Overheating 5.4
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Freshman User
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32
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From: West Monroe, La
Overheating 5.4
Recently purchased a 2001 F250 5.4 auto from an shadetree auto dealer. Within the first 100 miles it overheated, figured bad t-stat but when i went to change it found that it had been removed. The dealer offered no help, eventually i talked to the previous owner who self diagnosed it as junk. Sitting idling in my driveway temp was 210+ on Scan gauge II with no t-stat so i figured had blown head gasket. Resurfaced heads, valve job, head gaskets, t-stat, now sits at 188-193 in driveway, but once i drive it further than 1 mile temp starts to rise and will not come back down. Appears to have new water pump, what would make this erratic temp climb when under load but not sitting idling? driving speed in my neighborhood of 20-30 mph
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Freshman User
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32
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From: West Monroe, La
The water pump is brand new aluminum color just like my fresh from the machine shop heads. radiator is next on my list and lower hose, if that doesnt solve it gonna change the water pump using a motorcraft one
More Turbo
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 740
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oh ok, you didn't share that information. Some people just shotgun parts at a problem. did you have the heads magnafulxed to check for cracks in the coolant passages? Any coolant loss?
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Freshman User
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32
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From: West Monroe, La
No coolant loss until it actually overheats, watching scan gauge the whole time. Can't make it but maybe a mile down the road before temps start climbing and the it will not cool itself down. Idling in driveway last night it sat for 45 min then got on up to 202-206 and wouldn't cool back down, putting water pump on it now. The head job did bring the temps down but whatever caused the blown headgasket is still out there.
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Freshman User
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32
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From: West Monroe, La
Can't find any vacuum leaks, water pump seemed to help, went twice as far then temps starting going up again. Run water through radiator and it comes out just as fast as it goes in nice and clear, not sure if i should take it out and let a shop check the radiator or not. Running water over radiator doesn't help either, temps dont go up or down
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Tuned
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 293
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From: Central Illinois
If at all possible, pull the radiator and have it checked out by a good radiator shop.
The reason I say that is because I've had radiators that, when flushed with clear water, would run clear as could be and still be pretty well mucked up inside.
These modern engines don't tolerate overheating at all and higher operating temps will continue to cause problems. The older engines would tolerate some overheating and still live. I've had gasoline powered grain trucks that ran relatively hot for years and years and never gave any trouble but those days are over.
The reason I say that is because I've had radiators that, when flushed with clear water, would run clear as could be and still be pretty well mucked up inside.
These modern engines don't tolerate overheating at all and higher operating temps will continue to cause problems. The older engines would tolerate some overheating and still live. I've had gasoline powered grain trucks that ran relatively hot for years and years and never gave any trouble but those days are over.
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Freshman User
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32
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From: West Monroe, La
The problem with the 202-206 idle temp is that when truck is put in gear and drove it pukes coolant within 1-2 miles and then never will cool itself off. BUT i did notice that i had been slipping the water hose in next to the hood latch to try and cool it down, i pulled the rubber back and slid my hand down in there and noticed that the passenger side across 75% of the radiator was cool. Bottom line I took it to the shop they said it wasnt blocked but removed tank and cleaned out radiator and I put it back in and no over heating, temps dont get over 193 and have been in the 188-191 range on the 5 mile test drive i gave it today. Gonna give it a 50 miile round trip Monday and see if all goes well. Thank you everybody for the comments and next time I'll just pull that rubber back and feel the radiator before having a panic attack...lol sometimes i forget the most basic things
Junior User
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 77
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From: Missouri
It may be possible that the radiator had a leak at some point and there might be a chance that someone used a stop leak additive, i have seen that stuff cause major issues with the cooling systems.
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