2.3L ('83-'97) Coolant and heater temperature, cold weather

[Chapap]

This is covered in several places, but I’d like some data to work with. As I understand, the Lima is virtually overheat-proof, but what about running too cold?

when does your heat kick in on the temp lever scale? Haven’t tried mine in the summer, but when it’s not quite cold enough for a jacket (50-60?) it’s half way. In jacket weather (30-40?) the heater is cool until the lever is 3/4 to the hot side.

my temp gauge moves about 1/4” in the summer. In winter it can be unnoticeable so that’s no help. How much cardboard do yall use over the radiator and at what ambient temperatures? I slipped in maybe a 10”x10” piece of thick, glossy magazine paper with no change at 45 deg. Engine was definitely running cold that day. Top radiator hose was not hot enough to warm my hands. Engine cooled enough in 20 min to open the cap after an hr of highway driving. It seems like running this cold is enough to cause excessive wear.

I have new radiator, hoses, fan clutch, thermostat, heater core, and a/c blower… and the coolant has remained full, clean, and bright green for 5 months. I’m assuming nothings wrong or defective.

 

[franklin2]

1st thing you need to do is disconnect that factory temp gauge and hook a real one up with real numbers under the dash. If your thermostat is 190 F, then you will see the real gauge read close to that, a little below that on a really cold day. I have seen a lot of time and money wasted on what a crappy original Ford gauge was reading. What is "normal"?

 

[Chapap]

1st thing you need to do is disconnect that factory temp gauge and hook a real one up with real numbers under the dash. If your thermostat is 190 F, then you will see the real gauge read close to that, a little below that on a really cold day. I have seen a lot of time and money wasted on what a crappy original Ford gauge was reading. What is "normal"?

“Normal” is the green line. That’s how it acted when I bought it, and I just went with it. When it’s 45 out, it won’t go past the blue line. Stone cold is the yellow line. I didn’t think to feel how hot the radiator was, but I can’t imagine that 45 is cold enough that the thermostat would be completely closed. It’s just weird that the heater is so much colder when it’s cold out. It could just be that there’s less flow through the block and that’s why it takes a little more from the heat selector.

 

[RonD]

Dash temp gauge should be just below 1/2 after 10mins, usually 5 to 8min in most engines, 1/2 is 200degF on Ford gauges

Yes, the 2.3l Lima is a heavy engine 400+lbs so alot of metal to warm up and keep warm with cold outside temps
The cardboard in front of the radiator is to lower air flow into engine bay
The radiator itself is usually not used at all with the 2.3l when its cold out, all radiators are for extra cooling only when needed

The fan clutch can cause over cooling, fan clutch works from radiator heat not engine heat
It has a bi-metal spring on the front that is heated up by radiator heat, this causes the spring to expand and close valves inside the clutch causing the fan blades to spin closer to water pump RPMs
Start cold engine and count to 10, turn engine off
Spin the fan blade, should be easy to spin, its "unlocked"
If it hard to spin its "locked" and shouldn't be
When a fan clutch fails its SUPPOSE to fail "locked" as that is a "failsafe" mode, over cooling is better than over heating, lol

Like when thermostats fail they should fail OPEN, for the same reason
Lets check thermostat
Start cold engine
Feel upper rad hose and heater hose, both cold of course
Let engine idle for 3 or 4 minutes, check hoses again
heater hose should be getting hot, upper rad hose still stone cold
If upper rad hose is heating up then thermostat is partially open when it should be fully closed, yes 190-195degF thermostat is spec


Heater hoses in engine bay "bleed" alot of heat in cold weather, blocking off air flow thru radiator can help, and an unlocked fan clutch as well
But the hoses are longer and so bleed heat
You can get pipe insulation, the foam stuff that's split so you can slide it over pipes, works great on heater hoses, less temp drop from engine to firewall and heater core
And you can't over heat heater hoses, lol, so you can leave it on year round

 

[Chapap]

Fan clutch is good. I don’t suspect anything misbehaving. I’ve just never heard of an engine naturally running cold. It’s hard to believe that enough air gets under the hood to bleed away the heat generated at 3/4 throttle on the interstate. Sure the block has a ton of mass, but it doesn’t have a great heat sink shape to it.

I can explain away the cold heater, but not the different temp gauge reading- I’m not worried about how low the needle is indicating, just perplexed that it is reading differently in the winter. I’ve read that this engine can be filled with concrete instead of water and they’re more or less fine. Was that a literal comment or exaggeration?

 

[RonD]

Its the air speed in the engine bay at 3/4 throttle that's sucking the heat out, i.e. "wind chill" factor, lol
Which is the point of using the card board to minimize that

Insulate the heater hoses

 

[racsan]

Ive only had (1) 2.3 (out of 3) that had a decent heater, the ‘88. the others, a 92 & the current 94 will keep the window defrosted but youll leave the blower motor on high and never be too warm. Ironically the 88 with plenty of heat (that would have you turning the blower speed down) was a supercab, the 92 & 94 are reg cabs, less space but less heat output, go figure. Ive put foam pipe insulation on the hose from thermostat to heater core, new thermostat, new water pump, new heater core. And most recently Ive removed the fan from the fan clutch. My cardboard block-off is about 50%. It’s better then when I got it but not near as good as the ‘88 was. my next thing to try is to put a shut off valve in the middle of the upper radiator hose. I do need a “real” guage though before I go that route. Haven’t really drove it much this winter, I try to keep it out of the salt brine and let the hhr take the corrosive crap bath. (plus it has a excellent heater) That may change in a few days if we get whats being forcast, the car is awful if not impossible in deep snow, the ranger has more ground clearance and enough weight in the bed to take on some snow depth.

 

[racsan]

my cardboard block-off really isn’t cardboard but is a cut down corregated plastic political sign, painted black. heres the measurements & a couple other pictures of the engine.

 

[RonD]

Now that's an Ohio 2.3l setup for sure

 

[Chapap]

lol first ever vacuum powered air horns

 

[racsan]

those are dixe horns, compressor is in the corner under them, that vac line from valve cover goes to a catch can/breather. Theres another dual air-horn setup on the core support behind the grille- deer horns, switch for it is on the gearshift. ( see deer/downshift & hit brakes, pull up on switch to hopefully scare deer away. (remincint of a two-speed axle switch from 2+ton grain trucks ,back in the day)