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1980 - 1986 Bullnose F100, F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Early Eighties Bullnose Ford Truck

cooling system problem

Old May 21, 2008 | 10:02 PM
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cooling system problem

i got a 86 f-150 with a 300. I rebuilt the the bottom end of the engine in it last summer and havent got out to drive it much because it has been overheating on me. Ive put on a new fan clutch on it when it was rebuilt, put in a new 195 degree tsat in it and it was still over heating so i had the radiator cleaned and put on a new water pump and i also thought that it could be in the gauge so i put a new gauge in it. and it was still heating up to about 210 so i took out the tsat to see if that is what it was and drove it to town and around town and it never got past 180 degrees until i started takin it out into the field with seed in the back and pullin through soft soil where it got up to 210 degrees again so i was just out of ideas if anybody has any suggestions put in ur $.02 Thanks
 
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Old May 21, 2008 | 10:04 PM
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How do you know it's overheating? 210 degrees is not hot. I would not worry about it, till it got over 230.
 
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Old May 22, 2008 | 07:23 AM
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ok i was just wanting the truck to run cool but if it has to get to 230 before i should start worrying ill just run her as she is Thanks
 
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Old May 22, 2008 | 08:35 AM
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Yeah, 210 is average running temp for most vehicles.
 
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Old May 22, 2008 | 03:50 PM
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You need to remember that a properly functioning thermostat only controls the low end operating temperature of an engine. The high end is controlled by the radiator/fan combination...more specifically, that combination's ability to move air. If you have a 195 degree thermostat, that's the minimum temperature the engine is going to run at. If you want to control the high end, you need to change/upgrade the other stuff.
 
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Old May 22, 2008 | 04:15 PM
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ok thanks for the info
 
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Old May 23, 2008 | 11:06 AM
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A cheap fix or experiment is to drill an 1/8 hole in the thermostat to allow a little flow of coolant at all times. It might meet your need to lower the temp a little.
 
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