Thermostat chat, Ranger temp obsession (let's split some hairs)

[8thTon]

A typical house these days has plastic plumbing with 50-60psi, it's trivial. Not sure what problem they were trying to solve by going to 20psi, or what defect causes the plastic housing to crack, but it's not inherent.

 

[sgtsandman]

It may be the material used for the housing but most definitely the heat exposure that causes the plastic to become brittle. There is nothing wrong with plastics, if used in the right environment. Of course, vehicle manufacturers don't like people like us who keep vehicles for a long time. Vehicle longevity is not a thing they are concerned about. Just making them reliable enough to get past the vehicle, bumper to bumper warranty, and keeping them reliable enough that people keep coming back to buy their product.

 

[JohnnyO]

A typical house these days has plastic plumbing with 50-60psi, it's trivial. Not sure what problem they were trying to solve by going to 20psi, or what defect causes the plastic housing to crack, but it's not inherent.

Engines produce less emissions when they run at higher temperatures. A higher pressure radiator cap allows that to happen by raising the boiling point of the coolant. You can get a cast aluminum thermostat housing from Amazon or Zabteck, costs more but will last forever. Now Ford could have put in something like that OE and a radiator with metal tanks but that gets back to what I said earlier, cost and weight. I haven't seen metal radiator tanks in years on any car.

In 12 years and almost 200,000 miles I've replaced one radiator (on extended warranty) and two thermostat housings. I discovered the Mustang radiator cap fix when my rad broke, at the time my son had a 2000 Mustang V6 and I noticed the radiator cap was the same size and fit but was only 16 lb. Been running one for 8 years now with no ill effects. The Mustang V6 radiator cap replacement is now standard operating procedure on the Sport Trac boards.

 

[sgtsandman]

I've seen some radiators with metal tanks but they are spendy. If my OEM one ever takes a dump, I'll think real hard about getting one with aluminum tanks.

 

[8thTon]

My OEM radiators with plastic end caps failed, but only after 15 years. I just put another plastic end cap radiator on. Back in the day when radiators were copper I soldered plenty of leaks, most long before they were 15 yeas old.

 

[97RangerXLT]

My OEM radiators with plastic end caps failed, but only after 15 years. I just put another plastic end cap radiator on. Back in the day when radiators were copper I soldered plenty of leaks, most long before they were 15 yeas old.

mine lasted 21 years before cracking... yep, just slapped another plastic end radiator in it...

AJ

 

[cbxer55]

I'll add this little tidbit which indicates that a colder thermostat works. I put in a 160 some years back as an experiment. The temp needle stayed well below the half way point and I got a code indicating that engine temperature didn't get warm enough for the computer to make the switch from open loop to closed. So evidently, the 160 kept the temperature down low enough to be a problem for the ECM. I took it back out soon after and reinstalled the 180.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

My buddy has all alum rads in his gmc3500 and jeep cherokee...Both had electrolysis problems eating them away until he ran a dedicated ground strap.

 

[Shran]

I'm going to step back a few pages and mention that I have a 180 degree thermostat in my V8 swapped truck. It has new hoses, Duff radiator, new high flow water pump. I was having problems with it getting hot while driving up long hills - not necessarily overheating, but it would sit at 195 all day and then quickly spike up to 220, 230, 240 as I started up a hill. I had tried several thermostats and replaced the water pump to improve things and not much helped.

The 180 degree thermostat has actually made a pretty remarkable difference. It still gets warm on occasion on really hot days but definitely not like before - my theory is that while it does usually run at around 190-200 degrees during normal driving, it opens sooner thus regulating the water temp a little better. It also allows it to flow water through the radiator longer than it normally would.

In short they will certainly not fix overheating problems but in my case it has helped moderate engine temp in very specific situations.

Heater still sucks, has sucked always, first gen heaters are just terrible all the way around.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

How can a heating system suck? It seems like the simplest system adapt into a vehicle, especially compared to a/c system, or even drivetrains. Its basically a smaller radiator with a blower fan behind it, how can they mess that up? And I bet ironically your a/c blows ice cold!

 

[Shran]

If I had AC... sure

Every first gen I've owned that still has an OEM Ford brass/copper heater core has decent heat. Unfortunately they all leak, and the aluminum replacement heater cores do not work as well. I don't know if it's an issue of heat transfer or air flow or fluid not flowing through them correctly or what. First gens also have a flapper in the cowl for outside air that also lets leaves in.

My 4 cylinder truck is the worst. My commute to work is about 10 miles, the heat is just luke warm by the time I get to work.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

If I had AC... sure

Every first gen I've owned that still has an OEM Ford brass/copper heater core has decent heat. Unfortunately they all leak, and the aluminum replacement heater cores do not work as well. I don't know if it's an issue of heat transfer or air flow or fluid not flowing through them correctly or what. First gens also have a flapper in the cowl for outside air that also lets leaves in.

My 4 cylinder truck is the worst. My commute to work is about 10 miles, the heat is just luke warm by the time I get to work.

Ha nevermind re: the a/c. I remember those old flappers, what terrible idea lol.

 

[JohnnyO]

My 4 cylinder truck is the worst. My commute to work is about 10 miles, the heat is just luke warm by the time I get to work.

I used to have an '85 Mustang with the 2.3. Had to cover half the radiator with cardboard in the winter to get any heat.

 

[scotts90ranger]

That's my plan for next winter with the '97 Ranger, gas mileage down and barely any heat output below 50 degrees

 

[sgtsandman]

My 4 cylinder truck is the worst. My commute to work is about 10 miles, the heat is just luke warm by the time I get to work.

I hear you on that. The ‘98 I had came with a 2.5 Lima engine. The cast Iron block cylinder head, took forever to warm up. That’s when I broke down and started installing block and oil pan heaters. Early winter mornings are bad enough. Having to wait 15 or so minutes for the engine to be warm enough to put out heat was just miserable. The 15 minutes might be a bit of an exaggeration but not by much. It certainly felt like it.