2.3L running hotter than normal.

[colinrmitchell]

The 2.3L in my truck has been running fine lately, but when I drive it for more than a few miles, it heats up pretty good. It's still in the operating range, but it's a little closer to that big red H than I'd like. It does it during the hot afternoon and at night.

Fan works.
Belt works, doesn't slip or squeal. Feels pretty tight (I think).
Coolant level is normal and steady.
No leaks.
No mud on radiator.
Engine still runs the same as ever.

It just started doing this last weekend. Dumb question, but might this be caused by it running lean, and in turn another problem? I guess the only things that could cause trouble in the cooling system would then be the water pump and the thermostat? I don't know too much about the details, maybe someone could give me a good starting point.

And as a side note, I don't use the AC in my truck and kinda don't think it works anyways. How could I go about removing it? Do non-AC trucks have an idler pulley in place of the condenser, or is there a different belt?

Thanks guys!

 

[grey ghost]

what does the coolant look like in the truck? maybe time for a flush and a new thermostat? ....my $.02 and thoughts,,grey ghost

 

[colinrmitchell]

The coolant is kinda of an opaque green. That's a good idea you got there.

The thermostat is in the front of the engine, at the front of the head kind of area, right? Attached to the upper radiator hose or something?

 

[Fast Fords]

there is a "t" connection on the upper rad hose..in that "t" is the thermostat - if i remember correctly, there are four bolts to remove it, unhook the ECT sensor and viola! just remember to scrape off the old gasket (don't be stupid like some people i know personally )

in answer to the A/C, its just a shorter belt. part number (motorcraft) is:
JK6 700; thermostat is RT 1140 and gasket is RG 609, if you decide to go with Ford parts, that is.

 

[tylerh]

this will tell you if it is the thermostat when the truck is cold start it and wait for it to heat up a bit the feel the upper rad hose and the lower for pressure if one doesnt have pressure in it its the thermostat same thing goes if ones is hot and the other is cold or warm but also check your heater core hoses as well the same way and if that checks out flush the coolant

 

[colinrmitchell]

Well, I changed the thermostat, flushed the system with an additive, drained it, refilled it with new antifreeze and fresh water, and the damn thing still runs hot.

Both the upper and lower hoses heat up. I just replaced the heater core this past winter, so I don't think it would be plugged up already. I gave the radiator a good pressure wash today, too.

The truck took about 20 minutes of driving, but it started to gradually increase temperature, so I brought it back home. I checked the drivebelt, and it looks fine. Doesn't squeal or anything. Nothing comes out of the weep hole on the water pump, either. So I'm pretty puzzled. I guess there must be a bottleneck somewhere?

 

[Byrd]

How long has it been since your last oil change? If you run synthetic and you don't change your filter every 3000 like you would normally or you don't run a high mileage filter that can make oil pressure drop and even stop entirely if it gets bad enough thus encreasing heat. Just a thought. Ran across that one in my mother's F150 that she decided at 180,000 to start running synthetic in... (funny little lady) She just forgot the filter wasn't sythetic too!

Also, if you can get a laser thermometer check the heat towards the top of the block on each cylinder, you might be able to single one out if all but one are running cooler than the other.

the only other thing I can think of right now is that the radiator might be a stopped up, had a buddy keep useing some radiator stop leak stuff to fix his problem, it eventually got to the point where water barely made it to the upper radiator hose.

I'm not sure about these particular engines but I know a few others that if the fan shrowds are removed they run hotter too. Just more things to check out/think about.

Any other symptoms? rough idle, stalling, smoke of any kind?

Hope it helps, good luck!

-Byrd

 

[colinrmitchell]

Thanks a lot, Byrd! I put Valvoline something and a Motorcraft filter in it not too long ago, so I don't think it's the filter. But I could be wrong.

The truck runs fine, not slow or grouchy.
I don't get any smoke out of the exhaust.
There are no external leaks, and I lose no coolant.
Both the upper and lower hoses get HOT.

Now that I think about it, when I was flushing the truck yesterday, I had the heat on full blast (the instructions on the detergent said to do that). And the truck got up to operating temperature, but the air was not warm at all. A clog or something in the heat system causing a problem? I just put in a brand new heater core last winter.

I'm gonna put a new radiator cap on it today just for shits and giggles. The next goal, is to remove my A/C stuff. I think there might be mud packed in the radiator that I don't know about because the A/C radiator thing is in front of it. That, and putting the thermostat housing bolts back in yesterday was the biggest PAIN IN THE ASS ever thanks to the condenser pipe being in the way.

 

[Kenneth S]

You can still have a head that's starting to crack, or a head gasket starting to go away and not loose any coolant but it will let the heat from combustion enter the cooling system easier. The water temp sensor for the guage could be going away also.

 

[mlunsford]

I would do a leak down test to check for a blown head gasket. Harbor Frienght has the tool.

 

[ZackB]

Now that I think about it, when I was flushing the truck yesterday, I had the heat on full blast (the instructions on the detergent said to do that). And the truck got up to operating temperature, but the air was not warm at all.

I would figure this out....

 

[Byrd]

I would figure this out....

I would too but I don't think that that in it self would cause the motor to run hotter... I have been wrong before though... and these little 4's are still a little new to me but on every engine I've had (whether it had a heater core or not) was uneffected by the heater core and the heating system untill you turned it on... which lowered the tempurature of the engine in most cases.

I do agree though... you should look into this, especially if you live in a colder climate like I used to... no heat in a Minnesota winter SUCKS!!!

-Byrd

 

[colinrmitchell]

I don't think the cabin heater is a problem, on second thought. Last winter, I put in a new heater core, and the heat problem I was really having was that the blend door actuator was broke, so I set the blend door on full hot and glued it there. My guess is it came loose and went back to full cold. Both hoses going to the heater core get hot, so I think that's probably working okay.

I'm going to take the A/C stuff off the truck today. I don't use the A/C (never had since I got the truck, actually). So I'm hoping that when I get the condenser off, I can hose down the radiator (which I'm sure is caked with mud on the inside, since I couldn't get it a good cleansing with the condenser in the way). Once that's done, I'll do a test run, and if something is still up, you guys will know it.

If that doesn't work, I'll take a good look at the radiator, and then the only other thing I could think of is the head-gasket problem all of you suggested.

Wish me luck!

 

[skyy_4life]

my truck has been running alot cooler since i replaced thermostat and thermostat housing. you may want to flush your coolant also because i have found out that all of my rangers had "Shit" in the coolant after a while. thermostat has 3 bolts on front of engine at end of upper radiator hose. only hard thing is to hold gasket in while putting in bolts. easy 10 minute job. even if it is not a problem i would try changing it if it has not been changed in long time. it will help.

 

[colinrmitchell]

I already changed the thermostat and flushed the system.

We took out all of the A/C stuff a few minutes ago. The radiator was COVERED in mud. So problem solved. Took it for a test drive and it cooled just fine.


Anybody interested in A/C parts?