Well, long story short. I had 2 freeze out plugs that leak, I got that fixed. After that, the lower radiator hose sprung a leak. I tighten the clamp and now my radiator is shot. I started up the truck to get warmed up and found coolant leaking. The whole left bank on the radiator was just pouring (sp) out coolant. So now I need to know if I need a 2 or 3 core. My truck is a 95 F250HD, 351W w/E4OD.

Thanks

 

What I actually meant was, should I get a 2 or 3 row radiator?

 

Bigger motor doing lots of hard work in a hot environment needs more cores, less work or smaller motor in a cooler environment wouldn't need as many.

Higher core count = higher coolant capacity = coolant has more time in the radiator get cooled down before getting pumped back in the motor agian. On any really hot days that is important regardless of work being done by motor.

If you don't have air, never or rarely put or carry a heavy load, live in a cooler part of the country then you don't really need three core's, two would be plenty.

Live in say southern CA or some place like that, have A/C (who wouldn't!) carry or pull heavy loads regularly or sit in traffic jambs then get the 3 core

If you live in a place like death valley? I'd get a 4 core regardless of typical use or any accessory's it may have! (Maybe even in Southern CA!)

You really can't go wrong spending the extra for the extra core/s either way, "more" in a radiator is a good thing.

 

Weather you work the truck hard or not get the largest radiator you can fit and budget for. You may not need it now but you never know what you will be doing 6 months or even a year or so from now.

Better to get it now and not need it than to need it later and not have it.

 

Well, I mainly use my truck for my lawn care business. I live in the NE of PA and it usually doesnt get very hot up here. I also do haul a trailer (7'x12'). The truck did come with an external tranny cooler. I was on www.advanceautoparts.com and they only showed a 1 or 2 row radiator. The heavy duty radiator is a 2 row. Is that what came stock in most 3/4 and 1 ton's?

 

not sure but i do know that i have heard of some radiators being so thick that the stock fan could not pull enough air through to cool them, but i've never heard of a small block doing this.... and this was also with a 4 core radiator and a stroked 428FE

 

The factory Ford gas V8 and L6 radiators were only one or two row. The Super Cooling option was two row. It is important to replace the radiator with the same row as you have now-or the fan shroud may not fit without modification.

The factory two row radiators Super Cooling/heavy duty are 2 1/4 inch thick at the core.

 

I have an extra wide 2 row aluminum rad in my truck..I've never had any problems with my truck heating up.. I live in Phoenix, and the summers are brutal.. I've pulled the grade on I17 many times during summer, pulling a trailer with the A/C blasting..knock on wood have never had her heat up on me.

 

I have an extra wide 2 row aluminum rad in my F250..I've never had any problems with my truck heating up.. I live in Phoenix, and the summers are brutal.. I've pulled the grade on I17 many times during summer, pulling a trailer with the A/C blasting..knock on wood have never had her heat up on me..

However I did try a 4-row explorer radiator in my Ranger, and it ran hotter than hell.. seems the stock fan couldn't pull any air through it..driving down the road was fine, but idling at a standstill would heat it up quick.

 

The factory radiator in my V8 gas 460 is a 3 row. I have a 4 row in my '71 F-250 with the 390 and have never had problems with running hot.

 

In the old days of the brass radiators, 3 & 4 row were the standards for these trucks. In the 1980s when Ford changed to aluminum with the "plastic" tanks, the row counts were changed to 1 for lighter duty applications and 2 for the heavier duty (aka "Super Cooling") and larger engines. Efficiency was improved and weight was reduced. And a lot of old school radiator repair shops went the way of the buggy whip manufacturers.

On a related note, I recently discovered that my 95 F150 had the wrong fan on it. After I returned home from a test drive following replacement of rusted brake lines, I was standing in front of the truck and noticed that warm air was being blown forward from the grill. After shutting the engine down, I investigated and found that indeed it had an old style standard rotation fan rather than the newer style (serpentine belt application). This discovery instantly explained to me why the AC would work great for a time going down the road, but then immediately go warm when I came to a stop! With a change of the fan assembly the problem is gone and the engine seems to be running a bit cooler as well. It goes to show you should be ready to check everything when diagnosing a problem. And with a used vehicle you can never know what goofy things a previous owner (or shop) may have done.

dn.

 

Is that three row radiator stock??? I have never heard of a stock three row in a 1996 460. How thick is the core?? All the stock parts list that I have seen show just two different radiators for 302s,351s and 460s in all of the F series of this vintage. The standard and the heavy duty two row.

 

I'll have to dig out my tape measure and measure it.

 

I think that the Diesel in the F series did have a three row radiator stock from the factory. It may be possible that someone placed the Diesel radiator in your gas powered 96.