Mine is worse. Shall we compare our hair loss next before graduating to rheumatism

DCRB: The 4.0L radiator fits fine for me. Both upper and lower hose diameters are the same, but the upper one on the 4.0L angles down a little bit at between 30-45 degrees. The hose on the 3.0L can accommodate this with no problem.

 

Always use a Motorcraft radiator cap. I use a 13LB cap (Motorcraft) that says "RS-62" on the top. Never an overheating issue in triple digit summer heat on my '87 Aerostar 3.0 V6, and allows coolant to refill back into radiator via the overflow tube as the engine cools. I replaced the original rubber overflow tubing with the same diameter clear rubber tubing, and you can notice what actually occurrs. Normal 70 degree 80 degree temps the radiator does not lose coolant, but on a 108 degree summer day, a 30 mile free way drive, AC on, stop and go traffic, finally get home and pull the Aerostar into a warm garage, shut off engine, that 3.oV6 is H-O-T for that 15 minute heat soak period, my friends!

 

I will try... but as far as i know motor craft discontinued their 13 lb. cap... (that's what's on my car right now but is full of nasty rust) and i was going to use this one:




my dad has one on his 4.0l awd xlt extended, and he does semi-heavy construction all year round with it (avg. hauling in the van/behind the van any where between 500-1500 lbs) and has never had any problems with it i think... at least it doesn't ever over heat. couldn't tell you if it syphons back fluid into the car tho

 

Sounds to me like you have oil leaking into the cooling system. No time to read the entire thread but are you loosing oil from somewhere ? Tranny or engine?

You need to get the goop turned into water suspension or emulsified into the coolant somehow. "Gunk" makes an oil emulsifier, for cleaning engines, water soluble or coolant flushing fluid. What I'd try would be to syphon the rad from the top, clean out or suck as much as you can, put in some aluminum safe engine or coolant flush direct into the rad, Top up & run the engine till hot. Put one of those hose TEE fittings onto the upper hose near the alternator before you start. Flush the engine while running so that it comes out the drain plug orifice. You should catch the stuff untill at least it looks clean. Not a nice job & could be messy.

I've done this with my wifes Pontiac but never had any problems of that size with Aero cooling system.

Use the 5 year green/yellow universal coolant in mine & change it every 2-3 years.

ATB Aeroman.

 

as far as i know, no. i recently just checked my oil level at about 1500 miles since my last change, and it looked about the same... although i think i didn't put quite enough oil in (looks about a half quart low, put 5 in, will put 5.5 in next oil change to bring the level up all the way to the full mark, its currently half way, and was like that when i changed the oil) and it didn't look/smell like it's mixing with any other fluids. not sure about tranny fluid tho, i havn't figured out how to get an accurate reading on the dip stick for tranny fluid.


to be honest i don't think the rad. has/was flushed in a VERY long time if ever, i say this because its all a nasty rust brown color, there isn't an oily ring around the cap hole, my cooling system holds water where i put it unless i go on crazy long drives, but i believe it shrinks down 4 inches because my cap doesn't work right any more... its covered in rust too.

started the car yesterday and took rad. cap off, and watched what the fluid would do, after about 2 mins, i think the thurmostat turned on or something because the fluid in my rad. started to slowly rise. is that a good thing?

 

old oil dip sticks are usually wrong, damaged-wrong dipstick or damaged tube

if stock pan.
always put in the recommended manuf. oil amount per owner's manual or service manual specs. note level on dipstick and put a file mark there
better a quart low than 1 quart overfull.
crank whips oil into an air filled foam, bearings melt

overfilling an engine such as most of the newer ones and Aero V6s with a windage tray is dangerous to engine life. the windage tray allows a smaller pan thus the oil level is closer to the spinning crankshaft. saves money on an expensive case alum. pan, allows more oil in small pan, allows vehicle to ride lower and solves clearance problems

old Ford Y blocks could be filles 2 quarts over specs and run fine. did often for racing and towing. do that in a modern tight oil windage tray clearance engine and the crank/bearings melt into the bottom of the pan

 

>>>>>started the car yesterday and took rad. cap off, and watched what the fluid would do, after about 2 mins, i think the thurmostat turned on or something because the fluid in my rad. started to slowly rise. is that a good thing?<<<<<


Yes thats normal, it shows that the thermostat is working & the engine coolant is heating up & expanding. When you squeeze the large upper hose with engine warmed up (after 10 mins) it should be very firm showing that the system is under pressure. When you do the same thing cold, it will not be firm but still you should not hear any hissing from the rad cap.
I put one of those lever caps on mine 15 PSI & it functions perfectly well & with these you can release pressure from the cooling system much more safely than the dino caps.

Hopefully all that rust will not have blocked up the cooling channels in the engine block!

ATB Aeroman.

 

mmmmmmmmm shouldn't have... one thing cooling wise the owner did do was have all the freeze plugs replaced... so i'm guessing they had to have the fluid drained and what not then. but i hope not!! we will know soon enough...

 

word of advice. It still remains a general rule to change air conditioned car's antifreeze every year (EVERY YEAR!) and
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BOZ, I agree completely! It's cheap insurance, and if you flush your cooling system once a year, it's a 30 minute job and that is taking your time. All because there is less work to do, in that the cooling system is not filthy.

I have installed a flushing "Tee" in my heater hose, to flush the engine block area while the engine is running. Then a friend showed me how to run quick disconnect fittings about 12" from the heater core on the Aerostar's firewall. You can easily flush the heater core directly, hose goes in the heater core inlet, and drains out the outlet. Then when you're done, simply snug and reconnect the lines or actually the hoses I should say.

The result? HOT HOT HOT heat, even on the lowest fan speed. Engine that runs at normal temp even in triple digit summer heat temps.

Anyway, I am all for flushing your cooling system ever year, no less than every other year.

Ed