sas'd22re

i left town yesterday after work, hit traffic for 30 mins or so and saw my temp gauge rise up. i let it cool down, drove it keeping an eye on everything and made it to my destination. i thought it might be the thermostat, so i bought a 160 degree t stat, took my old one out, only to find that i had a 160 in there already. i put the new one in and filled the amount of coolant with distilled water this morning. my resevoir was just under the min mark, so i filled it up to the fill line. im running fresh 10w30 oil. my rad fins arent in the best shape.....could this cause my engine getting warm?
anyways, my question is, what are you guys running for upgraded radiators? im looking for one for hopefully under $250, or even better, under $200. what do you guys suggest.
thanks for your help everyone

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Check the fan clutch, that is what keeps the radiator cool when you are not moving:
- http://www.barneymc.com/toy_root/techneek/fan_clch.htm

LITLRED

I had mine tested for free at a local radiator shop and it was partially clogged. They sold me a replacement for $150. CRS #147 32 02272008. The first one they ordered was incorrect so bring your old one in to make sure it matches up.

kdo58

if your loosing water check your head gasket

abecedarian

and thermostat should be rated for around 195F, not 160F.

xzyragon

i got a new rad for around 100 bucks... not really an upgrade, buts working fine for me, no issues.

myyota

A 160* thermostat is to cold for these engines, 195* thermostat is stock, but if you wanted to run a cooler thermostat then don`t go any lower than 180*.

sas'd22re

im not losing any water. why not run a 160 t stat for the summer? it was 32 degrees celsius out (not sure what the conversion is) and the motor got fairly warm while either crawling in traffic or when it had load on it....climbing long hills in 4th at 3000rpms and such. it would get a little hotter than normal and stay there for a while and eventually come back down. i dont really want to pull the crappy rad and get it tested and find that its no good, have to put it back in, order a new one and wait for it to come in and doo it all over again....i'd rather spend a bit of money and get a quality 3 sore rad that will keep my truck from getting too hot
oh, and the options for t start were 160, 180, 192 and 195. cooler for summer and warmer for the winter, no? like 160 summer and 180 or 190 for the winter? for the 5 mins it takes to change it, why not

abecedarian

32C is about 90F ((C * 9/5)+32=F)

I've had my 88 out in over 110F (43C) weather with a 190 stat and no overheating issues: I frequently pull 6% grade hills (I-5 north of Los Angeles, aka "Grapevine"), winding out 3rd and 4th and the temp gauge never gets about 1/2 way up.

A low temp stat reduces engine efficiency and can cause poor mileage and excessive emissions. Also, pardoxically, (and this depends a lot on the condition and design of the radiator and cooling system,) if the stat temperature is too low it can cause the engine to run hot since the coolant is constantly circulating and not spending sufficient time in the radiator to get cooled down. You see this effect when you're climbing those long grades or towing and the temperature starts to climb above "normal". Keep in mind though that "normal" temp on an engine is anywhere from 190F to 230F depending on driving conditions and design.
The gauge on the dash is not terribly accurate but most anywhere between the lines is normal. As long as it doesn't spend a lot of time above 3/4 of the way up, I wouldn't suspect you have a cooling system problem, and if it never goes over the line to the H, you're not overheating.

sas'd22re

thanks for your insight abe! it makes a bit more sense to me now. would you suggest for me to pick up a 180 or 190 t stat and see how it runs. i was wanting to replace the rad because there are a few rows of fins that are damaged and figured that id upgrade it while im at it. the truck has had great mileage on the trip so far, just the temp 'issue'. im heading home today and its the same temp, 32c or 90f and ill post up if i run into any problems. im still working on downsizing my 2 1/2 exhaust down to a 2 1/4 to hopefully gain a gear climbing hills (from what ive read it makes a difference ) with my rv cam, as long as im around 2700 and up, she pulls pretty good and can hold the gear on most hills, but would like to get a little extra out of it and scrap the 2 1/2" exhaust. your thoughts?

flyingbrass

In a pinch like that you can turn on the heater to serve as an auxiliary radiator. My temp gauge normally rides at about 1/3. On a particularly hot day it started creeping up and kept going. When it reached about 3/4 with no sign of slowing down, I rolled down the windows and turned the heater on full blast. I drove 50 miles home in 114 degree heat like that. Real fun. But it worked. The needle held at a little above half.

My radiator had finally clogged to the point it couldn't quite keep up. I had it cleaned out for free (friend owned a radiator shop), and it was good for about 5 years. Had it cleaned out again and it went a few more. I recently replaced it with a new 3 row.