94 Ranger xlt overheating issue

[94fordheadache]

Does it stay normal while idling but go hot while driving?

I ask because that can be a collapsing coolant hose happening when the water pump reaches a higher speed.

No it does the opposite, sometimes will start climbing then go back to normal then jumps back up. I’ve been working pretty close to home recently about 5 minutes. I live at the top of a pretty big mountain. I noticed climbing that mountain makes the temp rise rather quickly.

and the thermostat does have one of those wiggly pieces I installed it so that part was on top.

 

[94fordheadache]

Those last two are very good questions 94. The bottom (return ) hose should have that spring-looking thing that keeps it from collapsing when the thermostat opens and the pump is pulling water through it.

The thermostat too is a good question and it must be right side up, and right side out, for it to work.

Both very easy to miss if there's anything else on the mind

By spring looking thing do you mean the weird almost shroud looking piece on the lower hose?

 

[94fordheadache]

Is your fan shroud all good?

Oh yeah it’s all intact and bolted down properly.

 

[Josh B]

By spring looking thing do you mean the weird almost shroud looking piece on the lower hose?

It goes inside the lower hose to keep it from going flat when the pump draws water through it
You can squeeze the lower radiator hose when it's cold and not running and see if it's inside the hose

 

[superj]

do rangers have water pumps that can be accidentally interchanged between directions?

like can you accidentally get one that turns counter clockwise but your engine is a clock wise engine?

i forget what other vehicle i had that i had to be careful and check the impeller blade against the one i took off to make sure the water pump turned the correct direction.

since it does it while driving and climbing, i would pull the hoses off and run your water hose through the block and make sure you are getting clear fresh water through the block. make sure there is nothing clogged or gummed up and you are not getting a lot of junk out of hte other hose.

did you get a temp gun to check the temps around the engine to verify the gage reading?

 

[dvdswan]

do rangers have water pumps that can be accidentally interchanged between directions?

like can you accidentally get one that turns counter clockwise but your engine is a clock wise engine?

i forget what other vehicle i had that i had to be careful and check the impeller blade against the one i took off to make sure the water pump turned the correct direction.

since it does it while driving and climbing, i would pull the hoses off and run your water hose through the block and make sure you are getting clear fresh water through the block. make sure there is nothing clogged or gummed up and you are not getting a lot of junk out of hte other hose.

did you get a temp gun to check the temps around the engine to verify the gage reading?

That's what I was thinking. V-belt vs. serpentine belt. They are usually finned to flow in different directions.

 

[4.0blue98]

This is a viscous fan clutch system right? Is the fan not engaging when it gets up in temp?

 

[Uncle Gump]

Water pump rotation will be dependent on belt routing. That's the only way any belt driven pump will change direction. I suppose the impeller could be wrong or installed improperly.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Being it heats up idling... cools down moving down the road (if that is correct)... it sounds like an airflow issue. Check the clutch fan.

Just because that thermostat is new... doesn't mean it's working properly.

You need to check some temps...

What did the coolant look like before you started down this path?

 

[dvdswan]

Water pump rotation will be dependent on belt routing. That's the only way any belt driven pump will change direction. I suppose the impeller could be wrong or installed improperly.

that's what I mean, installing a serp belt w/p on a v-belt engine.

 

[James Morse]

Josh are you saying the bottom hose has a spring -inside- it or are you talking about the plastic piece on the outside? I don't recall anything inside them.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Radiator hoses on the suction side of the water pump (typically lower hose) will have an internal spring to prevent the hose from being collapsed from the suction generated by the water pump.

 

[rumblecloud]

Some hoses have a coil spring sort of embedded into the inside of the hose as Josh said to keep it from collapsing.

 

[James Morse]

Well that's weird, I just checked mine and you can squeeze it so it would seem to not have that internal support.
They do / do not come with them?
My recollection is when I did rad etc I replaced the top hose as it looked sketchy. I ordered and rec'd the bottom hose, correct one, from RockAuto, but I think I didn't put it in because it looked like the lower had been replaced and looks new, so I didn't put in the bottom one, which means, if I remember right, I should have the new hose... somewhere... duh...
Anyway, my truck heats up fast, has great very hot cab heat, and I've never seen it go past normal on the gauge, so it doesn't seem like there's any issue. But now I'm wondering if I'm missing a part (which seems not needed?).
It just seems like if were a problem the truck would run hot and it doesn't. Unless gauge is shot but I kind of doubt that as you can see it gradually come up from cold to mid-range.

 

[James Morse]

As to the original issue, I'd take the t-stat out. Then the truck is cooling as much as it can unless you turn off the cab heater which wouldn't affect it that much.
I just remember in the old days when the engine ran hot we'd take out the t-stat and turn the heat on.
Obviously that is something not right when you have to do that (like, the t-stat is bad), but in summer it was a short term fix. If you didn't put in a t-stat by winter, you could end up with it taking forever to heat up, if ever.

He said the hoses to the rad were diff temps so the coolant is gaining heat in the engine. Maybe not enough, so flushing through the engine (as has been said) might help because if coolant is moving through the engine properly then it's sucking off as much heat as it can and with the t-stat out if it still went hot then I'd look at the other things mentioned. I suppose someone mentioned sender unit for temp gauge already... I wouldn't really suspect that but it might be?