needing to know what temps,4,1989 302 e150 should be. im running 200 to 205 mostly, idle going going up to 220, very hot here in florida, tryed serching could not find anything. this is used for towing, but temps are same, towing or not. thanks much...........

 

220 is getting pretty warm. Have you checked the fan clutch and is the radiator in good condition?

 

new radiator put in 2 years ago, flush and new anti freeze, twice, just done,2nd time last week, 220 was max after long idle very hot here florida,very humid. for most part running 200 to 208, have flex fan, apears to be great shape, I just put some RED LINE,water wetter in havent drove it yet, maybe that will help, also notice fan encloser,needs to be redone, long story, shop scewed it up a few years ago, going to fix it this weekend, that should help with idle temps, hopfuly, if not ,thinking of putting electric fan on also , with stock fan left on. mainly trying to find out what temps should be running at, to have somthing to go by. THANKS for reply, also srry for poor spelling..............

 

well, if you have a 190 thermostat in it, it should run around 190. if you have a 180 then it should run around 180. give or take 5 degrees. you might wanna check your belts. insufficient water pump rpm will cause it to run warm. you didnt say as to wether you changed out your thermostat when you flushed and filled the system. you might wanna try that and i woul go with the coolest thermostat you can get. since where you live its so bloddy warm all the time. the coolest thermostat might help combat the runnign really warm. also, check your upper and lower rad hoses. one might be swelled up, decreasing coolant flow.

 

Run the water to coolant ratio at 70%water to 30%coolant, Water is a better conductor of heat then the coolant. I don't recommend that water wetter both vehicle's I used it on had head gaskets go bad, coincedence maybe but I won't use it again. If your thermo opens at 180 degreees that doesn't mean your temp will stay right there it should be 10 or 20 above that or the thing would be constantly opening and closing!! Keep the manufacturers recommended temp rating(or have carbon build up) but drill a 1/16 inch hole next to the center if it doesnt' have that little check valve dealy, if it has that, clip it off!! Running at 70/30 and keeping the radiator clean those love bug parts need to blasted out with a high pressure hose(use a flashlight to make sure you did a good job) will help to keep the temps in check. A large trans cooler and a electric auxillary cooling fan on a thermostat will keep things even happier!! If you do some towing a temp gauge for the auto transmission will save you the expense of a trans($50.00 for gauge or $500.00 for rebuild if your lucky) rebuild. I like the digital gauge from Jc whitney, you wouldn't believe how much your trans heats up in the drive thru or at lights!! A oil cooler for the engine could be more effective and cheaper than upgrading to a bigger radiator if it still runs too hot for your liking, The road heat radiating up to your oil pan adds a lot of heat you don't think about down here!! And cooling the oil will keep the oil lasting longer even when your not towing.

 

thanks 4 Ideas, very helpful, yea you know about the love bugs, what a pain..definatly gonna get into it this weekend, already have trans cooler on it,no gauge,AOD tranny has little over 400,000 mile on it up to this point, temps have been good, already put waterwetter in it, has drop temp on high end 5 to 10 degrees, hoping it dosent mess with head gasket. going to go through it this weekend,new belt.hoses,therostat and change out anti freeze, took fan shroud off, split in two,going to fix and get it back on, when I can gonna put oil cooler on. also when can going ck and clean out carbon e vavle, ect would like to clean throttle body,plenun, I dont know theres not much room in a van to do?. also blue beast, not sure what you are talking about ckeck valve,drilling hole? could you explain this to me,where and what? thanks so much......

 

i beleive hes talking bout drilling a hole in the poppet valve its self. some guys do this to get the extra water flow needed to help engine warm up and also to better regulate temp. am i correct guys?????? it also helps reduce uneven pressure on both sides of the thermostat. the e valve he is refering to is prolly your egr valve. they carbon up and causes problems. i have heard of the exhaust crossover actually carboning up so bad that they actually close.

 

If you don't have the proper temp thermostat it will take longer to get out of warm up mode, So it will be putting extra fuel to it and with the temps cooler it won't burn out the carbon that results from the extra fuel(on head, piston, valves and cat con)
SO use the stock temp one but if it has the little brass valve in the flat metal clip it out or drill a hole, that way you know it always has some flow even if the thermostat doesn't open!! The oil cooler is a good mod for Florida get the one that has the remote filter mount(could use two filters even), It will make it easier to change the oil with the filter you could mount them upright so they don't dump oil on you when you take them off, Just the increase in fluid capacity will help keep temps down.

 

You also might have some restriction in the head jackets, causing hot spots. This is from a build-up of deposits.

Flush the engine block, and if you can access the block drain plugs, open them. This will get a lot of sediment out of the engine block, for the year of you engine, I'll bet there is some.

NoRosion is an excellent product to add to your cooling system. Also, always run distilled water, never tap out of the garden hose, ect. (You can run tap water during the flushing process. Used distilled water when filling for driving)

How old are your heater hoses? Sometimes heater hoses get setiment and gunk inside them, causing a restriction in flow, even though the hoses look fine to the naked eye.

Lastly, open up engine block drains, then add one of those Prestone (or equilivant flush Tees) remove thermostat. Button up thermo housing, then start up engine. Let hose run in the flushing T for about 20 minutes, water should be draining out the block and radiator drain. Run heater at maximum high setting, temp selector on "HOT".

You might be pleasently surprised at the rust and scale you see come out of that 302!

Shut off engine, let cool and drain for 1/2 hour at least. Then add a new thermostat. Pull truck up on ramps, so the radiator is at a higher point than the engine. Engine running, slowly add the correct amount of water and coolant. Still run heater on max "High" setting.

The radiator up high (on ramps) will help purge air bubbles out of the system quicker.

When it looks like radiaitor is full, take the truck for a ride. Keep heater on HIGH, still.

Drive for about 15 20 minutes (at least) then let the engine cool down overnight. Continue to monitor radiator levels for at least the next 3-4 full warm, fully cooled down cycles (sitting overnight). Add if necessary, when cold.

 

yea going to do this weekend, thanks for all the sugestions, this engine has less than 50,000 miles on it, long story short was stuck west virgena, couldlnt find any were to get ford factory motor, ended up getting jasper engine installed, what a nightmare, 2 weeks after getting it home had freeze plug totely rust out, pro nappa garage did work, been fixing their F....ups ever since, Jasper is a joke.........have room to add puller fan, want to leave flex fan on, will puller fan interfear with air flow of stock fan?just wanting to manuly switch on as needed. no room for pusher fan. thanks again for replies..............