Ok. ive had my Ford for 2 weeks now, and i have big plans for her. right now, though, i took her for a lil play timeon a light trail, and after my lil session my temp guage hasnt worked right consistantly since. im runnin Synthetic oil inmy 84 F-250 300. 4sp 4x4.

anyway, when im in light city traffic shiftin easy n takinmygrand old time, my temp guage sky rockets past "H". when im runnin up to school (hr trip or so at 65) her temp guage stays normal to a bit cooler. with a 300 and 33x12.5's i know the temp guage should be readin a lil warmer. its frustrating me to high heavens. oh yea even when the gauge was past "H" there was NO steam comin from anywhere. i popped the hood at a gas station during a slight sno storm and the only reasoni saw steam was from the flakes. i was dumb enough to put my hand onthe block, and it wasnt that warm to the touch ( i was doin 65 for about 10 min before that so i know it was warmed up). is it the guage or could it be the thermostat? im goin wacky here.


oh yea before i 4 get, where is the speedo cable located so i can somehow oil it. its talkin to me at any give time under 45 and its drivin me batty.


thanks

Mike

BTW, ive registered to a few forums for the Benz, and Nissan truck i had. the Nissan fourm helped me out a bit, but you Ford guys really have shownthem up with response time and knowlege of the trucks. those rich (choice words) in the Benz forum never replied to a post i had and i was leakin alot o fluids. Keep it up guys and if ur religious, God Bless!

 

Change your thermastat. It that dont fix it I pay for it.

Well not really but that is what wrong.

It stuck closed . Flush the radaitor and check your hoses while your at it. But since that temp sending unit is only a few bucks and is right next to it I would not take a chance.

Better yet try the temp sending unit first unless you want to remove any futher possiblities in the future of the same thing.

 

Yea, change the thermostat and see where that gets you. A mechanical guage would be nice to have too.

As for the speedo cable, you don't even have to take the cluster out. Reach under the dash and find it, and take it off the speedometer. It probably has a quick disconnect, you don't unscrew it, you have to press down on a tab and pull. It took me a few times to get mine off, but after you see how to do it it's easy. Then you can pull the inner cable out, and give it a light coat of cable lube or light grease. Just don't put too much because it will gum it up and make it worse. Just put a little over the whole thing an slide it back together. You might have to give it a little twist to go all the way back in.

Mine sang to me over 35 mph, kind of a speed warning, but it got old pretty fast! After I lubed mine it's been fine. It only slightly squeeked at 50+ on those few days in the winter when it was below 25. Went away again after it warmed into the 30-40s.

 

hmm i figured u guys were gonna say that. yippie kia ay. oh well its a 10 min job thats prob gonna take me all day... but ull have that. thatnks for the ideas guys...

nick- its sounds so easy ill prob screw it up lol. ill try it out within the next 2 weeks or so and get back to u. im trying to aviod doin a performance in 10 days or so and that just may be my ticket out...

Take it easy guys

Mike

 

Let's look at a few things here before you get too carried away replacing parts. First of all you said when driving in town it will go to the H but when driving fast it doesn't. Does your truck have a fan shroud in place? If so, you need to do a couple more things. First, drive on the highway for about ten mins. Then drive home. Shut your truck off. Open your hood and hold your top rad hose. It should be hot. Touch your bottom rad hose. It should be a little cooler but still warm. Grab your heater core hoses they should be about the same temperature as your top rad hose. If your bottom rad hose is cold then you need a thermostat because it is sticking open. If they are all fine then let's go to the next step.

With your truck off get someone to sit in the driver's seat for you. Unhook the temperature gauge wire off the sending unit. Get the person to turn the key all the way forward but not start the truck. Then you get the wire and ground it to the engine for maybe 5 seconds or so (not too long). Have them watch the temperature gauge while you do this. It should go all the way up to the H or past. If it does then your gauge is fine. If not your gauge could be screwy.

Also, does your heater work very well? When going fast do you have a lot of heat? If not it could be a thermostat. In town do you have a lot of heat? If they are both about the same temperature (in town and driving) then it may not be a thermostat.

Do those few things and get back to me. Let me know. We will get this figured out!

-Matt

 

i have plenty of heat at any given time. ill try the hose thing tonight if i remeber (workin on a dirt track car ameture). ill get back to you. thanks Beast

Mike

 

Even when it says your engine is cool? Do you have a shroud around your fan? I would guess that maybe your sending unit or gauge is bad. Test your gauge first like I said above.

-Matt

 

i dont think theres a shroud roun the fan. it takes a while for the heat to come on... the engine has to be warm. ive noticed consistantly my guage goes wacky only during "city driving". when im on the highway, the temp stays normal, even when i get on it to pass some1. i havnt see any steam to indicate overheating, and its been pretty cold the past few days. (freezing or colder)

-- Mike

 

Well, there's your problem. You NEED a shroud. What happens is the shroud makes it so your fan only pulls cool air through the radiator. You don't really need it for when driving fast. On the highway, the speed you drive is usually enough to keep cool air going to your rad. When in town if you don't have a shroud you are actually pulling air from everywhere, including your warm engine. So your truck runs warmer if not HOT. Do the shroud thing then get back to me. Probably the best place to get a shroud is a junk yard. Good luck!

-Matt