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harbormaster
07-27-2002, 05:38 PM
Anyone have any ideas?

I had an overheating problem. I flushed out the entire system, I replaced water pump, thermostat, and hoses. It will run forever at an idle in the driveway at normal operating temperature eben with the AC on. The minute I get it out on the road it starts to overheat. Anyone have any ideas?

Its a 1992 Ford F150 302 fuel injected pickup.

oldLenny
07-27-2002, 05:54 PM
Is your radiator "open" and utilizing all the fins? Are there cold spots when felt on the inside?

I recently had the same problem, it was fine w/o a load ,(Chev 350 in a Van), but once I started putting a load on it, eg: driving, on came the high temp light and steam etc etc etc. I got so mad at this thing, (and believe me, it is not pretty, the van that is :D ) that I decided to run her till she siezed and then I would put a fresh small block in and re-work the radiator and hoses.
Indeed, it did, pinged so loud people were looking at me, finally lost power and went tight while going up my driveway. I left it there, 'cuz I knew it was going to go up in flames and I didn't want to take the house and shops out with it. All you could hear was expanding metal...
An hour later, I went back to it and sprayed it down with a hose to try and cool it off a bit more. I tried to start it and "Voila!" Ran like a charm again. I replaced the (actually removed) the thermostat and it has been better than new for the last 6 weeks! Isn't even getting hot!

Like I have said in previous posts, I am not a mechanic and don't like motors a whole lot hence some of the tactics.

Why not go out there and remove the thermostat and put it back together without it and see what she does. 15 minutes tops and a $.25 gasket.

olredalert
07-27-2002, 06:07 PM
-------Fuel injected Ford trucks sometimes get partially plugged up fuel nozzles.When they do the cylinders involved run lean and running lean produces heat.Enough fuel may get by at idle,but when you add speed(RPMs)the temperature will go up.Is it running smooth before it overheats?Have you replaced the fuel filter?Low pressure at the nozzles may make it run lean above idle as well.
-------Im just ball-parking here but I hope it helps!...........Fuelish........ol red!

harbormaster
07-27-2002, 06:28 PM
When i accelerate on the highway it clatters. I was told that it could be a clogged EGR valve. I replaced the EGR valve and it still clatters when I floorboard it. Could it be an indication of running lean???

Formula Jr
07-27-2002, 06:31 PM
A 93 is a little early for a pluged radiator, less you filled it with hard water or something. Thermostate is the first check point after making sure you have pressure sprayed out all the bugs in the radiator. Don't use too high a pressure or you will bend over all the little copper fins. Start it up cold with the cap off and watch down the fill for when the t-stat opens. And you can see the return line start flowing. If its doing that you know a: Water pump is working, b: Hoses are not collapsed, c: T-Stat is working. d: Fan is working. Mainly what you want to sense is tremendous HEAT comming through the radiator. If you can't feel that, then the radiator is indeed pluged up and needs replacement. A total replace on a 302 ford is easy doings.... $50 to $175, four hours, depending on where the replace rad comes from.

harbormaster
07-27-2002, 06:34 PM
I was under the impression that if it was the radiator it would also run hot at an idle.

Formula Jr
07-27-2002, 06:41 PM
Clattering is your valve train. Pinging, meaning too lean or too much advance sounds more like slapping/snapping - almost an electrical popping noise. Put in a tank of super high octane and see if the clattering is still there - but I'm positive the clatter is just normal valve stress under load.
Eliminate the cooling system before hunting all over the place. The only way you find any thing is Step one - Step two, etc..... :D

A partially plugged radiator isn't an all or none type of falure. Your truck ran great all winter right? So now its summer, so it had all winter and spring to plug up if thats the case and the air/engine temp delta was enough to compensate for the loss of radiator capacity, now you need 100% cause the air/engine delta is much smaller and the engine can't shed the heat.

Rootsy
07-27-2002, 07:01 PM
UNLIKE the chevies a Ford will pressurize the cooling system if a head gasket leaks or a head warps... watch inside the radiator with the coolant level to the top, the cap off and the motor running... if the heads are leaking you'll very likely see bubbles, same holds true if the cap is left on... just watch inside of the overflow tank... My 64 cyclone used to do this to me when i first got it... ended up being a warped cylinder head on the 289... would run cool at idle.. drive it a few miles and it'd run HOT.. stop and idle or shut it off and the pressure would just explode in a fury of bubbles and coolant out of the puke tank...

does the motor cool down if you take the load off of it, ie. put it back in park and idle?

Formula Jr
07-27-2002, 07:06 PM
All them little bubbles and "froath" can also just mean there is an air/water leak in the hoses.

Step one, then Step two........ :D

harbormaster
07-27-2002, 07:36 PM
I ran it for a good hour withour the radiator cap. No bubbles in the radiator. No exhaust smell.

Lonzis Donzi
07-27-2002, 07:47 PM
go ahead and replace the rad., my '87 f150 5.0 got hot when towing(after10 years). changed rad and it now runs on the thermostat. they lose the ability to transfer heat after a while. rad was not pluged. not sure if it will fit the '92 but you may want to look into a '87 or newer 460 rad. that is what i installed. good luck!

MOP
07-28-2002, 08:42 AM
Just had a problem with the Dodge, it was surging and pinging, I tried duching it three time with fuel injector cleaner it got a little better but not right. So what did finally work was I ran the tank way down dumped to bottles of SPT cleaner in ran it for about 20 minutes then let it sit for two days. Now it runs like new, I think being let to soak just like I soak parts that are grimy it did a much better job cleaning all that injector crap that I refuse to fool with.

MOP
07-28-2002, 09:02 AM
Forgot to say I think its a lean condition, no load no over heat with load it gets hot. No way could you hear any valve noise at speed, if you ever do the motor is giving up. Pull the spark plugs you should be able to tell by the color if you are lean. I am a believer that any time you sense an engine problem pull the plugs, if you are not sure of what you are looking at get a plug reading chart. Anyone who fools around with engines should be able to read plugs. Any time you build a new one or modify it in any way run it and read the plugs! Gee I hope I made a point, plugs are one of the very best indicators of what is going on inside engine. Plugs will tell you things that all the fancy test equipment might miss.

Gearhead99
07-28-2002, 02:27 PM
Pull the radiator and send it out to be checked for flow. I think you'll find the radiator is plugged and not getting enough flow when your cruising down the road.

I have a repair garage and this is popular on ALL MAKES of cars and trucks. We see it alot in FL, cause without the freezing, no one and I mean No one checks their antifreeze or flushes their cooling system. Till it's too late.

roadtrip se
07-28-2002, 07:11 PM
Scot,

My best friend from high school is a ford master technician in houston. If you continue to have trouble, give me a jingle. I'm sure he would help you out in exchange for a ride in the 18...

Todd

Ralph Savarese
07-28-2002, 07:40 PM
Did any body check to see if the fan cluch is working . it will keep up at idle but under load it will overheat!
Ralph

MOP
07-28-2002, 09:38 PM
Being and old boat mech I did not think of that one. Damn good thinking, I have heard of that several times over the years.

harbormaster
07-29-2002, 10:09 AM
Would a clogged heater core cause the engine to run hot? After My previous waterpump died this fall I replaced it and my heater did not work.

MOP
07-29-2002, 03:07 PM
The heater core should have little or no effect on engine temp. It is probably air bound, some times you can hold one of the hose up a ways and pour water in slowly till it fills and gets the air out.