Cooling problem

[AdamDude04]

Well as many of you know, i went on a very long trip this month. I put a little over 4k miles on the Bronco in a meer 25 days.

I have an aftermarket water temp gauge installed to see what exactly I'm running at. The dash temp gauge works perfectly fine too, just doesn't give you a temp read out in the form of digits.

Anyway, I drove in below freezing weather for over 14hrs (mountain range/valley) and the temp gauge would read 140 degrees the whole trip. While idling (idle for a couple hours) it'll hang out around 180 degrees.

Factory OEM thermostat is rated at 195 degrees.. what exactly is going on with my truck? I want to think 140 degrees is too cool...

Possible thermostat is stuck open? If so, I would assume in the summer, with A/C running in 90-100 degree heat, driving down the highway, or sitting in stop/go traffic for a few hours it would overheat because eventually the coolant would heat up past a point of no return... but would never push above 210 degrees.

..and we all know how much of a PITA to replace the thermostat is!

 

[Bronc76]

Replace themostat, its probably stuck open like you said.

 

[Seabronc]

It is really not that much trouble to change. Just make sure that you put it in the right direction, (pay attention to the one you take out. Wipe a small amount of RTV, (I use Blue), around one side of the gasket and let it set in place a while before reinstalling the water neck, (just enough to keep it in place, don't gob it on).

Good luck,

>-

 

[AdamDude04]

IIRC the thermostat is behind an accessorie of some sort.. that needs to be removed before the thermostat will come out..?

 

[Krafty]

its under the thermostat housing that is on the top/ front of the motor which is also where the upper rad hose connects. you have to drain enough coolant out so the level is below the opening of the thermostat. usually two bolts hold the housing on, pull them out, pull out the old t-stat, take some thing flat and clean the old gasket and gunk off the housing and engine block. put in some t-stat/ water pump sealer on the housing where the groves are for the t-stat(helps keep the tstat in), put the gasket against the housing with the bolts and sealer to keep everything together, the hard part is making sure the t-stat doesn't slip out of its groove before the housing is flat against the engine block. if the t-stat slips out and you tighten the bolts the housing will crack and be useless. Take your time and be 100% sure everything is in the right place before you tighten the bolts up.

Good luck

 

[AdamDude04]

Okay well riddle me this..

In the summer in 90-100 degree heat, sitting in traffic, with A/C on and the temp never budged beyond 210 degrees. should I even change out the thermostat? What possible tune/MPG issues could I run into with a "stuck open" thermostat?

Just trying to understand - Not to create a hassle..

 

[AdamDude04]

its under the thermostat housing that is on the top/ front of the motor which is also where the upper rad hose connects. you have to drain enough coolant out so the level is below the opening of the thermostat. usually two bolts hold the housing on, pull them out, pull out the old t-stat, take some thing flat and clean the old gasket and gunk off the housing and engine block. put in some t-stat/ water pump sealer on the housing where the groves are for the t-stat(helps keep the tstat in), put the gasket against the housing with the bolts and sealer to keep everything together, the hard part is making sure the t-stat doesn't slip out of its groove before the housing is flat against the engine block. if the t-stat slips out and you tighten the bolts the housing will crack and be useless. Take your time and be 100% sure everything is in the right place before you tighten the bolts up.
Good luck

Thanks Krafty,

I have created a book that has my maint. history tracking back to 1989 up to date with every single thing that has been replaced/fixed in the last 20yrs. Sense I've the truck 2.5yrs ago, I have took notes of course of what has been fixed/replaced, but more importantly the process in how to fix/replace certain items. Every time I someone (like you) has posted a "how to", I always save the link, or print the instructions, and place them in my book for future replacement/fixin's. So Thank You.

^_^ /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[andre]

nise i like having you're perssonal shop manual

GOOD JOB