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Our 6.9 has a new radiator and fan clutch. The truck has never overheated until today.
100F outside and AC running, climbing a hill, @calvinhg at the helm. He stopped the motor and called me.
10 minutes later I was there with a couple of gallons of water. The radiator tank did not seem inordinately hot. No leaks visible. I cooled the outside of the radiator with some water, then slowly lifted the vent lever on the cap. Nothing. Slowly we opened the cap and got a small jet of hot water out. Calvin learned about that by burning his thumb. I learned years ago with a worse burn. The truck needs a better cap. Those vent levers really help avoid a burn.
The radiator level was barely 1" low. I cooled the engine V a bit with some more water. It was not acting overheated, no steam appeared. Hmmm. By now the gauge was down to normal range so we fired up the truck and limped home with no cap, AC off. On the way home, the gauge went down to only 1/3. Hmmm
Back home, I cooled the radiator off well with a hose. Cap off, motor running, we can see the Rotella ELC coolant moving. The water pump is working.
So, I have a pretty good idea what's up. I already ordered the parts. What do you guys think?
my Gauge Temp sensor is sometimes erratic it will go to the hot end and then before you know it it is back down to 1/4 (I'm Talking the Factory gauge on 93 F250)
one Fact about engine temp is IF you are not loosing Coolant then it ain't over heating (This has been beat in my head for years by Test engineers in Nevada )
they say the same thing down here in South Texas.
so what do you think happened... did the Thermostat stick ? do you have a Leak ? with a coolant recovery and pressure cap the Radiator should always be full (well if you vent it with pressure you will loose some coolant)
water pumps always seep a small amount even when new, did the fan Clutch not do it's Job ???
my Gauge Temp sensor is sometimes erratic it will go to the hot end and then before you know it it is back down to 1/4 (I'm Talking the Factory gauge on 93 F250)
SNIP
... did the Thermostat stick ? do you have a Leak ?
SNIP
is this one of the Champion Radiators ?
Never considered that the gauge and idiot light might be acting up. Hmmm, does the gauge trigger the idiot light? That could be it.
I see no leaks and the coolant level is good. I suspect that the thermostat stuck, yep. In any case, a new thermostat is a Good Thing, and I'm going down to 180F this time. I put a 190F in my 7.3, and now the fan clutch comes on too much. Shoulda put a 180F in that truck...
It's a good aluminum radiator that my master tech friend installs in lots of trucks. I don't second guess him much. Champion, I dunno.
I'm running the 180 T stat also and the 13LB cap.... with my camper on the truck she normally runs 1/2 way up, without the camper never more than 1/4.
I don't have a water Temp lamp in my 93, and in like the 86 I think they used 2 separate senders one for gauge and one to fire off the temp Light. so your Gauge sender is probably fine, I just know mine is a bit flaky,
Well, I wuzgunna order them parts, until I saw how slow and expensive RockAuto would be to deliver them. Dang, 8 days!
yeah good prices but their shipping does suck, and one Issue I have is that when I want to order more than 1 Item the 2nd or 3rd item is never in the same Whse so it makes for additional Shipping... sometimes I think they are Scammerz... but I do order a lot from them and most the time with USPS shipping it's pretty quick even if they say 8 days I often get parts within 3 or 4 days...... YMMV
I'm on a fixed income so I gotta save pennies when I can and I would rather buy the same stuff from RA than get Raped by Autozone or OH Really even IF I have to wait
I had a similar problem driving through Missouri in the winter in 2013. The temp gauge showed it going up and up and up. I shut it down and limped it to Kansas City. Found a dealer that had a t-stat in stock. Changed it out in a friend's driveway. Got back on the road and everything was fine.
If you go with a new t-stat, always buy Motorcraft.
I get my Tstats from IH as I run the 180 think Motorcraft is a 195 or 203 that might be good for winter operation but not for South Texas
I don't have an issue with motorcraft Quality but I have no issue with Stant either or parts from Power Equipment but since they were bought out is a bit more difficult to find.
If you go with a new t-stat, always buy Motorcraft.
x2
I suppose an IH thermostat is just as good as a Motorcraft but make sure it looks like this:
The standard Stant style thermostats don't fit right. I found one in my spare 7.3l IDIT and you could clearly see a gap between the thermostat and block.
FWIW, I think my temp gauge is flaky too. If the light illuminates that's troubling though.
I suppose an IH thermostat is just as good as a Motorcraft but make sure it looks like this:
The standard Stant style thermostats don't fit right. I found one in my spare 7.3l IDIT and you could clearly see a gap between the thermostat and block.
FWIW, I think my temp gauge is flaky too. If the light illuminates that's troubling though.
Several t-stats on RA noted "two gaskets required" - perhaps that's for the smaller t-stats.
The dummy light and gauge are wired to separate ports on the block so if both are going off then it’s an overheating problem not a guage problem. That’s why I have an aftermarket guage waiting to be installed. My guage is way to finicky for my liking.
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even IF I have to wait
