Hey all! I haven't been here in a while. I'm going to be doing some repairs on my '84 E-150 5.0L and I wanted to drop back in and see if there are any additional tips for me.

When I first bought the van, it never warmed up. It had sat for a long while, so I had assumed the thermostat had rusted open or I had a bad temp sensor - but it also didn't have any heat, so I threw out the sensor idea pretty quickly. I wasn't too worried about it, considering it wasn't overheating and I didn't really need heat anyway. Then, one day it magically starting running at normal temperatures with temp guage needle hovering between the r and m in the word "normal". Last week it started creeping up hotter and hotter. I'm guessing the thermostat finally needs to be replaced. Everything else involved with the cooling system seems to be in good working order.

So, I'm going to be replacing the thermostat. I figure I might as well do a coolant drain and flush while I'm at it. Does anyone have any tips or advice for me if you've done this before? On a 1 to 10 scale (1 being barely knowing how to turn a key and 10 being knowing how to build your own car) I'd put myself at about a 4. Thanks in advance for all of your help. You guys helped me out WAY back when I busted the steering knuckle. I appreciate it!

Cheers,
Dan
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www.thatguyonline.com

 

Oh yeah, if you'd like to check her out, she's right here: (make sure to read about her interests, etc - it's hilarious).

www.myspace.com/thatvan

 

This is a link to a DIY site for replacing an E150 water pump. It might prove helpful to you...

http://www.autoclinix.com/Ford/Pump.html

 

yea man I just replaced my t-stat on a 90 E-350 with a 5.8 engine.

I snapped a bolt off but was lucky enough that it came right out with a sears extrator set. So I will tell you soak the **** out of the bolts with PB Blaster/JB80/WB40 etc.

Change that out & flush the radiator.

Remember Dont trust those factory temp gauges. I messed around for 2 days because the gauge read too high but the engine never overheated, I flushed it & swapped the t-stat & it was till running too hot. I ended up installing a mechanical gauge & found that it was running at the perfect temp of 195 the whole time. those gauges can get flakey

 

Yeah dude - I snapped off a bolt too! It turned into an all weekend repair job! I finally got it all out and installed the new thermostat. It's working again, although it's still reading pretty hot. I think I'm going to install an aftermarket sensor and temp gauge - anyone have links to some good guages? Since there's no factory tach, I'm thinking about an A-pillar installation with temp, tach and maybe oil temp or something.

Thoughts?
Links?