Radiator fitment
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Mar 2018
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From: Puyallup, WA
The IR temp gun says 150F at the thermostat housing. I bought a new thermostat and gasket I'll put in tomorrow. I'm also starting to see a leak from the heater core so I'll replace that tomorrow too.
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When you remove the old thermostat, you can test it simultaneously with the new one before installation. It will only take ten minutes or so. I went through a troubleshooting ordeal on my car last summer. The old thermostat had failed but I was in a hurry (never good) and skipped testing the new one. Sure enough it was also bad, but it took me a while to realize it...
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 233
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From: Puyallup, WA
The new thermostat seems to have done the trick as far as the truck not warming up but I'm still a little surprised I'm not getting more heat out of the new heater core. The parts guy sold me two so I had both with me when I was working and I had to return the larger of the two he gave me but I'd still expect it to be warmer.
The temp gauge will get up to the A, but then drops a little when the thermostat opens. Is this large fluctuation in the gauge normal in these old trucks? On a positive and unrelated note I got my new cluster in today! I was able to pick up a stock tachometer. It's amazing how much easier it is to see the gauges after I cleaned it all while it was apart.
The temp gauge will get up to the A, but then drops a little when the thermostat opens. Is this large fluctuation in the gauge normal in these old trucks? On a positive and unrelated note I got my new cluster in today! I was able to pick up a stock tachometer. It's amazing how much easier it is to see the gauges after I cleaned it all while it was apart.
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From: Virginia
The fluctuation is not the gauge itself, that is the thermostat opening and all that cold water from the radiator goes into the engine. Depending on how cold it is, it will shut the thermostat back. The the engine has to warm the coolant a little bit again till it opens the thermostat again. On a really cold day, I have seen this happen up to 3 or 4 times before it settles out.
My truck had the problem with heat also. New heater core and everything like yours. Mine had A/C. I took the housing off from the engine side of the firewall that holds the A/C cooling coil. The A/C coil was almost totally blocked with mud. The coil gets wet and then dirt hits it and over time it clogs it up. While I had it off I was able to reach up in the hole in the firewall in the center of the dash area and clean out all the pens, pencils, watches, etc that had fallen in the defrost duct and gotten down in the system. Once I did all this and put it back together, that heater would run you out of that truck. Also make sure you do not have any rust holes behind the seat in the floorboard, that lets cold air in also.
My truck had the problem with heat also. New heater core and everything like yours. Mine had A/C. I took the housing off from the engine side of the firewall that holds the A/C cooling coil. The A/C coil was almost totally blocked with mud. The coil gets wet and then dirt hits it and over time it clogs it up. While I had it off I was able to reach up in the hole in the firewall in the center of the dash area and clean out all the pens, pencils, watches, etc that had fallen in the defrost duct and gotten down in the system. Once I did all this and put it back together, that heater would run you out of that truck. Also make sure you do not have any rust holes behind the seat in the floorboard, that lets cold air in also.
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Joined: Nov 2013
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The fluctuation is not the gauge itself, that is the thermostat opening and all that cold water from the radiator goes into the engine. Depending on how cold it is, it will shut the thermostat back. The the engine has to warm the coolant a little bit again till it opens the thermostat again. On a really cold day, I have seen this happen up to 3 or 4 times before it settles out.
Have you driven the truck much since installing the new thermostat? Just idling in the driveway typically isn't enough to work out all the air bubbles from the heater core. Some guys have done special bleeding procedures, but usually a good 20 minutes or so at freeway speed does the trick for me.
This recent thread may be of some help, especially post #4. I didn't catch the name of the guy who wrote the response, but my goodness, he seems brilliant. An asset to civilization, if you ask me. Seems like an all-around great guy. I bet he smells nice, too, kind of a mix of Old Spice and peppermint, almost like living in a Hallmark Christmas movie:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post18524363
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