Temperature issues - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

juarez · 03-13-2003, 14:47

My engine has been running at pretty decent temperatures lately, but as soon as I start pushing it hard (3500rpm+), the temperature rises right up near the top of the normal range (after maybe 1-2 minutes of hard driving, maybe less).

It is a four speed, so the radiator is apparently of a suitable size, but I was wondering:

Can I fit a V8 radiator?

Can I fit thermatic fans, and do these work well in an EA? (I've heard lots of good news and lots of bad news, so I still cannot figure it out)?

On hot days, when I have the aircon on, it heats up a lot (especially in peak hour traffic, when it is sitting still for a long time), and then it runs incredibly poorly (like, it will not go above 2000rpm, and is completely sluggish), which is really annoying.

I have put this one down to two things: Engine temperature which makes LPG go silly and the resulting additional strain on the engine because of the fan going crazy trying too cool the engine down.

So, can someone tell me if a different radiator plus thermatics would fix this problem?

AUII_Forte · 03-13-2003, 15:12

Try changing the thermostat and giving the radiator a GOOD flush. They have a tendancy to block up with sand from when the block was cast. Appart from minimal performance, you also have things like blown headgaskets, warped heads and even cracked heads to worry about when the car runs to hot. My cooling system is completely standard running a clutch fan and it NEVER hits the normal zone, it's always under it even on hot days in stop start traffic.

Martin · 03-13-2003, 17:52

Yeah try a new thermostat first.

The Goodz · 03-13-2003, 18:26

My problem is pretty much the same aswell, it used to never get up to the normal box. I changed my thermostat, no difference. I even changed my coolant tank cap because the seal was a bit stuffed, no difference. There is no loss of water, the belts are fine, so I am thinking it is the radiator thats left. It doesn't hurt to get them flushed out anyways.

Alex

EFFalcon · 03-13-2003, 19:30

With the gas thing, i found that with my car when the car was getting hot, (i was missing about 4 litres of water) the gas would cut off (it was freezing before it got to the engine) so the car would struggle to get over 2000rpm and sometimes stall, ofcourse after topping up the coolant all is fine, but still i'm glad the gas was there to give me an indication of something like that being wrong, the temp guage wasnt going any higher then mid way up the normal range.

juarez · 03-14-2003, 14:40

How do you remove the radiator? Theres this metal hose on drivers side radiator side tank - wont budge, the bolts on it are damn tight.. should I remove it or is it part of the A/C gas system (eg. do I need to get the car de-gassed)?

There are a lot of leaves between A/C radiator and engine radiator, so just cleaning them off would help, but I wanna get it out to remove the side tanks and clean them out properly.

VanGelder · 03-14-2003, 19:00

Juarez, those metal hoses come from your transmission, your radiator also cools your transmission.
To able to take your radiator out, you have to disconnect these "metal hoses", I know the bolts are tight but trust me they will come off. I've replaced the radiator in my ED and it took me just over half an hour, BTW you can pick up a new radiator for $200 and a reconditioned one for $75-$90.
The car basically ran like new with new radiator, it never even came close to overheating afterwards. Plus the transmission seemed to shift alot smoother. But yeah if you haven't got the dollars, just get rid of all the leafes and dirt, give the radiator a good flush and reverse flush and also flush the engine out.
And get a new thermostat + gasket.
Also, I think Zanstetuken (spelling) who is a member on these forums did a nice tutorial on how to flush your radiator, on his website.

03-14-2003, 20:54

EAIIFairmont it's not a good thing your temperature never gets to the Normal Zone, it should be. Not only will you use more petrol, you put additional stress on the motor as it can never reach operating temperature. You should check your thermostat dude, it's probably rated too low.

A cold engine is not a good engine, thats why they invented thermostats. Don't try to get your engine below the normal zone, performance/fuel economy will be reduced and engine wear will increase.

juarez · 03-14-2003, 23:13

Thanks for all the help.. after I wrote my last post, I had another try at the tranny hoses, and found that the joiner down further is easier to get open (not the one ON the radiator). After a big more pushing and pulling, I got it out, big flush through with the hose, got the water comming out clear after a lot of time, then I sprayed the gunk out from between the filaments, so I could actually see through the radiator.

Removed the big leaves from around / underneath the radiator, put it back in, got it all connected, in with the coolant, and away it went.

The only problem is, I left it idling and the LPG unit froze over (it obviously cools TOO well..), after it thawed out, it ran great

It barely gets more than half-way along the normal section, and usually sits lower and drops much lower when you ease off the accelerator. For $20 of coolant fluid, it was a very worthwhile job :)

Aussiblue · 03-15-2003, 21:12

BTW while a dual acting thermostat should be fitted to most E series sixes apparently the reason Ford started issuing single acting ones as replacements was that the dual acting ones didn't work too well with LPG cars (this is what I was told by Ford) so in this case it might be worth swapping to a single acting T stat.