getting hot : what can i do

[prerunexp]

so i have a ranger but its the same 4.0L V6 as these explorers

my ranger is a 93 and it has a tow package with the tranny cooler and the oil cooler and its an auto tranny,

and just driving around it gets pretty hot, not really anything that i could call overheating, its just that i had an explorer with the exact same front end / motor radiator all that and it wouldnt get very hot at all no matter what i did

and i just made a 150 mile round trip in it and it did get pretty hot the gauge was about 3/4 of the way across, but i had two dirt bikes in it, a bunch of gear and the air conditioning the whole way.

but i wanna lift it and i know the bigger tires will only make the problem worse and its like what if i go to the desert and its like 115 then i gotta stop and wait or something.

so do you guys think this is normal for this truck or something is malfunctioning or maybee i should look into installing a larger radiator, if i did the radiator how much $ do you think it would be and how difficult

thanks Nick

 

[jimbo74]

bolting in a different radiator isnt hard.... but you must consider that an engine runs in the neighborhood of 220 ish degrees... 3/4 on the guage is fine... as long as the water doesnt start to boil off..... try not to overload the truck and it should be fine.....lifting it wont make it run hotter.... you just need to redo the gears when the tires get bigger

 

[Phi 844]

I had a similar problem with mine about a month ago. My X would get really hot when I came to a stop. The temp gauge would steadily rise. I had it looked at and it turns out the intake manifold gasket was shot. I was leaking coolant and only had about half of what I needed. My mechanic showed me the gasket and it was definitely bad. Well needless to say my X runs fine now. I don't know if yours isn’t a similar problem, but it might be something to look into.


~Andy

 

[VBVA]

Def get your thermostat checked out and make sure their aren't any leaks or clogs in your coolant system. I had a problem with overheating this summer while driving on the beach. My Ex would overheat and all the coolant would just come spewing out of the radiator. Also, use water, it cools better than antifreeze. Just make sure you put some antifreeze back in before winter...

 

[aldive]

Measure the actual temperature of the coolant, the gauge could be faukty.

Good luck.....

 

[MrShorty]

All good ideas; let me add another one. Could be the fan clutch not bringing the fan up to speed when it should. That's what happened to mine this summer.

 

[Nonoy]

Checked or change your thermostat first. Ihad the same problem after a long driving. Thermostat can cost you less $. I think $25

 

[X-1]

I agree with Mr Shorty,
I also replaced my fan clutch as well as the fan itself. The fan I had was cracked, and only 9 bladed, the replacement fan from ford is 10 bladed. Made a huge difference.