Does the truck have a single core or double core rad in it? In northern climates a single core is better suited to this engine, the double core contains too much fluid which causes extreme temp fluctuations as the stat opens and closes. If you're seeing this behavour at this time of year then the truck will never get up to temp in the winter.

 

this statement would be on the door jamb? ie: "This vehicle meets California [ or CARB] and EPA..."

 

Well, the good news is I only drive it in the summers now on PEI. looks like a single core aluminum replacement rad. after putting the motorcraft 192 deg thermostat in ....starting it from cold, it took
around 10 minutes of idling before the upper rad hose got warm...not uber hot mind you. I could keep my hand on it no problem. This would be thermostat opening I guess...

 

The one under the hood

 

What year is your truck, and what engine do you have? HAve we covered fan operation with you yet? And get back to us on the VECI label, and to confirm you have a motorcraft stock tstat in that passed the boiling test?
did you follow my procedures for bleeding

 

my truck is an 87 with the 302 (5.0L) engine. C6 transmission. non-limited slip diff. on the fan operation...what is there to cover? the fan is being engaged at initial startup and continues
for the duration. I did in fact install a genuine Motorcraft 192 deg thermostat. When I start the truck cold, the upper radiator hose remains cold for approx 10 minutes until the engine gets
warm (how hot...not exactly sure). At that point the thermostat opens and that hose gets warm (mildly hot...but not hot enough that I cannot continue holding it. So the thermostat is
doing what it should be doing.

RE: bleeding procedure, I followed the process of adding coolant to the rad to the top of the neck and with the engine idling gently burping the upper radiator hose to get air out. I
did not rev the engine during this process...only idled it. Note that I had the fan on high with heat/defrost on the whole time doing this. I had to add an additional gallon to it before
it would not take any more...so I am pretty confident I got all the air out. I let it sit over night and checked the rad level and it was still visible in the opening.

I took it out to the landscape yard for gravel. at around 5 miles into the trip, checked the coolant level. all good. upper radiator hose is warm to the touch so thermostat opened.
the temp on the dash showed just above the C mark...I noticed on the drive it went to nearly touching the N and then retreated back to the C mark. This is presumably when the
thermostat opened.

 

well, my truck had the hood replaced so that sticker is no longer on the one they put on. and they did a horrible job painting it. color is off, runs. is this info on the Marti report? I have that when
I bought the truck....

 

there is no sticker like the VECI thingy on my hood. there is the standard door jamb sticker indicating the vehicle complies with all safety standards for the year manufactured.

I looked at the Marti report and there are lots of numbers/codes on it. Anyone on here know how to interpret them?

I contacted the dealer where the truck was originally bought from. They will send me the VECI sticker. Once I get it I'll update the thread.

 

On your door frame you should have at least 2 maybe 3 stickers, one will say something about calibration. Can you send the sticker that has the tire pressures on it AND the one that says calibration. IT usually is found, in my experience, near where your head is on the same side as that other sticker, but others have found them anywhere in the frame of the door opening

 

also, the sticker on your older truck may have easily been elsewhere like the core support or something. check the engine bay perimeter one of those background noise stickers like fan belt routing etc may not just stand out to you anymore

Also, we cant help you without knowing what you are looking at

 

here is all that is in the drivers side door jamb:

 

nothing suggests its california. 1987 2wd f150 with a 302 and a 5 speed manual. and it was made in minnesota. 185 hp rating, sounds federal to me.

 

K code trans - automatic...C6

 

well then, nhtsa lied or your truck, as K is indeed an automatic. surprised its a c6 tho. but either way, you have an automatic. It would make more sense to be a c5 or c4 but c6 is good reliability wise

 

it shifts great ... I put a new shift modulator valve on it and that made the shifts much more crisp.