This is interesting. Upon turning the radiator cap your coolant ahould have sprayed around. Did you touch the heater hoses? Were they cold?
Just one thought on that erractic temp gauge: you wrote that you have a new radiator. When the new radiator was filled with coolant, how well was the coolant mixed with water? I (mistakenly) did a very interesting experiment: I drained all of my coolant (to change it) and then first added a whole lot of antifreeze and topped off with water - I did not mix. Afterwards, I testdrove it. The needle was jumping up and down all the time. So I drained the radiator again, mixed the stuff well and refilled the radiator. The needle remained stable. Since coolant has a higher boiling point than pure water, I simply guess that the temp gauge sensor was alternatively passed by a richer and leaner coolant mixture whose temperature varied.

Tom
1993 Aerostar XL 3L Ext.

 

tomucen, The heater hoses were not cold when I did this. The radiator hoses were hot also. "But" it never seems like you can feel the coolant rushing through the hoses when you have a helper rev the motor when its warm. No I did not actually mix the coolant before I put it in the van. I had this erratic gauge problem before installing the new radiator. I bought a Motorcraft raditor cap for it Monday (13th) it did not help anything.

Superdave

94 Ford Aerostar XL 3.0L
82 Ford F250 4x4 XLT,400 CID,C-6 A/T,8700lb GVWR. Black & Silver

 

My 93 4.0 Aerostar gauage rolls back & forth. Do you have the brand & part # for the balanced and or fail safe thermostats that are available for the 4.0 Aerostar? The local parts places can get Beck Arnley thermostats #143-0774 for $10.00. Not sure if they are balanced . They do list fail safe ones for the 2.9 Bronco II engine, but they have a lower temp. Any ideas?
Avanti John
93 Aerostar AWD
92 F150 XLT ext cab
89 Bronco II XLT
74 Maverick LDO
64 Avanti R-2 supercharged

 

Hi superdave, I had the same problem with the erratic gage. I tried new sending units to no avail.I tried all kinds of things and nothing worked.Finally I checked the heater hoses, The hose that comes from the bottom of the water pump about half way up was collapsing on me. i cut the bad section out and put a new piece of hose in the line. The needle now stays dead center of the gage, no matter if I am climbing a hill or running on the flat highway. Hopefully this helps.

 

Hi, erratic guages on ford products have always been a problem something with the guage panel not being properly grounded or not staying properly grounded, had a 85 bronco that the guages would just all of a sudden go crazy and start going from one way to the other and have had friends that have the same problems on there fords new and old so it may be just that and nothing wrong at all as far as the guages go, but then again that just what I think

 

After draining and refilling the coolant in mine, I noticed the same thing with the gauge fluctuation. I also noticed I couldn't get the same amount of coolant back in as had been drained. I am certain at this point the problem is air trapped in the cooling system. Now that the weather is nice, when I have time, I will bleed the cooling system and let you all know the results.

And on the eighth day, The Lord created the turbocharger

 

Turbobill,
What is a good way to try and bleed the air from one of these. Its been doing it so long now I'm somewhat blurry on when it started, but it seems like it was about the same deal, a cooling system drain and refill anyway. I think it was a busted heater hose. The way the gauge acts, it does seem like it could be trapped air. I have also checked the hoses in the past to see if one is collapsing.


Superdave

94 Ford Aerostar XL 3.0L
82 Ford F250 4x4 XLT,400 CID,C-6 A/T,8700lb GVWR. Black & Silver

 

Superdave, I would look into having the system pressure checked with one of the testers that mounts in place of the radiator cap. It is pumped up and left for a while to see if your system maintains the pressure setting. I'll bet you dimes to dollars you have a leak somewhere if you had no pressure at all after a 45 mile drive. (Of course it will be in the least accessible place possible). Good luck!

 

I've been eyeballing the upper heater hoses where the snap-lock fittings are at the top right front of the engine near the alternator. That appears to be one of the highest and most accessable parts of the cooling system. Work has been so busy, I haven't had time to get to it yet.


And on the eighth day, The Lord created the turbocharger

 

OK, So you have no pressure, not the end of the world, but close to it. #1 thing to remember, When you change your coolant, BACKFLUSH, BACKFLUSH, BACKFLUSH. Now check to make sure your parts are good. This would annoy you to see that you have replaced a inferior part on your vehicle only to find it is bad as well. When you have no pressure, you have an overcooling problem. if nothing is warm on heater hoses or radiator, you have a thermostat stuck or put in upside down , or a bad water pump, or last but not least, blockage. That is where the flush comes in. As far as the guage, who cares, ford guages are erratic, it could be a voltage drop , bad ground, electrical inductance from nearby power lines, anything. etc. as long as your not boiling over, I wouldn't worry too, much. My 93 went erratic on me and it was the cooling fan. the viscous fluid in the clutch was being tempermental and not kicking in the fan as needed. Maybe you have a lean cylinder. who knows. Lots of variables and fluctuations happen. I would replace the fan and the thermostat and put a lower pressure cap on it, and maybe check the overflow tube for blockage, different radiators use different sized pin holes for the overflow tube connection.

 

:+ ;-) :7 :-staun :-(

 

I would also check the freeze Plugs on the engine block. They will get rusted out and have small pin holes that will leak or release pressure.

 

Hello everyone¡¡
I stop this problems changing battery for a new battery with 800 amps.


Mario V. Lobato