water pump upgrade?

[Lil-Pony]

hope im in the right forum. been bouncing around the ideal of a smaller pulley on my water for like a 15% increase in flow, dont know if its a bad ideal. ive been having trouble with coolness after highway speeds, the engine gets up to 230-240 and runs like shit. done a E-fan still didnt help after highway speeds, did help with idle temp though.
looking for input on the ideal. also does anyone know of a distributor that has the electrical output needed for the duraspark but has no vacuum advance?

 

[Twister]

hope im in the right forum. been bouncing around the ideal of a smaller pulley on my water for like a 15% increase in flow, dont know if its a bad ideal. ive been having trouble with coolness after highway speeds, the engine gets up to 230-240 and runs like shit. done a E-fan still didnt help after highway speeds, did help with idle temp though.
looking for input on the ideal. also does anyone know of a distributor that has the electrical output needed for the duraspark but has no vacuum advance?

Are you still running the stock radiator? Something else seems wrong. You could do a 4L rad swap, after i did mine i never saw temps above 210*, i think though i read an 84 is a bit different than the other years, hopefully someone else will chime in.

Also, why would you want no vacuum advance?

 

[RonD]

Yes, something seems amiss with the stock cooling system.

How old is the water pump; impeller blades can get smaller if coolant isn't changed every 2 years.
Rads get blocked tubes over time, limiting full flow; after engine has warmed up feel the pressure in the upper hose and then the lower hose, they should be almost the same, if upper is much harder(more pressure) then rad has blocked tubes.

There is also a "flip test" you can do on any rad if it is out of the vehicle.
Put on rad cap
Look to see which way the rad tubes run and place the rad so tubes run up and down
Place your hand over the lower hose opening
Fill up the rad with water using the upper hose opening
Once full stop filling
Remove hand from lower hose opening, rad should drain completely in a few seconds, if flow is slow then you have some restricted tubes.
Tilt rad forward so all water is out.
Now the test...........
Flip rad upside down, if ANY water comes out it could only come from blocked tubes

On my '94 Ranger, Ford had the great idea of using the heater core as part of the cooling system, the heater doesn't have a valve, coolant is always being circulated through the core as part of the by-pass system.
What this means is that if the core has limited flow(tubes get restricted or blocked) then engine can run hotter.
If your model has a heat control valve on one of the heater hoses then the core is not part of the cooling system.
If it doesn't then try by-passing the core, remove the two hoses and connect them together, then test if the engine still runs warmer than it should.

Removing/blocking an EGR system can make the engine run a little warmer at highway speeds, the exhaust gas helps cool the cylinders under load, but this is usually only a slight increase.

If you notice any "pinging/knocking" sound under load then your mixture might be too lean, and the "pinging" raises cylinder temps.

 

[dangerranger83]

Get yourself a 2.8 a/c rad if you don't already have one in your truck and if you do then a 4.0 rad.

If you can keep a 5.0 cool with a 4.0 rad, then it should keep a 2.8 cool all day long.

One good efan to look into its the Ford Taurus single fan. Those can keep even a 454 cool. They are said to be able to move 2800 cfm of air a minute. I'm running one on my 5.0 swap and it keeps her cool all day long. My build thread shows more pictures on it but I am also running a explorer rad too.

Sent from my rooted SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Lil-Pony]

Are you still running the stock radiator? Something else seems wrong. You could do a 4L rad swap, after i did mine i never saw temps above 210*, i think though i read an 84 is a bit different than the other years, hopefully someone else will chime in.

Also, why would you want no vacuum advance?

for the tbi swap since i would have to disable the vacuum advance for it to work im wondering if i can get one without an advance

And what 4.0 radiator should i swap in. my old radiators oil cooling tubes leaked in to my water i the past so instead of replacing the radiator i flushed and blocked those ports of, and installed an aux oil radiator, could this be cause for the high temps.

 

[Twister]

for the tbi swap since i would have to disable the vacuum advance for it to work im wondering if i can get one without an advance

And what 4.0 radiator should i swap in. my old radiators oil cooling tubes leaked in to my water i the past so instead of replacing the radiator i flushed and blocked those ports of, and installed an aux oil radiator, could this be cause for the high temps.

I used a radiator from a 92 explorer with a/c and an auto transmission. You aux trans cooler could raise your temps slightly depending on how much of the radiator it cover and if your fan isn't strong enough.

While lmc is a good place, you can get one much cheaper other places. Spectra part number CU1164 should be good, found it on rockauto for $101 plus shipping. I got mine on eBay for like $85 shipped.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Lil-Pony]

im just wondering what type i should get so i can buy or pull it used, lmc photo is just a good reference

havent noticed any pinging or knocking, it runs 210 on the highway same in city, could the pump just be getting old?
how can i test if its functioning properly. both hoses feel to have the same pressure i think.

 

[adsm08]

Best way to check a water pump is to replace it and see what happens. They are cheap and easy.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

What I did was replace the water pump and when it was off I took a garden hose and flushed the engine block out good with high pressure water. Second I put the thermostat on the intake manifold and removed it from the lower housing. There is a two piece thermostat housing I believe it came on B-IIs with A/C. Backflush your radiator and heater core then fill them with bleach and let sit overnight. The next day flush them both ways real good. Actually if you put a smaller pully on the pump coolant may flow too fast through the radiator for it to properly exchange the heat out of the coolant? To check for a plugged radiator get the engine hot and feel the radiator for cold spots I ended up putting in a cheapo aftermarket radiator and it works just fine, I had to find a couple adaptors for my tranny oil lines not a problem. If your having trouble with rust in the coolant the block needs to be flushed good with the water pump and upper outlet hose fitting removed and blast it good until no more sludge comes out.

 

[Lil-Pony]

thanks alot guys, just picked an 91 4.0 radiator a couple hours ago, bout to get it pressure tested monday. ordered a new water pump as well.

 

[Lil-Pony]

Any body got some info on the distrubtor

 

[adsm08]

I am not aware of any distributor that has the 2-wire pickup and no vacuum advance. To the best of my knowledge is it vacuum or TFI.

 

[Lil-Pony]

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/2_8-chevy-tbi-swap.shtml
Im about to perform this swap
Need to buy a distributor but the one listed needs the vacuum advance disabled

 

[wildbill23c]

With warmer weather coming up now, I've noticed my B2's temp running a bit higher, but once the t-stat opens it cools right back down to about 190 degrees, it will hit about 210 at the most that I've seen so far, should I put in a lower temp thermostat for summer or should that matter? Changed coolant twice since my head gasket replacement so its nice and fresh. Factory T-stat is 195 degrees if I remember right, so is the 190-210 temp normal for that thermostat? Just don't want any overheating problems from the added heat of 100 degree summer temps. I don't have A/C, not even sure if the truck ever had it the dash panel has the A/C button and all, but no compressor/condensor etc.

 

[Lil-Pony]

im droping in a 180-185 since its almost always 90+ weather here, not quite sure on the a/c thing check if the a/c clutch wire was ran in to the engine compartment, if so i guess it had a/c