I was reading about a flush to help remove rust out of the engine block.
There were no detailed directions but something like this.. With the equipment I have.
I have a 8 to 10 gallon rectangle shaped stainless steel can that is about 14" high. I also have a 4500 GPM sump pump like this one from HF
1/2 HP Cast Iron Sewage Pump with Tethered Float 4500 GPH

That is 75 gallons per minute..
Disconnect the hoses from the radiator, bypass the heater core, and remove the thermostat. Extend the radiator hoses so they can reach the bucket. connect one end to the outlet on the pump and fasten the other hose so it cannot come out of the bucket. Put a filter of some kind over the open ended hose to catch any large particles that might come out. (filter such as pantyhose). Add enough water so the pump can work properly and add radiator flush made to help loosen rust. Add enough flush to account for the gallons of water used. Turn the pump on and let it flush the engine block. Start the engine and let it run while watching the temperature. Cut it off and let it cool down. Repeat several times for at least an hour. Swap hoses, change out the water, add new radiator flush and start the pump. This time it is back flushing in the opposite direction. I am not sure about starting the engine during the back flush. Run this for about an hour and reverse the flow once again. Do this 3 or 4 times till everything is coming out clean, then flush with clean water and finally distilled water. When done connect the hoses back and fill with proper ration of antifreeze.

I also read about another method but was too vague but involved forcing the water through the block along with an air hose connected forcing air bubbles and water through to agitate things lose.
Yet another method involved removing freeze plugs and flushing with high pressure.. But not sure just how many freeze plugs can be easily accessed with the engine in place..

 

IMHO, there is really no reason to do this....as far as this level of effort.....vinegar will do this as well - using the engine & via the water pump.

 

waste of time.

 

Well I don't want to flush anything through the newly cleaned out radiator..
The other problem is that i am still having overheating issues after having the radiator vatted and rodded out, new thermostat, new belt tensioner, new serpentine belt, new fan clutch, and installing a mechanical gauge. Before the engine would heat up when coming to a stop or sitting at a light. It has never really overheated but the temp gauge swings rapidly back and forth between 190F and 202F. That may be a bit higher as I believe the gauge may be off about 5 degrees. The thermostat is a 195F and starting the engine and letting it warm up in the yard, it never goes over 190F. The problem is when driving and particularly in OD. Driving around in D, the average temp on the gauge is 195F. At a stop it will slowly go down to 192F. If you stop for 30 seconds or so and start off, the temp will rapidly drop to 192F within 10 seconds of starting off.

In OD it will quickly rise up to 200F
Here is a video where I was in OD on the interstate. I was going about 65MPH and had just topped over a long grade and pulled the shifted down into D. Notice the temp was at 200F. After the temp dropped I put it back into OD and very shortly after started coasting onto the exit ramp. I come to a stop and start off and the temp drops.
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Right after the end of the last video, I pulled into a parking lot and did not stop. I simply slowed down and pulled back out onto the roadway. you can see how fast the temp drops to 190F
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What do you think,, could it be clogged water passages in the head or at least one on the left side near where the temp sensor goes into the intake? In OD the water is not flowing very fast and perhaps something is heating up in that area. Once the engine is revved up the water flows faster past the sensor and would be cooler.. ?

 

What can you do if a coolant passage if clogged other then pulling the engine?
Any other suggestions to try to solve this problem?
IF it were the water pump impeller rusted partly, it seems like it would heat up at idle as it would be pumping less water..
If the new T-stat was not opening all the way, could that cause it to run hotter in OD?
IT was in the upper 40's when I took the videos, What if it was 90F outside, it would be much hotter...

 

I don't see a problem with the temps you are running. 200 degrees in a van is nothing. Now if it kept climbing and didn't drop then I'd be worried. The Econolines always run warmer then an equivalent truck would run. They have tight engine compartments that like to hold in the heat.

If you are worried about it when the weather gets warmer then swap to a cooler thermostat next spring/summer.

The other things to check/consider would be the cooling fan itself. Does your van have a fan shroud? If it doesn't have a shroud the fan isn't going to be as efficient as far as pulling air through the radiator.

And another choice is a good quality electric fan/s. I'm not talking about the cheap crappy aftermarket fans. I'm talking about the Ford factory electric fans that came on the older Taurus ( nice dual fan ) or some other others. They move a LOT of cfms! I don't know who said but someone said "it pulls so much air with both fans on it could suck a cat through the radiator" . I like the dual fan electrics. You can wire them up so the second fan comes on with the A/C ( if you have A/C ) or if you van starts to run a little too warm hit a switch and the second fan comes on. Or you can also run a fancy controller. All my projects are getting the Taurus fans. Even my 91 F450 with a 7.3L diesel. There is also the benefit of electric fans freeing up a few HP.

If you have your heart set on flushing the system get a bottle or two of the commercially available flushing solutions. Or use the vinegar trick. Vinegar works great for dissolving rust/corrosion.

 

If I do need to reverse flush and engine block or radiator I use compressed air and city water. Had to clean out an engine and radiator on a 99 Ford car my son acquired last summer.
Cleaned it out real good.
You do have to remove the t-stat while doing the reverse flush.

Here is the flush gun I use for the job:


/

 

I concur.

 

If you have a 195 degree tstat, you should be seeing temps between 190 and 200; the tstat probably does not fully open till it's around 200 or more.

If your coolant is chronically brown and gunky or soupy that might be another issue but if the coolant looks fairly clean, you are probably fine. Repeat, 200 is NOT overheating. Electric cooling fans typically trigger at about 210 and when my newish cars sit for a while, the cooling fans will come on. 235 or 245 is beginning to be overheating. The antifreeze and pressure cap make the boiling point of the coolant 250 or more.

Modern cars are designed to run around 210 for the emissions stuff to work well.

You are using antifreeze and not water, right?

George

 

Thanks all for the help and advice... I have just never seen the temperature on a vehicle swing so quickly. I have the same gauge on my 85 e150 and it pretty much stays at 195.
Someone had suggested that if it had sat for a long time that it could be a clogged coolant passage. That the temp is rising somewhere near the temp sensor and when the rpm's are higher, the water moves faster so it cools the sensor quickly. So that got me worried.

Yesterdays forecast predicted that the temperature would only drop to 25 tonight, but now it says 20F and the antifreeze is probably right at the borderline. After replacing the radiator, the antifreeze in the block had a slight green tent and i only added 1 gallon of pure antifreeze when filling it.
According to this nifty fluid app, the coolant capacity is 18.5 qts dry.
AMSOIL Online Product Application Guide
According to the antifreeze chart, 1 gallon should be good down to 18F. Not counting that there was a light green tint to the water to start with...

I believe the system was flushed before I bought the van but I was planning on doing a quick this week just to see what comes out and go from there.. I have a bottle of the Prestone quick flush and a bottle of a NAPA flush that you run in the system for 6 to 8 hrs or 3 days.. SO that is why I haven't added the right mix of antifreeze yet.

The fan shroud is in god shape and in place. The fan clutch is a new heavy duty CCW clutch from NAPA. I am not sure how it is supposed to operate but I hear it when the engine is first started and up to about 30 to 35MPH. I do not hear it kick back in till I come to a stop and start back off again. Should it engage full speed anytime I am below 30 MPH?

I have something similar to the flush gun in the pic.. It may be a very old flush gun with different attachments (but I don't have them) as the tip does unscrew with a locking ring. You hook a water hose and air hose to it. It sprays water and when you pull the trigger it comes out with allot of force. With the tip that is on it, I always thought it was a parts washer of some kind. It sprays about a 3/8 stream of water and with the trigger pulled, it will knock off the hardest caked on grease..

After Wednesday it will warm back up and I planned on doing the flush then to see what comes out...

Again thanks and any suggestions welcome!

 

Your engine is NOT overheating. Quit watching that gauge. Those are normal fluctuations in the normal operating temperatures. If it gets up to around 230-240, then start to worry. 200* is perfectly normal

 

I might further set out a theory that thermostats would probably have a +-5% variance in the temps they open at (5 degrees is only 2.5%) but nothing makes me think you are overheating.

What I would worry about is getting a 45-50% antifreeze mix in that van before you have a hard freeze.

Ford made their van oil pressure gauges into idiot lights because too many people would worry about oil pressure when it got low but was within the right range at hot idle. So they have a switch at 10 lbs or some low figure that sends voltage to the gauge thru a resistor to keep the oil pressure slightly right of center.

Good luck, and don't worry be happy,
George

 

I have had reasonable success flushing the block using a home made city water/air combo. I disconnected the lower rad hose, and the heater hoses, attaching the air/water hose to each engine port for the heater in turn. If you can, remove the engine block plugs, but I suspect they may be in there tight by now, impossible to remove
Jeff

 

The thing he needs to realize is the Thermostat doesn't open and close instantly, the spring inside it moves pretty slowly as it regulates the flow through the valve. The temp sender reads variations much more quickly. He needs to drop a T-stat into a pot of water and heat the water on a stove and watch the T-stat operate to get an idea of this. Or just hold it and use a hair dryer to heat it and see this. Once you remove the heat source, the T-stat will not snap shut. Nor will it snap open when heat is applied.

 

if you're concerned about overheating and unsure if it's a gauge or sender issue, it is very easy and inexpensive to install an aftermarket temp gauge and hang it off under the dash. I would have to kinda wonder if only one valve cover had been replaced, and one exhaust manifold gasket (if that's the case) and if intake appears to have been off, if prior owner had blown a head gasket due to overheating, but I've read this thread over course of few days as posts appeared and might be forgetting.
As long as you have minimum 10 pounds oil pressure per 1,000 rpm and temp stays 220 and below, you're good to go.