NEED 3 ROW RADIATOR 94 3.0 A.T.

[ricardo1958]

Hi guys I've searched high and low for a through 3 row radiator for my 94 pickup it runs a little hot in the summer when I sit and do paperwork does anybody know what will interchange with that or where to get one it is an automatic transmission thank you very much.

 

[Curious Hound]

I’m not sure about what radiator to recommend. But.

Have you verified that your thermostat is working properly?

Have you verified that your fan clutch is working properly?

Have you flushed your radiator/cooling system lately?

Are you sure your water pump is working properly? How old is it? How many miles? Could be an eroded impeller.

If all that is good and you can’t find a 3 row radiator, you might try adding an electric pusher fan to provide extra airflow when needed.

 

[pjtoledo]

try removing the coolant jacket plugs located low on the block to flush out rust & crud. there is one on each side.

 

[RonD]

+1 ^^^

You need to service the engine cooling system
It should idle all day long in 100degF weather with AC on without running hot with stock dual core AT rad

 

[ricardo1958]

I appreciate you guys time and advice. I actually have a brand new aluminum radiator 2 row 2 years old, have checked the cluth fan. I change the coolant every year, the engine was replaced about 4 years ago. It had the same issue on the other engine. I work a hundred and forty miles from home ,so I go down on Monday and back on Friday ,Lot of freeway mileage. New water pump couple years ago, been through it over and over. I changed the thermostat to 160 degrees Still when it idles while doing paperwork for 20-30 minutes in the hottest part of Florida Sunshine ,it hits well over the the 1/2 point and keeps climbing.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I cool a 5.0 with the two row...

You might pull the thermostat and put it in a pot of water on your stove with a thermometer and see when it opens. And make sure you have it installed correctly.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I think we are all just trying to understand...

So it only heats up sitting at idle... never running down the road.

Just sounds like an airflow issue... you sure the fan is working properly?

 

[ricardo1958]

I will check again tomorrow the rule of thumb if it spins easily when it's hot , its faulty correct.

 

[RonD]

You may want to look at installing an electric cooling fan and dropping the mechanical fan

Better MPG and power, and better cooling when stopped



When engine is cold, BEFORE starting it, open the hood and spin the fan, it should be locked now so hard to spin
Start engine
Let it run for 30 seconds and shut it off
Try to spin fan again, should spin easily, its UnLocked now

After engine is fully warmed up on a hot day shut it off
Spin fan, should feel like it did when stone cold, locked

One important part is the fan shroud, it makes the fan suck air thru the radiator, if its missing then fan doesn't work when stopped

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Another point is the thermostat temp setting. Yours will open at 160*, but that doesn't mean that it won't go higher, as you're finding. The temp rating is ONLY for opening temp, not for operating temp. Operating temp is controlled by radiator, fan/s, shroud placement, ambient temp, etc.
I would be running a higher temp stat, as too cool can cause problems with oil contamination with short trips.

 

[pjtoledo]

OK, time for an experiment.
open the hood a few inches.

any change?

I would assume letting a bunch of heat out will help.

if you hold the revs up, maybe 1000 rpms, does that help?
I used to drive a Taurus SHO that got kind of warm, revving it up to 1100 would bring the temp back down.
it had electric fans so the issue must have been getting enough coolant to flow.

even cheaper advice,,, park facing the wind.

NAPA has a listing for a severe duty fan clutch. might be worth looking at.

is this happening now? in the 70 degree winter????

 

[1990RangerinSK]

I appreciate you guys time and advice. I actually have a brand new aluminum radiator 2 row 2 years old, have checked the cluth fan. I change the coolant every year, the engine was replaced about 4 years ago. It had the same issue on the other engine. I work a hundred and forty miles from home ,so I go down on Monday and back on Friday ,Lot of freeway mileage. New water pump couple years ago, been through it over and over. I changed the thermostat to 160 degrees Still when it idles while doing paperwork for 20-30 minutes in the hottest part of Florida Sunshine ,it hits well over the the 1/2 point and keeps climbing.

I'm told that's normal, as long as it doesn't rise past the top of the "Normal" range on your gauge. It's even normal for the temperature gauge to rise and fall.

My Taurus was doing the rise&fall thing before my friend gave it to me. Funny story with that. The coolant was low. As soon as the coolant was topped up, it stopped fluctuating. So.... I don't remember seeing this in the thread: Have you checked your coolant level?

 

[wildbill23c]

Sitting at idle with a non-working fan clutch will certainly make temperatures climb especially with the AC running you have double the heat issues in the radiator area between the radiator and the condenser for the AC. I'd bet your fan clutch is shot, the one on my 88 Bronco 2 was and no matter what I did it would run way too hot for my liking, a replacement fan clutch problem solved, it will idle all day long with the AC on and never get hot. Now, if you are parked but you have the transmission in gear its still going to get hot regardless. I'd start with replacing that fan clutch, all those little tricks if it spins freely by hand its bad doesn't necessarily mean anything...they're cheap, replace it, and I'm sure since you just replaced the engine in recent years you know an engine isn't cheap, so replace the fan clutch and I'd go with an HD one, yeah you'll get a lot more fan clutch noise and engagements but I'd deal with the noise over an overheated/damaged engine as a result of not having a working fan clutch. Other's have mentioned going electric fans, that would definitely be something to look into if you do a lot of idling, those fans if you wire them in correctly you could install a manual over-ride switch so you can manually turn them on regardless of temperatures for max cooling when parked...it will also significantly make your AC cool better too.

 

[Denisefwd93]

Suggestion get, the extreme duty fan clutch or go electric, IF! you are not using any coolant at all.

 

[Shran]

My thoughts, as I have done quite a bit of experimentation with this stuff (although on an Explorer, with a 4.0, AC and manual trans...)

I started with a small manual trans radiator and standard duty fan clutch. Radiator was leaking, replaced it.

I then started having trouble with overheating. I put a new water pump and thermostat in... which was an improvement but I was still seeing it get a little hot going over mountain passes in CO.

So, I decided to go overboard and do a big auto trans/AC radiator and a extreme duty fan clutch. This definitely cured the problem but created another one: now the fan clutch was engaged so often that my gas mileage and power took a big dive into the shitter. I could feel it kick in and drag the engine down on the highway, very irritating.

In the end I kept the big radiator and used a "heavy duty" fan clutch - there were three variants listed and it was the middle duty one. It works great, stays cool, EXCEPT if I'm idling with the AC on during a very hot day. Then it will start to creep up. I am OK with that - I just give it some gas and move some air through the radiator until it cools off. I think the bottom line is, your fan is not moving much air at idle no matter what size clutch or radiator you have.

I would recommend an auxiliary electric fan in front of the radiator that you can turn on in this situation... if you're confident that your cooling system is in good shape, this is the ONLY thing that will fix it IMO.