new cooling system: radiator, hoses, coolant, t-stat, water pump, gaskets, etc... There is maybe 5,000 miles on the new cooling system. Radiator does have full coolant as well.

Over the past few weeks I've noticed a faint wining noise coming from the "engine". I say it in quotes because noises can travel. My initial thought was "oh typical ford power steering whine". I wasn't low on fluid but just to be safe tried some Lucas Power Steering Fluid Conditioner (i'm rather skeptical of these snake oils by the way...but the way our economy is and with less $ in my monthly budget to be throwing at this work truck i figured it can't hurt). The noise didn't go away.

Driving home two days ago I noticed the temp jump from 180ish to 210 degrees. Moving on the highway at at least 50 the temp dropped to about 200.

Now I'm thinking this could be a cooling fan issue. Would the clutch make a whining noise at idle perhaps if it was going bad? If it wasn't engaging could this also cause over heating or are they designed to fail in the locked up position? I'm just trying not to throw good money after bad.

I should also mention the engine started running rougher and pulsing a big as if I was on a wavy/slightly bumpy road. Another way I'd put it is if it was running on 7 cylinders. I could almost attribute this to the higher engine temp causing combustion issues.


Lastly I had another thought: could my catalytic converter be clogged?? There is an aftermarket one on the truck and since I got the truck I pulled the smog pump off... so that cat has gotten 5,000 miles of raw emissions pushed through it, no a.i.r.

As for the whine, Im thinking this could be totally unrelated. Would a transmission pump make a noise of it was low? I haven't checked the trans fluid....i'll do that now


Any thoughts much appreciated.

 

A lean condition will cause a surging feeling at steady highway speeds, as well as increased temp. Possible fuel pressure problem.. I'd try a fuel filter first. If you have access to a fuel pressure gauge see what pressure you have while driving. It could be a number of other things also.