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Help! Friends Explorer is running hot!

RTStork

Explorer Addict
Joined
September 23, 2001
Messages
1,174
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City, State
Grand Bay, AL
Year, Model & Trim Level
99 Explorer XLT 5.0L 2WD
Heres the deal. The Explorer can idle all day and the temp will stay in the lower half of the temp guage but when you start driving it and get on the hwy the temp will slowly start to creep up and get near the hot mark on the gauge. It has a new thermostat, coolant, hoses. The clutch fan seems fine but even if it was bad wouldnt it get hotter at idle but cool down on the highway? The only things I can come up with is the water pump or a clogged radiator, but I would think it would run hot all the time. Its not losing any coolant either. So, what would cause a vehicle to only run hot on the highway but not at idle? This is completely opposite of any cooling problems I have dealt with in the past. The climate is starting to get warmer, so it will surely overheat once summer arrives.
 



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Maybe a simple cooling system flush will help out. If it doesn't work, then it certainly won't do any harm.
 






this is kind of a random wild guess but...
r u sure the engine is really running hot?
i mean...there could be something wrong with the gauge or the way that the temp is being sent to the gauge?

once again...wild guess...
just my 2 cents ;)

good luck!
 






2 things....Was the right t-stat installed?? A lower t-stat will allow the water to flow quicker, meaning it is in the radiator for a shorter time, and is cooled less.....Second, Was the radiator cap replaced?? My be losing pressure and allowing the system to over heat..
 






It has a new radiator cap, coolant flush, and the thermostat was installed correctly. I know its opening up because the upper hose gets real tight and also hot. All of these parts were installed about a month ago, but the problem just started this week. the guage seems right because the engine seems real hot. Im leaning towards , water pump, radiator, clutch fan, or a possible plugged converter. Please, more suggestiions.
 






How does it drive? Is the performance ok in the high RPM's? If it is, I would rule out the plugged converter.
 












I've seen some digital gauges on the internet that have fittings that would plug into the block where the sending unit would normally go so you can make absolutely sure the gauge is reading correct.
 






It's possible the water pump isn't spinning fast enough at speed to keep up with the engine temp... not moving coolant fast enough to keep it cool under load. First check that the belt is tight enough. If it is, then the my guess it the pump itself is going.
 






RT-
Make sure the belt is tight/not glazed over.

A couple of years back, my wife had the radiator flushed in her Toyota, never had it done before in over 50k miles, good idea - right?

It kept overheating after that, turns out we dislodged years of gunk, and the cooling system had to be flushed again, and again, (3X) until we got it under control.

my 2¢
 






So..... What have you found out? I am having similar problems with my 94. Haven't done anything yet but the temp goes from the N or O to the M and A and alternates between pretty hot and cool while I'm driving?! Also when I parked I saw some coolant on the ground, looked up under the car and there is this little hose, size of my pinky finger, at the front passenger side pointed straight down and I can see the coolant is coming from this. (Resivoir still has plenty in it) and the tube to the t-stat is getting hot so I know its working, mabye just not working right!
Oh yeah, first noticed this about a week ago after I changed the fluid in both my diffs and Tcase, and I drilled the air box and added a K&N. could the air box be a contributing factor?

So RT what was wrong????
Blake
 






Blake sounds like all you need to do is tighten that heater hose.

RTStork do you have heat?
 






Heater hose? What?
It's not leaking around any seal or anything, just a little bit of fluid, cup? mabye and I noticed the ground only after I had added a little bit the the cool resivoir and filled it to a little over col fill line, I thought the hose might be an overflow hose or something. It hasen't pulled off or anything, it looks like it is supposed to just hang there. I looked in my Hanes and couldn't tell what the hose was though or what it was for.
What heater hose would I need to tighten, I haven't messed with any and I'm not sure where this is?
:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:
 






The heater is working and it isn't losing any coolant. The belt is tight also. If you stay around 65 mph or less, the temp stays about half way. If you speed up to 70+, the temp will slowly climb untill it reaches nearly the "hot" mark. The only things that I suspect are the water pump or radiator. The water pump is less than a year old and the radiator has been flushed 3 months ago, We will probably flush the radiator and go from there.
 






I had a similar prob. this weekend I bought a 180 degree thermostat and bipassed my ac compressor, I also have an electric push fan over my tranny cooler, mine is fine now, also flushed the cooling system. good luck.:D
 






How and why did you bipass, and how and where did you get the fan?
Thanks Blake
 






I dicided to by-pass the ac cause I never use it and wanted to do what I could to get alittle more power, I got the fan out of a geo metro, it is a 12" and works great. just go to the junk yard i paid around 15 bucks for it.
 






I used to have the same problem as the person who started the thread but I replaced 2 thermostats, water pump, radiator, flushed the hell out of everything, and relaced a couple of hoses. Now I have the same problem as blake but it dosnt bother me because I cant tell the difference.
 






I had the coolant flushed today, it neded it anyway, not any change though. So.... Unless it gets up to the L or past don't mess with it? Is that the best advice? It can go a ways past the L before it Redlines and I figure unless its getting real hot a lot or goes way up there I don't want to mess with it, unless I have to.
 



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I had the same EXACT problem a few months back. 98 X with less than 40,000 miles GO FIGURE. Anyways, I take it in and I needed a whole new radiator. Just glad I got the extended warranty...After the new radiator it worked great.
 






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