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thermostat question

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Old Jun 12, 2024 | 07:21 PM
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thermostat question

My truck has been running cold (barely off the C on the dash guage) since I got it. I *thought* it may have been the engine temperature sender
that displays the engine temp for the dash guage. Anyhooo....I bought a motorcraft 192 deg thermostat and housing and got around to putting it in today.
The one in the truck was a motorad 185 deg unit. These are prone to failing open I believe.... anyone have any experience with them. I'm HOPING that this
will allow the truck to get to proper operating temps and give me some joy on the gas guzzling.
 
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Old Jun 13, 2024 | 03:30 AM
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From: New Dominion, PE
Originally Posted by mackendw
My truck has been running cold (barely off the C on the dash guage) since I got it. I *thought* it may have been the sensor that controls the coolant
temp for the dash guage. Anyhooo....I bought a motorcraft 192 deg thermostat and housing and got around to putting it in today. The one in the
truck was a motorad 185 deg unit. These are prone to failing open I believe.... anyone have any experience with them. I'm HOPING that this
will allow the truck to get to proper operating temps and give me some joy on the gas guzzling.
Note that I picked up a thermal laser temp gun to measure heat on various spots on the engine after having been started cold. Did not get much above 100 deg F in 15 minutes of
running....so I'm pretty sure that the thermostat was not working as desired.
 
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Old Jun 13, 2024 | 04:08 AM
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they indeed fail open , defective by design. Literally, they are just so flowing that they cant fail closed because no such thing as being fully closed to one of those. its a joke.


The only thing left if you put it in right the new one, is to bleed the air!!! and put a proper cap on
 
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Old Jun 13, 2024 | 04:17 AM
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bleed the air....start truck up cold with cap off rad...wait for 10 minutes or so until the thermostat opens (hopefully). top up as needed. sound about correct?
 
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Old Jun 13, 2024 | 05:00 AM
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Originally Posted by mackendw
bleed the air....start truck up cold with cap off rad...wait for 10 minutes or so until the thermostat opens (hopefully). top up as needed. sound about correct?
no. youre missing a step or 2. should also include squeezing upper radiator hose to bleed air, and running heater on high while also holding engine speed higher (1500-3000rpm) for sustained periods to force air pockets to be replaced by coolant, and to just circulate. make sure you have proper mix too!!

I clean out my overflow hose , they get plugged up in that long run from tank to radiator. They make a no spill funnel for coolant filling. wortth it.
 
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Old Jun 13, 2024 | 05:18 AM
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ya ya....I squeezed the upper rad hose (which was purdy cold at initial startup)....several times during the running after startup. held the idle at 1500-2000 for 5 minutes and then checked things. topped up coolant as needed. I am measuring temp of engine on the metal behind the thermostat housing. it got as high as 162F. right around then, the upper hose started to get warm.

what I am noticing is that the viscous fan is running ALL THE TIME from startup. This is not right I don't think. It should kick on as needed and as controlled
by the ECU....no?

temp guage on dash did rise to about 1/4 on the guage toward the middle and then dropped back to near the C. so am seeing similar behaviour as I was with the motorad. no leaks of coolant around the
thermostat housing or hoses attached from water pump.

coolant being used is prestone 50/50 water/antifreeze/coolant.
 
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Old Jun 13, 2024 | 07:50 AM
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Never fails. Put thermostat in, spend endless time fiddle-farting around deciding if it works or not.

Or... TEST before install with thermometer & a gradually heated pot of water & know for sure.

But that's too easy.

By the way, my tested Motocraft 192* cracks the seat at 190* & is fully open by 195*

Also, there is no computer control of the mechanical fan in these trucks. Purely mechanical lock based on ambient temp.
 
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Old Jun 13, 2024 | 07:56 AM
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agreed, I rushed to put things together. silly me for trusting that a new product would actually work as advertised.

they could change their motto to: "At Motorcraft, quality is #17!"
 
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Old Jun 13, 2024 | 08:24 AM
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fwiw...I just tested the motorad unit in a pot of water...brought it to boil and the pintle valve at the top pushed up the top once I reached around 195+. I took it out of the hot water and it's not
going back to its normal closed position. I tested that it is still open by putting some water in the block side of the thermostat and it quickly went thru the front side. so it is a dud I presume.
 
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Old Jun 13, 2024 | 01:46 PM
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my truck came from Las Vegas. I'm betting the ECM programming was done using the California emissions standards. As such, it wants the temps up as high as possible before the ECM switchs to
closed loop.

does anyone know where I can get an ECM flash that would be setup for Eastern/Northern climate for my truck? 87 F150 with the 5.0L - C6 auto trans.

 
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Old Jun 13, 2024 | 03:11 PM
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Your computer doesn't flash. Factory programed and identified by a calibration code on a sticker of the door frame.
 
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Old Jun 13, 2024 | 03:12 PM
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did ford program them differently for different locations around the country?
 
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Old Jun 13, 2024 | 06:25 PM
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For where they were originally sold. You'd need a Marti report to know for sure.
 
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Old Jun 13, 2024 | 06:56 PM
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I have the marti report for my rig. But I suspect that it would just tell me the programming setup for Nevada. I'm in north eastern Canada now.
 
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Old Jun 14, 2024 | 07:10 AM
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Does your VECI state "This vehicle complies with EPA regulations for model year [ ]" or something like that? nevada vehicles should be just as likely as a wisconsin vehicle to be sold as CARB compliant.

The california vehicles will say "This vehicle meets California [ or CARB] and EPA..."
 
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