My motor is a figurative block of ice.

[Kenneth S]

Thanks, I was hoping for a 210* somewhere in there.

Will a duratech tstat fit a lima?

Relative to the thread:
170*F is usually right at the "-C"

Yes I have a CEL(P0401) and no I don't know why my charging light is on. No, that's not 128miles to a half tank on a 2.3 (is actually ~160...still terrible though)

Once the water temp starts to get around 230 degrees, and up you run the real risk of cranking the head, blowing a head gasket, and seizing the piston rings onto the pistons (don't ask me how I know that ) but Esslinger was right don't let the water temp go over 230 degrees.

 

[soul_justice]

Okay, so I haven't really figured out yet how to have the truck run at regular temps without cardboard, but after some searching and some information from the last thread I posted here I've finally got her running where I want her (while I'm not moving)

I am holding the motor at ~2900RPM, usually what I'm running at doing 75 on the interstate. My multimeter is hooked up to the ECT, and I'm showing a voltage of .44 volts steady over 20 minutes with an outside temperature of roughly 30* which corresponds to an engine temp of roughly 217*. I have about 75% of my radiator covered. I expect with moving down the road for this temperature to drop to around 205*. We will see when I go to work tomorrow. On my gauges, this corresponds to roughly r-m on normal (I wish ford put numbers....) I have the full gauge set with tach out of the earlier gold background cluster. I now have great heat, the gauge is where it should be (never been able to test engine temp before off the sensor since my old PCM was bad) and hopefully better MPG now. I will carry several sizes of cardboard with me tomorrow to see what sizes I should use at what outside temps (we are supposed to have a high of 48 tomorrow) I will post back my findings tomorrow afternoon.

Stay tuned...

Edit- for reference when I first tested the ECT fresh after 1+hr of interstate driving the value was .67 which according to the ECT voltage chart I'm using would be around 180 degrees, meaning the tstat isn't even opening.

This is the chart I'm using if you're interested in where I'm pulling these figures from...

http://oldfuelinjection.com/?p=28

 

[Mikel89us]

You have to remember with the mech fan, it blows air into the engine bay, and that cools off the block, and the heater hoses. This will keep the coolant temp down on really cold days.

Also, and I hope EVERYONE reads this. Thermostats DO NOT open at the advertised temperatures. The temp they are rated at is FULL OPEN!! A 195 thermostat actually starts to open at about 175*. So with your temp guage reading 180, most likely its partially open and circulating a small amount of coolant to the radiator.

When I was running a mech fan I ran a piece of cardboard that covered the whole radiator except 2 rectangles cut out vertically that were about 1.5" wide, and 10-12" high. This was also left on my truck until the average temps got to about 55* outside. I never had an overcool or overheat with this.

 

[soul_justice]

Well, I didn't figure that it opened right at 192* but I figured it would be within 5* or so. This is good to know.

You have to remember with the mech fan, it blows air into the engine bay, and that cools off the block, and the heater hoses. This will keep the coolant temp down on really cold days.

Also, and I hope EVERYONE reads this. Thermostats DO NOT open at the advertised temperatures. The temp they are rated at is FULL OPEN!! A 195 thermostat actually starts to open at about 175*. So with your temp guage reading 180, most likely its partially open and circulating a small amount of coolant to the radiator.

When I was running a mech fan I ran a piece of cardboard that covered the whole radiator except 2 rectangles cut out vertically that were about 1.5" wide, and 10-12" high. This was also left on my truck until the average temps got to about 55* outside. I never had an overcool or overheat with this.

 

[Mark_88]

Just be careful to remove the cardboard when the outside temperature is above freezing...a cracked head later I can attest to the fine line between getting good heat when it is cold and remembering to remove the cardboard from in front of the rad on warmer days...

That set me back about $1000...and pi$$ed me off to no end because I finally had the head ported and the cam I had been wanting...my little 2.0 was a rocket after that head work...and then it died a horrible death on a lonely highway hauling my flabby late butt to work...on a wonderfully warm day...

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

Can't count how many times an aftermarket thermostat gave me trouble. Put in a ford 195* thermostat.

You might also have scale build up in the heater core preventing heat transfer. My 2.3l heater will burn skin in 10-20* weather

 

[vstar650ca]

A new Ford thermostat and a good cooling system flush might be what she needs

 

[soul_justice]

I've always been kinda leery of any kind of system flush. What would you recommend?

A new Ford thermostat and a good cooling system flush might be what she needs

 

[vstar650ca]

I've always been kinda leery of any kind of system flush. What would you recommend?

I normally drain rad,then unhook a heater hose and connect it to a garden hose and pump water through until it comes out clean.Hook heater hose back up and drive a few miles,then repeat (When cool),after flush put in proper "good quality" anti-freeze and let idle with rad cap off to "burp" system of air.I have seen cooling systems plugged by that "quick fix" rad leak repair and I don,t use any of that rad flush chemical.Good luck Justice