How Warm for the 4 liter?

[Kona]

For all of us that have real (after-market) temperature gauges how hot does your 4.0L run? Mine when driving hovers around 210 - 230 F and while idling will drop as low as 200 F all on relatively cool days 50-60 Deg F.

 

[Downey]

i have a 190 tstat in my truck. try swapping to a 160 and see how it runs

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

A 160* T stat it too low for the 4.0L.

Normal operating temperature should be between 190-210*F

 

[Big Jim M]

Guys modifying their rides never cease to amaze me. The factory saw many years ago that the AVERAGE driver didn't know SQUAT about the running of his engine.
So the factory installed a series of lights and gauges that would tell the ignorant driver he was OK, NOT TO WORRY!
But then the average driver thought he was actually smarter than the factory thought. So he started installing gauges that he had no clue as to how to read.
For those of you that think a 160* is best.. I feel a great deal of compassion for you!
Look! The reason the factory gauges are more or less steady in more or less the middle of the gauge is so as not to worry the average driver!
OF COURSE the coolant in the engine will have the temperature go UP or DOWN to certain points! Depending on the present and immediate past operating history! It is impossible for the temperature to remain at a certain degree unless the engine is at a certain rpm and LOAD for an extended amount of time.
What you are describing is NORMAL just like the original gauge says!
The engine, coolant and even the engine OIL are all engineered to operate at 210* average temperature. The oil will stay intact up to 300* with no problems.
So If the average driver worries about the temperature of his engine the factory gauge is far better for him than a gauge he knows nothing about reading.
Big Jim

 

[Kona]

My first step was to grab a cracked OE fan to put back on to replace the replacement for the cracked original one ! It seems the Dorman replacement has noticeably smaller blades with more space between them. This lowered the temp by 5- 10 degrees from 220-230 to 210 -220 . My next step will be to check if the temperature sender/gauge is accurate and if so check the thermostat opening temperature. If all that stuff is good then a add on electric fan I guess....oh I did replace my radiator,water pump,fan belt,thermostat,and fan clutch in the last two years. Oh, the old girl has 290,000 kilometers or 180,000 miles on her.

 

[Kona]

Guys modifying their rides never cease to amaze me. The factory saw many years ago that the AVERAGE driver didn't know SQUAT about the running of his engine.
So the factory installed a series of lights and gauges that would tell the ignorant driver he was OK, NOT TO WORRY!
But then the average driver thought he was actually smarter than the factory thought. So he started installing gauges that he had no clue as to how to read.
For those of you that think a 160* is best.. I feel a great deal of compassion for you!
Look! The reason the factory gauges are more or less steady in more or less the middle of the gauge is so as not to worry the average driver!
OF COURSE the coolant in the engine will have the temperature go UP or DOWN to certain points! Depending on the present and immediate past operating history! It is impossible for the temperature to remain at a certain degree unless the engine is at a certain rpm and LOAD for an extended amount of time.
What you are describing is NORMAL just like the original gauge says!
The engine, coolant and even the engine OIL are all engineered to operate at 210* average temperature. The oil will stay intact up to 300* with no problems.
So If the average driver worries about the temperature of his engine the factory gauge is far better for him than a gauge he knows nothing about reading.
Big Jim

Yes , that is why the temp surging as the thermostat opening and closing does not bother me but operating at 220 -230 driving around a small (100,000 people) town on the flats with a engine prone to head cracking from heat issues wants to get it all worked out before being in 4 low out in the bush and possibly having a 240 + temp going on.

 

[Big Jim M]

I suggest reinstalling the factory sender and gauge. See what it does under the same circumstances. If it says everything is good then your aftermarket stuff is failing you.
If not then look to the fan clutch or even the radiator being partially stopped up.
Since the invention of thermostats failing in the open position I have installed one of those when ever possible. The old ones failed thisaway and thataway.. one never knew what to expect out of them. So far I havn't had one of the newer ones fail so I don't know what to expect...but I THINK the temp will stay low when one does finally fail.
Also retarded timing will keep the engine looking a bit too warm.
Big JIm

 

[Kona]

all the cooling system stuff other then the heater core & hoses is less then 2 years old...I am going to try a Ford thermostat next.....

 

[sledneck07]

an answer to your question and a lil rant

to quit all the dumb, bull headed and ignorrant responses and give the guy the answer he wants. mine runs on avereage of 200* crusing the highway at60 mph. just after accerlation it goes up to 230ish then drops back down to 200*. now what was wrong with a simple answer like that??!!! dang the guy had a simple question and didnt need all the cocky and bs answers!! we are all ranger lovers here so show the guy some respect!!

 

[trader007]

i just got ScanXL with the ford addon package... and after browsing through the hundreds of sensor readings i noticed my truck likes to sit right around 86C degrees when idling. of course, this is based off the truck's own sensor, so it might not be accurate but i think it is because my truck never runs hot by any means. if anything i want to throw a warmer stat in it, but its summer so for now this is fine.

 

[Kona]

I suggest reinstalling the factory sender and gauge. See what it does under the same circumstances. If it says everything is good then your aftermarket stuff is failing you.
If not then look to the fan clutch or even the radiator being partially stopped up.
Since the invention of thermostats failing in the open position I have installed one of those when ever possible. The old ones failed thisaway and thataway.. one never knew what to expect out of them. So far I havn't had one of the newer ones fail so I don't know what to expect...but I THINK the temp will stay low when one does finally fail.
Also retarded timing will keep the engine looking a bit too warm.
Big JIm

I was reading high with the factory gauge and a Ford replacement sending unit, it used to be by the "O" or the "R" and now spends its time round the "M", and sorry , the radiator ,waterpump ,fan belt, thermostat and coolant are not Ford brand....... LOL .

 

[Kona]

to quit all the dumb, bull headed and ignorrant responses and give the guy the answer he wants. Mine runs on avereage of 200* crusing the highway at60 mph. Just after accerlation it goes up to 230ish then drops back down to 200*. Now what was wrong with a simple answer like that??!!! Dang the guy had a simple question and didnt need all the cocky and bs answers!! We are all ranger lovers here so show the guy some respect!!

thank you!

 

[Big Jim M]

The reason

I was reading high with the factory gauge and a Ford replacement sending unit, it used to be by the "O" or the "R" and now spends its time round the "M", and sorry , the radiator ,waterpump ,fan belt, thermostat and coolant are not Ford brand....... LOL .

Ford went to the NORMAL reading in the temp gauge was because many people didn't understand the fact that ten degrees plus or minus in their engines temperature was NORMAL!
So they have attempted to placate these folks by telling them that as long as the needle was pointing to the NORMAL place in the gauge it was indeed NORMAL! Not to worry, as long as it reads NORMAL go about your business and don't worry!
But then we still get folks that worry about what the difference might be between the O and the M... I am not on pins and needles waiting to see how they attempt to placate these folks.
Big JIm

 

[sledneck07]

no prob. i get sick of the run around on the forms also

 

[AllanD]

to quit all the dumb, bull headed and ignorrant responses and give the guy the answer he wants. mine runs on avereage of 200* crusing the highway at60 mph. just after accerlation it goes up to 230ish then drops back down to 200*. now what was wrong with a simple answer like that??!!! dang the guy had a simple question and didnt need all the cocky and bs answers!! we are all ranger lovers here so show the guy some respect!!

The answer someone wants isn't necissarily correct and could be at the very least be misleading.

As for temps I have mine guaged not only with the factory guage, but with a temp sensor in the feed to the cabin heater core as well as both sides of the radiator.

My temp readings aren't necissarily translatable to anyone elses, so...

But I will say that if I see a temp as high as 150F on the return side of the radiator I'm going to be spending time concentrating on determining why.

in geral a temp guage that see-saws up and down in steady state operation (highway cruise) is a symptom of a problem and that problem is usually
a thermostat in immediate need of replacement.

a cold thermostat creates other problems because EEC-IV engine management KNOWS what the temp of the coolant is, and while '85-92 EEC-IV only outputs "pass/fail" readings to a scanner the 1993-up with the proper reader can give real time outputs from all the sensors to reveal "almost right" readings and I can tell you that the computer KNOWS how warm the engine is and if it isn't "warm enough" (like when a 160F T-stat is installed) the engine management will never leave "open loop" operation and as a consequence will run piug rich and create all sorts of problems.

Before you start ****ing around with stuff you really need to know how things work.

like all things in life if you want to play the game you must know the rules
and if you want to cheat you need to know them even better than everyone else.

Lastly Don't ASSume that all these lengthy posts are specifically adressed to the original poster most of the comments here are adressed as general "disclaimers" to the great unwashed masses of lurkers in any given toipic who will read but never make a post of their own.

what we discuss is read by many.

And we must adress those people so they don't get the wrong ideas by taking something out of context.



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