hey guys having some overheating issues on my 95 f150 5.0. i just replaces the thermostat (fail safe 180 degree) and water pump ( water pump is a high flow) i have a 2inch radiator. at the start after i filled up the RAD it was running 190 degree then times my guage would shoot way up into the 230 then drop down. i figured it was air pockets in the system so for a 2 weeks now i have just been filling up the rad everday with a little coolant as it needed. but its still running around 190 degree down the road. but for the last two days i have not been putting coolant into the system so when i checked it this morning there was not a whole lot of coolant in the rad but the overflow tank was full. i don't know if i just need to burp it or need to downgrade to a regular pump or upgrade to a aluminum rad or put in a high flow thermo. any thoughts?

 

Maybe a small radiator coolant leak. Or even worse a head gasket leaking to a cylinder. Remove spark plugs looking for tips orange or yellow colored

 

Could be failing clutch fan.

Usually, when replacing the water pump, the clutch needs replaced as well.

 

1. might be a rad leak thats the only thing that is old on the coolant system. everything else is new water pump, thermo, both upper and lower hoses and clutch fan.
2. if it was leaking into the cylinder i should be pushing some white smoke out my pipes or milky oil. have not seen any.
3. the shop just changed my plugs about 3 week ago and didn't say anything bad about the plugs.

 

that could be a 50/50 thing right there i do hear the clutch fan running sometimes and other times i don't.

 

1. Does your truck use Oil cooler? they also lake coolant
2. White smoke (Water vapor), or milky oil appears when the leak is big enough
3. Did you gave instruction to shop to make Plugs Inspection? maybe they just throw plugs to garbage

The Coolant System is definitely loosing coolant, the idea is find where. One more idea about overheating...

Did you install the fan in the proper position? installing it in reverse position reduce a lot the efficiency of the fan...

 

1. yes is a auto so it does have trans cooler going to it. i will have to check my trans fluid tomorrow.
2. ah ok thanks
3. no i did not and yea your probably right.
4. no what is the right position to install it i just slapped the fan onto the clutch fan then the clutch to the pump. and i have not seen any puddles under the truck too.
5. could it be i still might have air in the lines?
and thanks for the help so far.

 

1. I mean Engine Oil Cooler installed between oil filter and engine block. It is used on big V8's but some people like to install on 302's or even 300´s. However, yes coolant also leaks to Auto Tranny
4. Fan should push air by the concave side. Look to your right hand and imaging this is one of the fan blades, move from right to left and the palm should Push air
5. Not so common but maybe. Run cold engine, park truck without radiator cap around 1.200 RPM until T-stat opens, stop engine and let it get ambient temp. Add coolant as required then finally install radiator cap. Run engine again, park truck at 1.200 RPM and give a close look for leaks or puddles the first 10 minutes should appear

 

Pushing coolant from the rad to the overflow and overheating sounds like a possible head gasket issue. Hopefully it's not that.

 

well when i got home today i could smell coolant inside the enigne bay but could not see any leaks. and the other thing is that i turned on the air con and let the enigne get way up in temp around 210 degree and the clutch would not engage.