200-210°F range for water/cylinder head temperature for V8 Explorer safe or not ?

[Steroid King]

Hi guys. I have a 2003 Ford Explorer 4.6L V8 RWD Eddie Bauer with just over 104,000 miles on it. I recently had a transmission cooler installed, and it is a fin & tube type cooler that was installed downstream of the radiator. I have a Scangage installed through my OBDII port and have it set up to monitor water temperature and cylinder head temperature. My recollection, in the past, before having installed the cooler it rarely ever got above 180 degrees Fahrenheit, even with the A/C at full blast.. Now, with the cooler installed, if it is colder outside, around 65 degrees or below, it generally stays below 180, but in the warmer summer months, particularly above 80 degrees, both these gauges go above 200 degrees if I leave the A/C at full blast, maybe even 210. Sometimes I worry about it and switch off the A/C or even turn on the heater to displace engine heat, which is kind of a bummer and uncomfortable in these hotter temperatures.

Am I being paranoid ? Is my Explorer running at a safe or unsafe range for water temp and cylinder head temp to run at when leaving A/C on full blast ? Could the tranny cooler be choking airflow from the radiator that badly ?

By the way, I just had the antifreeze changed and it still pushes past 200 degrees with full A/C in hot ambient temps, albeit a bit more slowly than before if I recall correctly.

 

[Joe in NY]

That is fine. Slightly hotter coolant temps gets better mpg but lower hp. Just barely. The stock thermostat 195*. So if your running under 180 you need a new stat.

Nothing to worry about as far as temps. If you are running over 230* regularly then you have issues.

 

[Number4]

I installed an electric fan and set it to come on at 206°. While driving, it runs 196°, tstat and natural wind flow across radiator. Even during the winter it runs at least 196°.

Summer, at a stop light, it can reach 219°. It'll often run 210°-212° in slow Atlanta traffic.

But it's usually under 206°.

What I'm looking into, is how to better vent the engine compartment. The fan will stay on a bit after turning the car off and you can feel the heat coming from the engine bay.
Looking at either hood vents or fender vents.

Anyway, I digress, your engine temp is fine. But I've never watched it with a fan clutch setup.

 

[Steroid King]

Thanks for your responses guys. Looks like I'll be OK then. Just 2 questions though:

1. Is there a reference from Ford on the matter, perhaps somewhere in some service bulletin or Owner's Manual, that specifies a safe range for water/cylinder head temperatures for this model vehicle or engine ? It's not that I won't take your words for it, but I always like to trace any advice back to the original manufacturer for redundancy purposes.

2. What type of fan setup can you recommend Number4 ? Any specific model or kit ?

 

[Number4]

You won't get an overheat warning until somewhere after 230°, maybe 240°.

I used a Flex-A-Lite fan controller 31163, flex a lite inline hose connector 32082 with a 2001 Mustang Fan.

I've purchased stuff to do the Volvo fan controller mod found on the thread below. I'll probably go with a 2010 Mustang fan this time.

http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=200028

A lot of people use the Mark VIII fans, but they pull way too much current at start up. Similar would be a Crown Vic or Lincoln Town Car fan. Over a 100 amps inrush per my own testing. The mustang fans inrush was around 60 amps and the 45 amp fuse held that fine. (Note, a 35 amp fuse held the 100+ inrush for one run. Second startup would always pop it.)

Either way, it's a mod. You'll have to figure a lot out yourself. Nothing that's "bolt on." I did it for the fun/challenge.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/index.php?threads/electric-fan-installation-with-pics.417905/

One thing I noted, my MPG's increased for a few gas tanks, then came back down to the usual. It's almost as if the computer made an adjustment.

 

[lincolnshibuya]

that temp range is normal, 180-210 is just an ideal range. my jeep prior to me adding the clutch fan (yes it could have a clutch fan and electric fan at the same time) will hover on the analog scale at 210, now it's barely reaching that (somewhere 195-200 I guess)
my mountaineer and mustang using the obd2 tool is around 195.

 

[Joe in NY]

A lot of people use the Mark VIII fans, but they pull way too much current at start up. Similar would be a Crown Vic or Lincoln Town Car fan. Over a 100 amps inrush per my own testing. The mustang fans inrush was around 60 amps and the 45 amp fuse held that fine. (Note, a 35 amp fuse held the 100+ inrush for one run. Second startup would always pop it.)

You could just an inductor to to ease the start up of the fan...