How to tell if its overheating....

[rusty ol ranger]

without waiting for the cap to blow off.

1996 F150 4x4 with a 300 I6/auto.

The gauge says it is wanting to overheat. It hasnt got out of the normal band but it has gotton to the top of it. The other day it was like 85* and i had the A/C cranked sittin in traffic it crept up fast, shut the A/C off and turned the heat on, revved it a lil to get the fan blowing faster, and it cooled right off and never heated up again.

Then tonite, its like 55*, maybe, it was wanting to creep up doing 55 down 127.

I wanna know if its just the gaueg of it its actually overheating....

any ideas?

later,
Dustin

 

[Will]

When the gauge is acting strange usually something is going on. Low on coolant is a big one. Low on coolant is tough because the gauge may start reading hot, then go normal, then cool as the coolant runs out.

It seems to me that your cooling capacity has decreased for some reason. Low coolant is the first thing I think of. Next is a radiator that is old and plugged--which I experienced in my B2 at Wellsville a few years ago. It would zoom up in temp after every exertion, then cool down. Eventually I encountered something that took too long to get out of and the left tank blew clean off of the core. When I got it home and installed a new radiator, it has never overheated since. The passages in radiators are small and they do clog up over time.

 

[fordtrucknut77]

it may also be possible that the thermostat is sticking and releasing or that for some reason there is an air pocket in the system I would def start by checking the coolant level

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Its full of antifreeze.

I dont know, i almost think its in the gauge, it jumnped up yesterday and then came righjt back down then went to normal and sat there.

Maybe i should get it flushed out

later,
Dustin

 

[AllanD]

PURE antifreeze isn't as good a conductor of heat as water.

If you ignore the boiling point and the tendency for corrosion
pure water is actually the best coolant.

It actually sounds like you had an airbubble in the system

AD

 

[mentalbreakdown00]

Ok you were sittting still in traffic with the a/c on. First thing that comes to mind when sitting still is the fan clutch getting old, second would be the radiator cap not holding pressure causeing a boil before it's supposed to because it doesn't hold pressure. Just my .02

 

[mentalbreakdown00]

also when i'm questioning an electrical gauge I will temp install a mechanical that I have in my tool box same with oil pressure too that will let you know for sure