Hello, new member here from las vegas. Been having a super Dooper time wrenching all day long on fixing this dang thing! Its a 1990 f150 xlt lariet 4x4 5.0-302. Just replaced the radiator due too aa mysterious leak. New radiator came with longer transmission cooler fittings installed so there's play in between causing a gap. So I tried putting the older fitting into the radiator and for some reason it still wants to be difficult and leak. Tried to connect the fitting too the hard line first and using Teflon tape and a silicon gasket paste.

Sooo, what should I do? I may end up buying new lines if I can afford them. Going to home depot tomorrow try and find a alternative.

Also I changed the thermostat (almost set the truck on fire due to frustration) who designed this motor it sucks. Well now its leaking from the bottom I'm guessing I can't really view the leak to confirm. I'm thinking it could be because the thermostat isn't positiond correctly. Does it need to be held(via through the hose inlet) while tighting the bolts or any other weird things required to stop the leaking? I tightend the bolts very tight and its a new gasket.

Any help or advice would be awesome thank you in advance!

 

Well, dead forums for our trucks. I'm jumping ship back to BMWs lol. But I fixed it. Probably not how it should have been done but made a little blue rtv gasket maker to fix the thermostat leak and just caked on a few layers of the stuff around the transmission cooler in let line. So far seems to be running alright. Hope my next disaster gets some replys next time lol.

 

I'm guessing you tried installing the T-Stat and housing dry ? With no RTV to glue things in place while you started the bolts ? The transmission fittings on the radiator being loose sounds suspicious, that stuff's sizes are pretty much standardized. New lines ? Naw, just get a set off a J'Yard vehicle. I used a set off a 92 E150 van to plumb the cooler in my 77 Comet. The newer lines are stainless, or at least look it as they don't rust like the older stuff.