Hello new to the aerostar world just got a free 93 4.0 long red aerostar with the automatic and xl. grandparents got to old to drive and told somebody to come get it. has 96,xxx miles on it. recently had a 95 aerostar radiator put on it after an accident. been sitting awhile. I want to use it for my 90mile round trip to work everyday.
heres my problem the temperature needle keeps moving put in a new thermostate flushed radiator added new antifreeze and still happening. i know the motor isn't getting hot but the heat isnt working either. its been sitting for 3 years as well. read a few threads about getting it warm running the heat. nothings working. my guess is theirs a heater hose stopped up or something.
What is yalls opinions?
Thanks for any help.

 

there may be a heater control valve that's stuck closed, or the air blend door is stuck.

look under the hood toward the passenger side for the heater hoses. they would be right up against the inner wall under the hood. If there is a block that the hoses go through with a vacuum line attached, that's the control valve. you could try to pull it off to see if it's stuck. The hoses attach to the heater core with a slip-on fitting that requires a special tool to disconnect, and often times will refuse to even with the tool. I broke mine, cut off the fitting, and used hose clamps to clamp them back onto the nipples on the heater core.

For the air blend door, you will need to remove the heater core to get to it. That's under the dash, in front of the glove box. It's a bit of a pain to get to, and you have to disconnect the heater hoses from the core. I've heard of rodents building nests there, or leaves collecting, jamming the door.

 

Thanks for the reply I will check these things and report back. Thanks

 

Got lucky I found an ink pen holding the door open heat works great now and the temp gauge is steady. Thanks for the help.
Now gotta get the oil pressure up the needle is sating pretty close to the N thinking the screen maybe getting clogged. Best way to clean it?

 

the sensor is just a switch with a resistor in the gauge line. reads the current set by the fixed resistor. keeps the soocer moms out of service managers hair.
not a real oil pressure gauge.

either the sensor switch is stuck or the hole on end is plugged or wire is broken/shorted or failed in the dash.

 

Since it's a switch, it's either on or off. If it's not down to zero, that means it's sensing enough pressure to show SOMETHING on the gauge. If it's down to zero, it will usually trigger some alarm, at least on the electronic panel. If the pressure is really so low as to drop the gauge reading to zero, then your engine would be making a big racket.

So just see if it goes from zero with the engine off to SOME reading when the engine is started.

 

Asavage has written a nice article on how to change your oil gauge to a real gauge here:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...auge-3-0l.html

Definitely Worth the effort!

 

Ford didn't put that valve on Aeros until 1994. His '93 won't have one.

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Change that coolant often!

 

thanks guys got it working

 

Or run waterless coolant, problems solved.

 

Waterless coolant is known for its lower thermal transfer ability at the factory recommended optimal operating temperature. Mechanical clearances are set for a certain design temperature. Also, Waterless coolant is thicker in viscosity, so it may require more energy to pump it, resulting in lower fuel economy.

Always be wary of rapacious "Celebrities" endorsing products for income.


Why does Waterless coolant cost 3-4 times as 50/50 ethylene glycol???

Evans Waterless Coolant (via Evans MSDS-Material Safety Data Sheet):

- Ethylene Glycol (66–70%)
- Propylene Glycol (+-30%) <--- this amount varies depending on product.
- Water (<0.10%)
- Corrosion Inhibitor (<2%)

Something doesn't add up in the $40-45 price of their $12 worth product.

From ALLDATA (concerning the Ford Aerostar):

Ford Motor Company does not recommend nor endorse the use of engine coolants made with propylene glycol in Ford vehicles. Ford Motor Company currently recommends the use of ethylene glycol-based engine coolants.

There is a very entertaining discussion at a Bronco "Radiator coolant" thread, and also at a 6.0L Power Stroke Diesel "Waterless coolant" thread.

Never use tap water in 50/50 coolant mix, always use distilled water!

 

Interesting post CourierYVR. One thing doesn't make sense though, he claims the waterless coolant is non-toxic. Yet your MSDS data indicates it's mostly ethylene glycol; i.e. the poisonous substance found in anti-freeze. Another thing the salesman is being somewhat disingenuous on is that ethylene glycol based antifreeze sold in ten states today contains a bittering agent that takes away the sweet taste that entices animals and possibly children from drinking it (with fatal results). From the looks of it, running straight ethylene glycol antifreeze would offer similar results at a fraction of the price.

 

Actually from what I have read, ethylene glycol maxes out at the 70% mix level with water in its effectiveness as an anti-freeze. In other words, 100% ethylene glycol would freeze at about 10 degrees ferinheight (-12 celcius), whereas a 70% mix of ethylene glycol and water would freeze at about -60 degrees ferinheight (-51 celcius). I know, it doesn't seem to make any sense. But bottom line is, never exceed 70% ethylene glycol in the coolant mixture.

Both ethylene and propylene glycol are "mildly" toxic and poisonous, both are odorless, colorless, and sweet syrupy. They fall into the same category as alcohol (ethanol based and organic). Consume too much, and you are poisoned.

Waterless Coolant is not snake oil, it probably works almost as good as the factory recommended coolant (at triple the cost), than what those brilliant automotive engineers with countless degrees in chemistry came up with. Some people in this forum seem to be wanna be automotive chemical engineers, with an ellivated arrogance and egotism, and into promoting their supposed factory brand names thinking they are superior products, when in reality, the automotive manufacturers facilitate certain and inferior third party products in order to increase their bottom line profits.