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running a little hot in idle


funkingonutz

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my '95 3.0L is running a little hot when its idling and im not sure what it is, i picked up a low temp "racing" thermostat from Mr. Gasket today (it opens at 160 F) but i dont think thats the problem, the temp seems to come back down when i burp the gas or when im above 2000 rpm's. Maybe a weak waterpump?? nothing is comming out of the weep hole?
maybe a weak fan clutch??
air lock maybe??
i dont know??
o yeah and im pretty sure its not a headgasket or heater core (i just did the heater core, maybe i put the heater hoses on backwards...could that be it, is there a certian way they go on??
and its not a geadgasket because i have no symtoms of it being it.)
sorry im kinda rambling on guys but thanks for reading!!:icon_twisted:
 


85_Ranger4x4

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Idling with the A/C on? When it gets hot you have to keep it moving or turn the air off or you can overwhelm your cooling system. Do not put that thermostat in your truck, it should work fine with a direct replacement.
 

Big Jim M

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Please put the proper thermostat back in your truck! Your engine components are all designed to tun at about 200* If you have something causing a rise in temp fix THAT and leave the cooling system alone.
A 20* rise while idleing is considered normal. Your cooling system will work fine at any temp below puking it's guts out. As long as the coolant stays in the system your engine is NOT too hot.
Big JIm
 

fixizin

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Have you driven through a love-bug swarm and got your rad fins all clogged with bio-mass?... ewww... backspray that puppy... CAREFULLY.

First of all, what INDICATION do you have that it's running "hot"? Second of all, how can a waterpump get "weak", except for slack belt tension, and that usually squeals. And if the WP lost an impeller vane, you'd HEAR THAT too, LOL! :shok:

Idling with the A/C on? When it gets hot you have to keep it moving or turn the air off or you can overwhelm your cooling system.
Say WHAT? Since when? I assume we're talking Ranger w/ 3.0L Vulcan, not a DeTomaso Pantera w/ 351C and the original inadequate radiator setup.
 

85_Ranger4x4

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Say WHAT? Since when? I assume we're talking Ranger w/ 3.0L Vulcan, not a DeTomaso Pantera w/ 351C and the original inadequate radiator setup.
When it gets hot outside you can overheat just about anything idling with the A/C on. The fan isn't turning fast enough to move much air, and the vehicle isn't moving to cram fresh air thru the radiator.

I got my parents '94 Ex (with a 4.0 though) hot shortly after I started driving by sitting the parking lot waiting for my brother to get out of football practice, and a guy I worked for let his late 90's chevy pickup idle with the A/C on while we loaded stuff in it last fall and it got REALLY hot. Those are two fairly modern vehicles with a larger cooling systems than a 3.0 has.

He says if he runs it at 2000 RPM it cools down, which would be making the fan do more than it would be at idle. That was the rational based on my experiances behind my theory.
 

Big Jim M

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When it gets hot outside you can overheat just about anything idling with the A/C on. The fan isn't turning fast enough to move much air, and the vehicle isn't moving to cram fresh air thru the radiator.

I got my parents '94 Ex (with a 4.0 though) hot shortly after I started driving by sitting the parking lot waiting for my brother to get out of football practice, and a guy I worked for let his late 90's chevy pickup idle with the A/C on while we loaded stuff in it last fall and it got REALLY hot. Those are two fairly modern vehicles with a larger cooling systems than a 3.0 has.

He says if he runs it at 2000 RPM it cools down, which would be making the fan do more than it would be at idle. That was the rational based on my experiances behind my theory.
I'm gonna say it again... An engine isn't HOT unless it is puking it coolant out!! A slight rise in temperature is NORMAL for ALL engines. Climbing a hill with a load or sitting at a light or any number of possibilities when the engine has slowed and the load is large.

And NO! A modern vehicle is engineered so my wife can sit and chat in a parking lot with the A/C on.. The temp may appear to rise as the system adjusts to the new things that are happening.. but after the thermostat opens wider and the fan clutch engages the thing should sit there and burn up a complete tank of fuel at idle with no problems..

Simply looking at the gauge and seeing it rise some is no indication the engine is HOT!!

As long as it don't lose it's coolant an engine LIKES and can run it's lifetime at 260*.. Our problem with temperature is the coolant boils at near 230* And starts puking out the overflow due to higher than 16lb of pressure.
Big JIm :rolleyes:
 

85_Ranger4x4

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I'm gonna say it again... An engine isn't HOT unless it is puking it coolant out!! A slight rise in temperature is NORMAL for ALL engines. Climbing a hill with a load or sitting at a light or any number of possibilities when the engine has slowed and the load is large.

And NO! A modern vehicle is engineered so my wife can sit and chat in a parking lot with the A/C on.. The temp may appear to rise as the system adjusts to the new things that are happening.. but after the thermostat opens wider and the fan clutch engages the thing should sit there and burn up a complete tank of fuel at idle with no problems..

Simply looking at the gauge and seeing it rise some is no indication the engine is HOT!!

As long as it don't lose it's coolant an engine LIKES and can run it's lifetime at 260*.. Our problem with temperature is the coolant boils at near 230* And starts puking out the overflow due to higher than 16lb of pressure.
Big JIm :rolleyes:
So an engine doesn't have low oil pressure until it locks up then?

In both of my examples it was noticed they were getting warm (guess hot must not be proper term for it) and action was taken to prevent them from boiling the coolant. No need to sit there and watch the needle climb until it starts dumping coolant to note there was a problem. I had a front seat to both events and I know what I saw... nearly pegged gauges on very hot, humid, still, August days.

It was in the 90's here awhile ago, and if it was in Mass. and the guy was sitting in stop and go traffic and noticed his needle was higher than normal, idling with the AC on that could have been a cause. He didn't say how much higher, just that it was warmer than normal.
 

fixizin

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When I hook up the scanner to my Ranger 3.0L w/ factory A/C, I never see the ECT climb above 94C, and that includes extended idling, IN THE SUN, in August, in places like Phoenix and Miami... my puppy truck handles its business, lol... oh, and it's all BLACK to boot, even the grille.

I've always been impressed that the temp gauge on the dash never even tends towards the high end of the normal range. The hand-felt difference between the upper and lower rad hoses is impressive at idle, summertime, Florida... wish there was a sensor on the lower rad outlet, just to see delta-T... would definitely provide early warning of fan-clutch slippage or radiator clogging on my aging truck... hmmm... where's that gizmo catalog...? :icon_idea:
 

85_Ranger4x4

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When I hook up the scanner to my Ranger 3.0L w/ factory A/C, I never see the ECT climb above 94C, and that includes extended idling, IN THE SUN, in August, in places like Phoenix and Miami... my puppy truck handles its business, lol... oh, and it's all BLACK to boot, even the grille.
You don't have a transmission cooler built into your radiator, with another trans cooler in front of the radiator either. Although judging by the OP's sig I doubt he does either.

This is all null anyway unless we get more information about what was going on.
 
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Bob Ayers

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You don't have a transmission cooler built into your radiator either.

This is all null anyway unless we get more information about what was going on.
I've got to agree with Big Jim, and Fixizin, vehicles today will idle all day long without overheating in the hottest environments! This will be true if the if there isn't a problem with the cooling system (like mineral deposits in the radiator), or it hasn't been botched up with UDPs and/or e-fan mods.

I have a 1999 3.0L (automatic with a tranny cooler) and it behaves exactly like Fixizin discribed his.

It's also black, with >150K miles:





 

fixizin

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I agree, I think the OP is over-reacting, and/or under-reporting what's going on, and then we're all chasing guesses trying to help him. But the 160F t-stat is way off base, and WILL cause probs.

Based on the lack of responses to my heater hose queries, I think a lot of folks (me, worst of all) take the Ranger cooling system for granted, and don't service it often enough... 'til the failures start. I got religion now!


PS: Bob, that paint looks GREAT!... *please* tell me it's NOT original... or doesn't live in the sun... lol.

Day-um, I got to get down with the clay bar see if a shine can be resurrected on mine... :blush:
 

Bob Ayers

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PS: Bob, that paint looks GREAT!... *please* tell me it's NOT original... or doesn't live in the sun... lol.

Day-um, I got to get down with the clay bar see if a shine can be resurrected on mine... :blush:
Thanks!!

Yes, paint is all original!!!

But if you were impressed with my Ranger, you will be really impressed with
my 1961 Galaxie, which is ALL original in every way, never been restored.
Original interior, paint, even the spare tire hasn't been moved since it was
installed at the factory:


http://Bob-Ayers.smugmug.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?AlbumID=1183593&AlbumKey=ZjWBT
 

Big Jim M

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So an engine doesn't have low oil pressure until it locks up then?

In both of my examples it was noticed they were getting warm (guess hot must not be proper term for it) and action was taken to prevent them from boiling the coolant. No need to sit there and watch the needle climb until it starts dumping coolant to note there was a problem. I had a front seat to both events and I know what I saw... nearly pegged gauges on very hot, humid, still, August days.

It was in the 90's here awhile ago, and if it was in Mass. and the guy was sitting in stop and go traffic and noticed his needle was higher than normal, idling with the AC on that could have been a cause. He didn't say how much higher, just that it was warmer than normal.

That was a stupid uninformed remark directed at ME!
Since our lil guys have a SWITCH that puts the gauge at 1/2 way when 7-1/2 pounds of oil pressureis reached HOW would one KNOW what the pressure was and even if he did know the pressure how would he know THAT was low?

I'll say it once more just so everyone will understand! Putting electric this and that and modifying this and that when you system is KEEPING IT'S COOLANT is a silly,stupid thing to do!! The engine LIKES temps in the 250/260 degree range It is the COOLANT that one must protect from over 230* NOT the engine.
If your engine IS loseing it's coolant FIX what is broke! Adding a different fan or whatnot will NOT fix what was broke.

Just in passing I will add: Our coolant is mixed 1/2 way or there about with water. This water, for some reason unknown to me, causes the coolant after the mixing to resist freezing to a lower temperature than the coolant itself can resist.

Down here where I live it never gets cold enough to freeze PURE Ethylene Glycol.. So I use PURE coolant in my rides. What does this do, you may ask? Well Ethylene Glycol doesn't boil until 450* is reached. So I never lose my coolant. I found the Arabs have been using the pure stuff in the desert for many years. A side effect is, it seems the water is more coarse and causes pump sea' wear where the pure coolant lubricates the seal.
Big JIm
 

funkingonutz

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no the ac was not on, i dont use it....
yeah it was still in the NOR M AL range...(the needle pointed to the M)
ok then this is normal, yeah ill keep the OE thermostat in..i see what your saying now.
 

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That was a stupid uninformed remark directed at ME!
Since our lil guys have a SWITCH that puts the gauge at 1/2 way when 7-1/2 pounds of oil pressureis reached HOW would one KNOW what the pressure was and even if he did know the pressure how would he know THAT was low?

I'll say it once more just so everyone will understand! Putting electric this and that and modifying this and that when you system is KEEPING IT'S COOLANT is a silly,stupid thing to do!! The engine LIKES temps in the 250/260 degree range It is the COOLANT that one must protect from over 230* NOT the engine.
If your engine IS loseing it's coolant FIX what is broke! Adding a different fan or whatnot will NOT fix what was broke.

Just in passing I will add: Our coolant is mixed 1/2 way or there about with water. This water, for some reason unknown to me, causes the coolant after the mixing to resist freezing to a lower temperature than the coolant itself can resist.

Down here where I live it never gets cold enough to freeze PURE Ethylene Glycol.. So I use PURE coolant in my rides. What does this do, you may ask? Well Ethylene Glycol doesn't boil until 450* is reached. So I never lose my coolant. I found the Arabs have been using the pure stuff in the desert for many years. A side effect is, it seems the water is more coarse and causes pump sea' wear where the pure coolant lubricates the seal.
Big JIm
A 50/50 mixture of water and ethylene glycol has better heat transfer characteristics than pure ethylene glycol. So, I disagree with using 100% ethylene glycol. The cooling system is used to cool the oil (and tranny ATF if it's an automatic), which generally runs hotter than the coolant. So, pure ethylene glycol can run hotter, but the oil & ATF can't.
 
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