace the leak and I can be of little help in the matter other than to suggest a hose can fail at any time and although regular inspections can greatly reduce the chances it can't entirely eliminate the possibility. Water pumps on the other hand, often aren't accessible for inspection without removing lots of stuff but they are generally very reliable and tend not to suddenly start gushing coolant. Most often they are responsible for a minor mystery coolant loss that gradually gets worse over an extended period.

I am wondering if the previous owner could have known something about the problem.

Locating the leak would generally mean getting under the car and removing any undershield components in order to narrow the area of the leak and then remove any further components until eyes can be rested on the actual source of the leak.

It could be a few things. When it is warm put your hand in the center of the radiator if it is warm good if it is cold the radiator is plugged.
It could be the thermostat which is the cheapest or the big problem it could also be head gaskets.

The pulley that releases tension is on the passenger side and has a 1/2" square breaker bar hole to put a 1/2" breaker bar (2 feet long) into that you can get from Sears or an auto parts store that sells tools.

I would check the fluid level in the overflow tank to make sure there is enough coolant in the system.

Then, I would consider having it flushed and filled with new coolant.

I would check for slow leaks out of the water pump area on the passenger's side. There is an oil and coolant cover gasket on the side of the engine that sometimes leaks in the vicinity of the water pump.

We have a 1998 Ford Taurus that had this problem, and it took a few hundred dollars to fix the leak.

I had this problem with my 6.0L diesel. It turned out to be the head gasket. Compression psi was getting into the water jacket in the cylinder head and forcing all the water out through the overflow bottle. Check the psi of the overflow water reservoir, especially under load (acceleration, etc).

yeah most likely a blown head gasket. if it blew across to a cylinder then compression will build pressure in the cooling jackets of the head and into the cooling system

3.0? you most likely overheated the engine, warping the heads.
Having the head gaskets replaced may fix this.
Get it looked over.

have u bled the cooling system ?warm the car and cut the car off right before the fans come on ,let sit for 30-35 minutes,see if the coolant drops in res. if so repeat process untill coolant stops droping ,then drive car regularly if overheating stops ,but monitor it because it will drop somemore/there has been reports of new and rebuilt water pumps nt having correct propelar mounted on them/ backwards etc. if this helps let me know [email protected]

The coolant recovery tank doesn't really have specification per se' . The heat from the coolant overflow won't affect the tank in the manner you are speaking of. Its purpose is to simply catch whatever yhere is in overflow and retain it for reintroduction into the radiator as it cools. normally they have aroun a two quart capacity and the only true concern is if it leaks. good luck

the thermostat can be easily changed from up top, the T-stat is located at the engine end of the upper radiator hose under the flange the hose connects to. Make sure u follow manufacturer's cooling system bleeding procedures when you refill after the T-stat is changed out.

Ford 2000 Taurus

To solve the problem you have the things to do in this order;

) When the engine is cold top off the radiator with fluid. (When the pump was replaced the fluid should have been also)
) Make sure the radiator fluid has anti-freeze in it. This is also anti boil also !
) Add fluid to the overflow reservoir.
) Make sure the drive belt was replaced on the water pump.
) With the engine running, you can add fluid to the radiator for the first minute or so. You want to get air pockets out.
) Replace radiator cap.
) Let car warm up. When it's hot you should get the radiator fan coming on.
) When it get hotter the air-conditioning fan may come on.
) If the fan does not come on, the heat sensor is probably bad.
) If all fans come on, and it overheats, you may have a bad thermostat. Trace the upper radiator hose to where it connects to the engine. That's where it located.

Do not operate the engine when it overheats, You will damage the head gaskets and cause radiator fluid to leak into the cylinders.
If you smell radiator fluid in the exhaust fumes, it may already be leaking.