Question on Radiator and other coolers

chris78 · Jun 30, 2018

I have an 86 bronco II with a trans cooler and a/c cooler that sit in front of the radiator. See pic. They seem to be add ons and block off a lot of air flow to my rad. The a/c system is not original, it looks hacked together from other components. Just want to know if the two coolers I have are stock?

adsm08 · Jun 30, 2018

Those look like the OEM condenser and aux trans cooler.

And they do not block nearly as much air flow across your rad as you would think.

Denisefwd93 · Jun 30, 2018

I had a whole response written but never mind. Resident expert adsm said it looks OEM, looks stock to me also,

what are you trying to do/fix?

is it overheating?

Doing a bigger engine?

adsm08 · Jun 30, 2018

Denisefwd93 said:
looks stock to me also,

I mean that trans cooler is 100% stock, but the condenser is harder to tell. The part I can see looks like the two OE ones I have pulled out of 1st gens. But then again, once you've seen one AC condenser fin, you have seen them all.

chris78 · Jun 30, 2018

Its over heating on long hauls, like hour+ drives or on really hot days. Probably has a stopped up rad, no leaking water pump. Seems like it over boils and steams out the reservoir. I usually have to top it up after about 2 hours of driving. Yet I can't find any leaks.. Lots of rusty gunk in rad tank and the cap looks horrible. I was thinking maybe its not getting enough air. I tested the clutch fan and it seems fine.

Other than that, really I was thinking about replacing the rad with a nicer one and thinking while i was at it... haha I do want to do a 302 swap.

I was thinking about removing the a/c since it doesn't work well at the moment and it looks like a hack job. When it worked, it had an access amount of condensation that would build up on the evap core(guessing) and fill my floor board with water while running.

Denisefwd93 · Jun 30, 2018

Maybe Ron will check in, he always recommends doing a thing called a glove test,. I be wondering if you have a bad head gasket.

lvwill · Jun 30, 2018

That rusty gunk is more than likely your problem. You can flush it forever and it'll be back in no time at all.that's the result of no maintenance of the cooling system. I have a vehicle just like that and I found a product made by evaporust for cooling systems, I bought it on Amazon but am actually afraid to use it as it may reveal bad core plugs that I'm not really prepared to replace at the moment. Other than the rust plugging up the radiator another problem is that it also eats away at the water pump impeller.

85_Ranger4x4 · Jun 30, 2018

Your evap drain is probably plugged which is why the A/C was putting water into the cab.

adsm08 · Jun 30, 2018

I'd say draining the system, replacing the heater core, thermostat, radiator and water pump, along with flushing stuff out as best you can long the way is a good place to start.

If you are looking to upgrade the rad this would be the time to do it. Best upgrade on the market is the 4.0 dual core radiator.

RonD · Jun 30, 2018

Yes, 4.0l radiator for an automatic, it is the dual core model, manual trans model is single core.

Cold engine
Remove rad cap
Make sure rad is topped up
Start engine
radiator should NOT overflow
if level drops top it up again
Let engine idle for 3 minutes or so, then shut it off
It should NOT overflow during this time

If it starts to overflow then you DO have a blown head gasket or cracked head, and thats where the coolant is disappearing.
Also causes that "nice rusty" look inside cooling system

Do The Glove Test, search on this site, has been posted many times
It is 100% definitive for cylinder to cooling system leaks, can also tell you which cylinder is leaking.

adsm08 · Jun 30, 2018

RonD said:
Yes, 4.0l radiator for an automatic, it is the dual core model, manual trans model is single core.

Not entirely correct.

4.0, automatic, with AC is the dual core.

I have a 4.0/auto single core rad in my possession. It came from a Ranger with no AC.

Denisefwd93 · Jun 30, 2018

adsm08 said:
Not entirely correct.

4.0, automatic, with AC is the dual core.

I have a 4.0/auto single core rad in my possession. It came from a Ranger with no AC.

That must be what's in my truck because it's manual and the radiator has 2 connections for the transmission cooler. Being that it was out last night it didn't look new but I guess it replaced. Should use the transmission cooler to make hot water when I go camping lol. ( But I think my camping days are over)

chris78 · Jun 30, 2018

Thanks for that. Funny Ron, the glove test.

The glove didn't move at all so I guess the heads are ok.

The heater core is a year old, maybe I can pull it while checking on that drain hole. Then I can just flush it on its own. Just changed the thermostat 3 weeks ago. So maybe I can save my pennies by just getting a new rad and water pump. Thanks for telling me about the 4.0l rad. I was thinking about this 3 row on ebay. When I do an engine swap I won't have to mess with it. Do you think the 4.0l would be good enough for a 302?

Denisefwd93 · Jun 30, 2018

The air conditioner drain hole is on the engine compartment side basically a opening in the two sides of plastic that hold the evaporator in place, it's almost impossible to feel and really hard to see.

adsm08 · Jun 30, 2018

chris78 said:
Thanks for that. Funny Ron, the glove test.

The glove didn't move at all so I guess the heads are ok.

The heater core is a year old, maybe I can pull it while checking on that drain hole. Then I can just flush it on its own. Just changed the thermostat 3 weeks ago. So maybe I can save my pennies by just getting a new rad and water pump. Thanks for telling me about the 4.0l rad. I was thinking about this 3 row on ebay. When I do an engine swap I won't have to mess with it. Do you think the 4.0l would be good enough for a 302?

I know at least a few people are using the 4.0 dual core rad on 302 Rangers.

Question on Radiator and other coolers

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